Rupiah doesn’t believe in media self-regulation
Rupiah doesn’t believe in media self-regulationWritten by Editor
Rupiah Banda yesterday told Parliament that his administration “believes in media self-regulation”. And he added: “However, the onus remains on the media to work out such regulations which must be respected by all and clearly stipulate the sanctions against erring journalists or media hous
With that in mind, I would urge all media outlets and practitioners to consider joining the Media Ethics Council. I would rather this be the course of action than forcing government to act. If other media houses think they are above self-regulation and refuse to co-operate with their colleagues in the Media Ethics Council, then the government will assist to provide one.”
This is what Rupiah told Parliament yesterday. But what does it amount to? And who is he talking about?
This amounts to a threat, blackmail or coercion. It amounts to forcing those who are not members of the Media Ethics Council of Zambia (MECOZ) to join this body. And Rupiah is certainly referring to The Post because it is one of the few, if not the only major media house, that is not a member of the MECOZ.
No one – not even Rupiah himself – will force us to join MECOZ against our will. And this decision of ours is guided and protected by Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia which reads: “Except with his own consent, a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to impart and communicate ideas and information without interference, whether the communication be to the public generally or to any person or class of persons, and freedom from interference with his correspondence. Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a law shall not make any provision that derogates from freedom of the press. Nothing contained in or done under the authority or any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of this Article to the extent that it is shown that the law in question makes provision: that is reasonably required in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health; or that is reasonably required for the purpose of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons or the private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of the courts, regulating educational institutions in the interests of persons receiving instruction therein, or the registration of, or regulating the technical administration or the technical operation of, newspapers and other publications, telephony, telegraphy, posts, wireless broadcasting or television; or that imposes restrictions upon public officers; and except so far as that provision or, the thing done under the authority thereof as the case may be, is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.”
And for all the derogations permitted under the Constitution, we have more than adequate laws in our statutes and common law to deal with that. We have criminal defamation laws in our Penal Code and our courts of law have more than demonstrated ability to deal with civil cases of defamation.
So, what is it really that Rupiah and his friends are seeking in trying to force us to join MECOZ? It is definitely something that falls outside the permissible derogations that Rupiah and his friends are seeking. And they want to abuse their legislative powers to do that which three regimes before them – under which The Post has operated – have not done.
But what Rupiah and his friends should know is that we sincerely and deeply believe in the freedom of the press. And we know from experience that press freedom in this country has not worked as well in practice as it has done in speech. And since informed public opinion is the most potent of all restraints upon mis-government, continued control by the government of the media in general through its agents like those of MECOZ and its direct ownership of newspapers, radio and television stations cannot be regarded otherwise than with grave concern.
What Rupiah should realize is that The Post will never be blackmailed into doing things it doesn’t believe in. We believe in press freedom and nobody forced us to do so. A belief should be based on reasoning, on the development of thought and feelings. The two things are inseparable.
If you have to accept things because you are told they are a certain way, you can’t argue or reason them out. Moreover, if the main argument used is reward or punishment – punishment more than reward – then it is impossible to develop the reasoning and feelings that could be the basis of a sincere belief.
We really think this is a bad way to develop any kind of deep conviction in a human being. We have never been able to imagine how a belief might be based on something that is inspired by fear of something or by a reward. We believe that people’s beliefs should be based on understandable reasons and the intrinsic value of their actions.
We believe that what’s done out of fear of punishment or in search of reward isn’t entirely kind or noble. It isn’t really worth of praise, admiration or esteem. What we have done, what we are doing, has never and is not motivated by the idea of punishment. It can only be explained by deep conviction. Conviction is what makes martyrs. We don’t think anybody becomes a martyr simply because he expects a reward or fears punishment. We don’t think anybody behaves heroically for such a reason. People who do something out of fear generally fear the fire, the martyrdom and the torture even more. They don’t dare defy them.
We are motivated by something more inspiring than fear of punishment. We think it’s a great merit for a man to give up everything he has, even his life, for an idea and to fight, knowing that he may be annihilated, but he upholds the idea, the moral value, so firmly that he defends it with everything he has without expecting a reward.
Our ideas on press freedom and self-regulation are very clear. Our convictions on these issues are very deep, our decisions are very resolute. We are ready to face up to the most difficult situations.
Rupiah shouldn’t cheat anybody that he believes in a free press, in self-regulation. He doesn’t. One who believes in self-regulation cannot force someone to join an organization that he doesn’t want to join. One who believes in self-regulation cannot think of regulating ‘self-regulation’ simply because one media institution has refused to become a member of MECOZ. This is a contradiction which makes one’s claim of believing in self-regulation hypocritical and appears to be based on ignorance of what self-regulation means. If Rupiah understands what self-regulation means, he would know that self-regulation does not begin and end with joining MECOZ. Self-regulation starts with the individual journalist and organization he works for, if any. It has very little to do with media councils. The United States media regulates itself, but it has no media councils. The attempts to set up media councils in many states of the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s failed and were abandoned because they were found to be unprogressive or retrogressive and stifling to the media.
The Post is regulating itself within the provisions of our Constitution and a myriad of other repressive media laws that are still on our statute books.
If Rupiah and his friends want to enact a legislated MECOZ, they should just go ahead and do so and stop using The Post’s refusal to voluntarily join MECOZ as a scapegoat. Moreover, if there has to be any self-regulation under MECOZ, membership to MECOZ should be voluntary. If not, one cannot say there is any self-regulation under MECOZ. Membership to MECOZ is voluntary and not mandatory. We have a choice to associate or not to associate with MECOZ. But Rupiah and his friends should know that there is very little that they will achieve, politically or otherwise, with a legislated media council than they have been able to achieve with the current repressive media laws. Anyway, desperation and ignorance sometimes lead to wild illusions and dreams.
But again, we refer Rupiah and his friends to the very wise advice of Nelson Mandela: “A bad free press is preferable to a technically good subservient press. None of our irritations with the perceived inadequacies of the media should ever allow us to even suggest faintly that the independence of the press could be compromised or coerced.”
Clearly, few would argue that the news media in Zambia always carry out their functions responsibly. They are sometimes sensational, superficial, intrusive, inaccurate and inflammatory. The solution to all these deficiencies of our media is not to devise laws or put up some legislated media council, but to broaden the level of public discourse so that citizens can better sift through the chaff of misinformation and rhetoric to find the kernels of truth.
We believe that as soon as our press begins to accept to be forced into becoming members of MECOZ, it will suffocate itself under the blankets of its worst pretensions.
We exalt everyone to meditate on these issues carefully and truthfully and with broadmindedness.
What we have said on this issue are ideas born from the experience of our struggles in the media, from the experience we have lived through, from sleepless eyes that try to see the evolution of events – are our convictions. We must nurture values. There is no alternative; authentic values are those practiced in the greatest freedom.
Rupiah and his friends are trying to come up with all sorts of repressive measures to control citizen views and actions because they are shaping a country or a nation which they themselves are scared of.
Our battle is not only a battle for survival, it is not just surviving for the sake of surviving, no. It is a battle to take part in the struggle for a better country, a better nation, to participate in the struggle along with our people. We think that the idea of the future nation, country is the most important and most noble idea that any progressive citizen of this country can harbour. Progressive people have always fought for the future. And to fight for the future does not mean to avoid doing every day what must be done for the present. It is a sacred duty to do all that can be done within each person’s reach.
Labels: RUPIAH BANDA
posted by MrK @ 5:46 AM
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