Freedom of expression must be nurtured early

Michael Bech teaches journalism to MS partners in Tanzania. He sees it as his biggest challenge to be able to get close to the people in question.

MS development worker Michael Bech, photo: Adam Ansinck.

“As a journalist in Denmark, I have written a great deal on development, but I wanted to work closer to the people it deals with – closer to the source itself. I wanted to be out and feel the poor man who is in focus.”

Michael Bech, 42 years, information worker at the MS office in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam. He is temporarily sent for two years along with his wife Tina, who is also a journalist, and their two children one and five years old. The beginning of their stay in East Africa was well-prepared through courses in Denmark as well as in Tanzania, says Michael and it was a ‘soft’ start, especially for the children. However, it was professionally a very different reality he faced in the former socialistic country.

“The free press is only in its embryo stage in Tanzania. The Tanzanians have been accustomed to the top-down socialistic rule, and to all media being controlled by the government. Government viewpoints were communicated. I realised that many people listened to only one type of media – for example, they all listened to the same radio programme. This is a good example of why a discussion is not set in motion.” he says.

Afraid of the media

“I organise basic courses in journalism for MS’ partners and teach them, amongst other things, the art of writing a press release – and where to send it. It is a legacy from the time of state-governed socialism as people do not believe that they can actually approach the media if they have a story to tell. The people do not dare contact the journalists. They are used to the fact that only the government appears in the newspaper – or that they should pay the journalists to come to an event. My job is to teach the partners that they are allowed to contact the newspapers and ask whether they can get their projects published,” says Michael. In his opinion, freedom of expression and critical attitude is something that should be learnt and nurtured at an early age.

“I have in Danish secondary school learnt to raise questions – even to contradict the teacher. It is unimaginable here. I come from a system that is a challenge for me. People are not aware of it here. Therefore, they have this press today,” says Michael who considers his work as a big challenge.

Step by step progress

“You can influence some individuals a little so that they do not lie on their backs for the system and the media. I can give people some practical journalistic tools that they can use in the future. This gives self-confidence, and I can see that the projects are gradually beginning to appear in the newspapers – although there is no tradition for bragging about something,” he says.

Michael Bech

“You can influence some individuals a little, prevent them from lying on their backs for the system and give them some practical tools that they can use in future. This gives self-confidence and I can see that the development projects are gradually beginning to appear in the newspapers – although there is no tradition for bragging about something,” he says.

“Our task is to equip the partners of MS with the capacity to continue with their work independently. Previously, we were very interested in achieving some results in a few development projects, but we forgot to produce documentation for our work. MS has not been able to draw sufficient attention to its own and its partners’ work in the South,” believes Michael, who has all MS’ partner organisations in Tanzania as clients in his small information office. His superior’s view on the development in Tanzania and Africa as a whole is not particularly optimistic – mostly because making changes takes an incredibly long time.

“However, I can see progress in some of the projects,” says Michael.