Introduction

• Author: Robert Martin
• Pages: 9-13

BY

ROBERT

MARTIN

his

volume

is the

report

of the

Media

Laws

Project

of the

Common-

wealth

Association

for

Education

in

Journalism

and

Communication.

The

project

exemplifies

two

characteristics that

are at the

heart

of the

contemporary Commonwealth. These are,

first,

a

commitment

to

demo-

cratic

principles

as set out in the

1991

Harare

Declaration

and, second,

the

role played

by the

informal,

or

"peoples',"

Commonwealth

— men and

women

from

throughout

the

Commonwealth coming together

to

address

issues

of

common concern.

The

Commonwealth Association

for

Education

in

Journalism

and

Communication

was

founded

in

1985

at

Arusha

in

northern Tanzania.

According

to the

Association's constitution, adopted

at the

same meeting,

the

Association's primary objective

is to

"foster

and

promote high stan-

dards

of

journalism

and

communication education

and

research

in all

Commonwealth countries."

To

achieve these ends,

the

Association

has

regularly published

a

pro-

fessional

journal

and a

newsletter, organized conferences, created

an

inter-

active

database

of its

members, organized

and

sponsored research,

and

established

an

on-line presence.

As of

early 1998,

the

Association

had

nearly

700

members

in

thirty-five Commonwealth countries.

As

an

organization

of

persons involved

in

preparing

men and

women

for

careers

in the

mass media,

the

Association

has a

clear interest

in

free-

dom of

expression.

The

idea

of the

Media

Laws

Project emerged

from

discussions that

took place

at a

joint

UN and

UNESCO conference

on

"Promoting

an

Inde-

pendent

and

Pluralistic Press

in

Africa"

in

Windhoek, Namibia,

in

1991.

The

details

of a

project proposal were later worked

out in

consultation with

the

Commonwealth Journalists Association

as

well

as the

Information

and

Public

Affairs

Division

and the

Legal

and

Constitutional

Affairs

Division

of

the

Commonwealth Secretariat.

INTRODUCTION

T

ix