> This article was frist published in Edition 16 of Africa Film & TV,
> Jan
> - March 1998 and is posted with permission
>
> No freedom to broadcast?
>
> "It has become clear that the management of the national broadcasters
> cannot be called upon to take the lead in regulation for local
> content
> and the development of our regional industry"
>
> In 1998 we may see the beginning of the Southern African Development
> Community (SADC) decade for Culture and Information. That is if the
> council
> of ministers adopts a draft document for the "formulation of
> policies,
> priorities and strategies for culture, information and public
> education and awareness".
>
> Among the recommended strategies in the report is the call for:
> * Identification and repeal/amendment of all existing laws that
> repress the media and restrict their operations;
> * The creation of political and economic environments which
> will
> enable pluralistic media to flourish, including incentives to invest
> in media enterprises, the granting of incentives and licenses to
> establish radio and television stations;
> * The promotion of indigenous culture through the provision of
> more local content programming in mass media; and
> * The expansion of the communications media infrastructure to
> improve the quality and quantity of coverage by both government and
> private
> media, to include satellite communication for broadcasting,
> multi-lingual
> programming, viable community media and the development of internet
> connectivity.
>
> Has SADC and its member states renewed their commitment to the
> principles
> of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
> African
> Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights? Or do they simply wish to
> become
> full
> members of the international club of free nations? Media freedom is
> certainly viewed by most 'northern' powers a pre-requisite to entry.
>
> For example Malawi alone has received pledges of US$800 million in
> financing over the next three years from the Paris Club, the grouping
> of
> donor governments of industrialised countries. Conditions set by the
> donors
> to qualify for the money include the sale of the state-controlled
> radio
> network and an extension of privatisation -- particularly in
> telecommunications.
>
> For whatever the real reason we have seen a concentration of activity
> on
> the media legislation front in 1997 and it seems to be heating up in
> 1998,
> with virtually all of the countries in southern Africa bringing in
> new
> legislation on the media and broadcasting front.
>
> The Malawi Law Commissioner has re-opened consultations on the Malawi
> Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Act, shelved since the elections. The
> Act
> will give the MBC programming and editorial independence from the
> government for the first time. The new act together with two other
> pieces
> of legislation, one setting up a broadcasting/telecoms regulatory
> body
> and
> the other de-regulating the telecommunications industry, are promised
> in early 1998.
>
> One setback is that the Malawi government has already started issuing
> licenses before transparent licensing procedures are in place. One
> can
> only
> assume that it is in order to give certain business interests an
> unfair
> advantage or to fill valuable frequencies with non-dissenting voices.
> This
> is a situation that will probably be familiar to those in Botswana,
> Zambia,
> Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the region where broadcasting reform is
> underway.
>
> This reform is not a straight forward process, in answering SADC and
> donor
> countries calls for comprehensive media policies and regulatory
> systems,
> many governments are using it as an opportunity to introduce
> legislation
> that may restrict and curb the expansion of independent media rather
> than to assist it.
>
> Last year the Botswana government released a Mass Media
> Communications
> Draft Bill. The bill would have established a separate broadcasting
> board,
> a state newspaper registration system, accreditation procedures as
> well as
> a legislated press council. Each of these bodies would have been
> appointed
> and managed by the government of Botswana through the Ministry of
> Information which falls under the Office of the President. The draft
> bill
> sparked national and international protests. Media in Botswana
> rejected it,
> noting that it was "infringing and encroaching" on the right to
> freedom of
> expression and media freedom. After the protests the government
> agreed
> to
> defer the legislation, apart from the plans to set up a broadcasting
> board.
>
> The Botswana government now intends to establish National
> Broadcasting
> Board, members of which will be appointed by either the president or
> a
> minister. Some members of the board will be representatives of
> government
> ministries. Neither the government nor other interested parties
> should
> have
> positions on a regulatory board. As such, appointments to the
> Botswana
> broadcasting board by the president or minister fall short of
> guaranteeing
> a non-partisan administration of broadcasting in Botswana. The body
> that
> allocates licenses needs be independent of the government, and
> members
> should be appointed through a public process and be approved by a
> parliamentary committee.
>
> All the signs are that Malawi and Zimbabwean governments, who are
> promising
> legislation to set independent regulatory bodies early in 1998, will
> also
> interpret 'independent" in the same way as their Botswana
> counterparts. It
> is not yet know when Zambia will deliver on its 1996 media policy
> promise
> to introduce and independent broadcasting authority.
>
> Late last year the Swaziland government also announced the
> introduction of
> a media bill aimed at introducing legal government control of public
> and
> private media operations. Swazi Television also attempt to restrict
> access
> to information by proposing to stop the re-transmission of the
> signals
> of
> the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The official
> reason
> for
> this proposal was economic and was withdrawn after strong public
> protest.
> Coming in the wake of a mass labour boycott in Swaziland, which in
> part was
> called to protest the media bill, it received wide criticism from
> people
> who viewed it as an attempt to prevent the coverage of the boycott
> and
> future political events in Swaziland. Swazi Television denied it was
> stopping the service because of the SABC's full coverage of the
> strike
> (Swazi Television only carried restricted and heavily censored
> coverage of the labour boycott).
