Maravi

Govt is hopeful that self-regulation of media will work – Shikapwasha

Govt is hopeful that self-regulation of media will work – Shikapwasha
By Ernest Chanda
Sun 10 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT

INFORMATION minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha has said the government is hopeful that self-regulation of the media will work looking at the steps the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) has taken in formulating a self-regulatory mechanism. In an interview yesterday, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said looking at the concept paper submitted to him by the committee, he was hopeful that self-regulation would work.

"Well, I met with officials from the Media Liaison Committee and we discussed. I think you remember that they had earlier on submitted a concept paper, which, to us as government looks good. I think we are happy with that arrangement as government and we hope that they will finally come up witha self-regulatory mechanism," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.

"The Media Liaison Committee also told me that they were going ahead with consultations from various countries in the sub-region and I think that is good too. They also told me that they had given themselves up to the end of April to complete the whole process. So, as government we will not push them, we do not hold any ultimatum against them because we are happy with what they are doing."

Asked what would happen to the media regulation bill that the government had prepared, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said that was still a government document.

"That is a government document which has been circulating in various government offices as part of the consultative process and it is now at my ministry. We will not send this draft bill to Cabinet until after there's a failure to a self-regulatory mechanism. But even then we will not push anyone as government because we are hopeful that what you in the media are working towards is achievable," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.

And when asked about the initial ultimatum that the government had given the media fraternity within which they could come up with a self-regulatory mechanism, Lt Gen Shikapwasha claimed there was no ultimatum from the government.

"No, no, there was no ultimatum from government. The ultimatum, came from the media themselves. … Told us that they would work out something within three months. But as government we told them that three months was just too short so we gave them another three months. And that ultimatum would have expired in February. So, we didn't initiate the ultimatum as government, it was the media themselves... As far as government is concerned there is no ultimatum from us and we will allow the media to work out a self-regulatory framework as they have assured us," said Lt Gen Shikapwasha.
In August last year, the government gave the media fraternity a six-month ultimatum in which to devise a self-regulatory system or be regulated by a statutory body.

Towards the end of last year, both Lt Gen Shikapwasha and Vice-President George Kunda maintained that the government would go ahead and regulate the media if they failed to formulate a self-regulatory mechanism.

In the last sitting of Parliament, Vice-President Kunda informed the House during the Vice-President's question and answer session that the government had in fact already prepared a bill to regulate the media.

Last month, media bodies unearthed a scheme where Vice-President Kunda had drafted a Media Regulatory Bill whose contents were dictatorial and draconian to the media fraternity.

The Bill contained provisions, among others, that for any media orgainsation, whether public or private, seeking to employ an editor, that editor should be registered with the Zambia Institute of Journalists and the appointment be ratified by the minister of information.

The bill also contains Vice-President Kunda's own definition of journalism, a three year jail term or K300,000 fine for any journalist found to have misconducted themselves and determined by government officials; and the bill empowers the minister of information to make regulations any time to change the Act in consultation with only three of government-appointed Media Council members.

The media bodies then declared Vice-President Kunda as the most hostile public official towards the media and vowed to take him head-on.

On Thursday last week, a select team of MLC members held a consultative meeting with Lt Gen Shikapwasha in response to the government's plea for further dialogue.

It was at this meeting that Lt Gen Shikapwasha told the MLC that the government had quashed the ultimatum it had given the media fraternity.

Labels: MEDIA, PRESS FREEDOM, REGULATION, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA

posted by MrK @ 4:21 PM