As part of a post-war nation and statebuilding process, leaders are often under substantial pressure, both internal and external, to hold elections. In Africa competitive elections have often be delayed for years, or even decades, allowing the ruling parties time to consolidate power. This project is often met with a varying range of success. 

However, in recent years an increasing number of competitive multi-party elections have been held which have in turn posed a greater risk of post-election disputes.  This panel will examine complex relationship between the media and those in power, or seeking power in post-war contexts.  All forms of media, from newspapers to blogs to poetry, can have a role in both exacerbating and mediating tensions.  Using case studies from the continent we will analyse the particular nexus between efforts in the post-war consolidation of power, the media and competitive elections.  Possible options for interventions and regulation will also be considered.

Hosted by the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy,
University of Oxford

Panellists:

Nicole Stremlau, University of Oxford
Research findings from study on media and post-election violence

Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, Executive Director for Society for Democratic Initiatives
The regulation of hatespeech in post-war environments

Yusuf Gabobe, Editor-in-Chief, Haatuf Media Group, Somaliland
The media and the 2009 elections in Somaliland

Daniel Bekele, University of Oxford
Ethiopia's 2005 post-election violence

Thursday, 4 June 2009, 11:30 a.m., Room C