>
> No one will pretend that Swazi Television is independent of
> government
> control and influence. But at one stage people held out hope that the
> leadership of the other government broadcasting corporations under
> the
> umbrella of The Southern Africa Broadcasting Association (SABA),
> would
> be
> strong voices for reform. In 1995 SABA had passed an important policy
> document, entitled "On the Move - Public broadcasting in Southern
> Africa".
> It stated many progressive principles for public broadcasting
> including
> those about access, balance and impartiality. Importantly, it also
> called
> for autonomous boards to govern the public broadcaster, appointed in
> an
> open and transparent manner, together with the establishment of
> broadcasting regulatory bodies whose independence is guaranteed by
> law.
>
> Sadly, in 1995 SABA was still young and eager, now that it has
> matured
> as
> an organisation, 'on the move' has become an 'on paper only' policy.
> It is
> quite clear that SABA is not moving anywhere. Here are some examples
> of the
> actions of SABA members during the last few months of 1997.
>
> Part-time broadcaster for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
> Gerry
> Jackson was sacked for broadcasting information on public
> demonstrations
> against a tax increase aimed at generating money for disgruntled
> ex-fighters. The Zimbabwe government had announced a 5% War Veteran
> Levy increases in sales tax on goods, fuel and electricity.
>
> Mollande Nkhata, director of news and current affairs at the Malawi
> Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), was also demoted to chief editor and
> ordered to withdraw from media activism. In a letter handed to him on
> 17
> November 1997, Nkhata was also ordered to resign from the Malawi
> chapter of
> MISA of which he is chairman. He has also been ordered to dissociate
> himself from the Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ), the Media
> Council of
> Malawi (MCM) and the Journalists Association of Malawi (JAMA), or be
> summarily dismissed from the MBC. Nkhata was being penalised for
> allegedly
> reporting the suggestion by the opposition newspaper The Daily Times
> that
> President Bakili Muluzi had lost his voice while at the Commonwealth
> Heads of Government Meeting.
>
> At least four journalists have either been fired or suspended from
> the
> national broadcasting station since the failed October 28 1997, coup
> in
> Zambia. On October 31, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation
> (ZNBC)
> management suspended announcer Loveday Haachiyumba for allegedly
> speaking
> approvingly of the coup by rebellious army officers. On November 3,
> journalist Goretti Mapulanga, was dismissed from her job ostensibly
> for
> carrying out a 'vox pop' on the failed coup. Her husband Hopkings who
> was
> ZNBC regional manager was also asked to leave on the same day as
> Goretti.
> Earlier, senior broadcast journalists Kenneth Maduma and Wellington
> Kalwisha were forced to retire.
>
> Haachiyumba was one of the three journalists who were at gun point
> forced
> to operate broadcast equipment for the coup plotters on October 28.
> He
> claims to have been hit with a gun butt and ordered to speak
> approvingly of
> the coup on air or lose his life. He says he was ordered not to scare
> the
> public. The ZNBC management has refused to accept his explanation.
>
> It has become clear that the management of the national broadcasters
> can
> not be called upon to protect or advocate for media freedom. Nor do
> they
> seem able to influence their own governments to assist in the
> building
> effective and efficient independent public broadcasters. Let alone
> take the
> lead in regulation for local content and the development of our
> regional industry.
>
> The independence of film makers themselves is now coming under threat
> from
> proposed legislation. As in the case of Namibia where the Ministry of
> Information has circulated a draft Namibian Film Commission Bill
> which
> proposes that "No film producer or film production company shall be
> allowed
> to produce any type of film in Namibia, without a valid film
> production
> license". It also proposes that licenses should be issued for "each
> individual film production". The only exemption from licensing are
> certain
> television programme productions "as from time to time determined by
> the
> commission". The penalty for not complying with the regulations would
> be a
> fine of N$ 2000 (US$ 455), and/or six months' imprisonment. There is
> no
> reason to believe that this is an isolated incident, with Zimbabwe
> also
> looking at new film legislation they could also use the opportunity
> to
> clamp down on media freedoms.
>
> Even in South Africa, which many have held up as a model to the
> region,
> there are more and more cases of the government attempting to
> restrict
> media freedoms. Of note is the current threat to the autonomy of the
> South
> African IBA. The Ministry of Telecommunications and Broadcasting has
> already taken over some of the authorities policy functions. They are
> now
> proposing to merge the IBA with the South African
> Telecommunications
> Regulatory Authority (SATRA), which is not independent of government
> and answerable to the Minister.
>
> All this means is it is up to media practitioners ourselves to keep
> informed and inform others of the legislative process in our own
> countries
> and advocate directly for those policies which will benefit the
> industry
> and foster truly independent and pluralistic broadcasting.
>
> John Barker, Regional Programme
> Coordinator (Broadcasting)
> Media Institute of Southern Africa
> Private Bag 13386,
> 21 Johann Albrecht Street
> Windhoek, NAMIBIA
> Tel: +264 61 232975 Fax +264 61 248016
> E-mail johnb@ingrid.misa.org.na
> * http://www.misanet.org *
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