[kictanet] Media Bill

Wed May 23 16:16:57 EAT 2007

Wainaina et al,

this thing is quite touchy - judging from the initial
salvos unleashed from both the PS & Waruru K.  I really
would like to also get into the fray but am constrained by
the fact that I have not getten my hands (or mouse) on
either the Media Bills.  

Could someone plse Sambaza(c) the Media Bill as proposed by
the Govt and as proposed by the Media Owners Assosciation? 
And then we can all dive into the ring...

walu.
--- Wainaina Mungai <wainaina at madeinkenya.org> wrote:

> This debate is now on the right track thanks to Brian,
> Alice, Dr. Ndemo and Bill;
> 
> I would ask that the government to consider a structure
> that gives the media representatives greater visibility
> in the Media Council and the Advisory Board e.g. having
> the Chairperson as a member selected by the media or a
> different model that makes them bodies more "media".
> 
> Hoping we can all now work to protect the media from
> government extremes (as the case of Citizen Radio/TV) and
> protect the people of Kenya from the extremes of a
> lawless media (as was in the case of blackout given to
> Martha Karua/Water Ministry and many others). Neither
> side should be using threats or propaganda. 
> 
> 
> ---
> Wainaina Mungai
> 
> Made in Kenya Network
> P. O. Box 72031 - 00200
> Nairobi. 
> Kenya.
> Tel: +254-20-780669
> Cell: + 254-722-811171
> http://www.madeinkenya.org/
> 
> or 
> 
> Community Access Point (Subukia)
> subukia at madeinkenya.org
> http://www.madeinkenya.org/projects/ictother.php
> 
> 
> >  -------Original Message-------
> >  From: alice <alice at apc.org>
> >  Subject: Re: [kictanet] Media Bill
> >  Sent: 21 May '07 22:26
> >  
> >  Dear all
> >  
> >  In my opinion, the justification for our media bill
> would be the policy
> >  vacuum in the media sector and an outdated existing
> legislative
> >  framework characterised by often times conflicting
> laws with regards to
> >  the access and dissemination of information.
> >  
> >  Therefore the  presence of an implementable
> legislative framework allows
> >  for the establishment of,  for example,  professional
> bodies, which
> >  would monitor professional and ethical conduct and
> practices, while
> >  protecting consumers.  The media sector, I am sure
> does agree that the
> >  absence of self and or co-regulatory measures in the
> sector would and
> >  has  resulted in many governments, ours included, to
> consider applying  
> >  sometimes unfavorable/draconian regulatory measures
> (we have seen this
> >  played out in in various aspects/instances)  in order
> to protect Kenyans
> >  rights to dignity, privacy, etc
> >  
> >  I would agree and join Brian in urging the media and
> all stakeholders
> >  including consumer networks to,   quoting Brian, "
> take hold of the
> >  olive leaf extended by this government - and the
> goodwill that is
> >  present at the Ministry - and ensure that we have a
> good if not a  great
> >  Media Act"
> >  
> >  
> >  
> >  best
> >  alice
> >  Note: The above comment are entirely personal and do
> not reflect any  
> >  position of the organisations I am affiliated with.
> >  
> >  
> >  Brian Longwe wrote:
> >  > To all,
> >  >
> >  > I would like to take a little bit of your "airtime"
> and lay down a  
> >  > slightly different perspective with regards to the
> Media Bill that is  
> >  > under discussion. (Although my comments relate to
> any Bill that is  
> >  > put before Parliament.)
> >  >
> >  > First and foremost my personal position is that I
> welcome the move to  
> >  > put a law in place that governs the 4th estate. On a
> recent radio  
> >  > input I emphasized that any sector law has two sides
> to it:
> >  > 1) It defines and protects a particular constituent
> group e.g.  
> >  > Communications Industry (Communications Act '98),
> Childrens Bill etc...
> >  > 2) It protects society and the Kenyan populace in
> general from harm  
> >  > caused by the parties covered under the Act/Bill
> >  >
> >  > Therefore taking these two elements into
> consideration I would  
> >  > encourage that the media fraternity (and all other
> stakeholders) take  
> >  > this opportunity to engage with the process and
> ensure that we put in  
> >  > place a good if not excellent law/Act.
> >  >
> >  > I will give a short story to illustrate my point:
> >  >
> >  > In 1997, the Kenya Communications Bill was published
> - it aimed to  
> >  > regulate, govern and facilitate the growth and
> development of the  
> >  > communications sector. For those of you who recall,
> the first draft  
> >  > was a nightmare and if that is what eventually
> became the law - we  
> >  > would still be living in the dark ages of blind
> control.
> >  >
> >  > There was a lot of activity surrounding this bill. I
> remember a  
> >  > number of public forum discussions that sought to
> provide government  
> >  > with opportunity to shed light on some of the less
> clearer parts of  
> >  > the bill (i.e. most of it) but also to hear from the
> public and  
> >  > stakeholders what their views and opinions were. The
> Institute of  
> >  > Economic Affairs played a key role in a number of
> these fora.
> >  >
> >  > Eventually it became abundantly clear that there was
> a lot of talk  
> >  > but very little action. So a group of non-profits,
> Insitute of  
> >  > Economic Affairs, Econews, FemNet and East African
> Internet  
> >  > Association got together and went clause by clause
> through the draft  
> >  > and came up with a very comprehensive set of
> submissions that  
> >  > addressed what we felt were the key/crucial parts of
> the Bill.
> >  >
> >  > As many of you know, in the commonwealth law system
> any bill of  
> >  > parliament must go through a series of readings.
> This allows both  
> >  > fellow parliamentarians as well as the public to
> provide input along  
> >  > the process. Public input into the process is
> normally handled by a  
> >  > select committee of parliamentarians who are
> responsible for  
> >  > capturing and channeling the inputs into the process
> and where  
> >  > necessary making amendements/changes to the draft.
> >  >
> >  > In our case, we made an appointment to see the House
> committe - at  
> >  > the time chaired by Hon. Shem Ochuodho - and the
> Chair of the EAIA at  
> >  > the. Mr. Suchindranath Aiyer then presented the
> paper to the House  
> >  > Committee. At the end of the presentation our group
> was  
> >  > unceremoniously thrown out (paper, submissions and
> all). I guess that  
> >  > was the governance style of the day (read - KANU).
> >  >
> >  > Nevertheless we didn't give up and decided to use
> all means possible  
> >  > to "squeeze" in our submissions. There were
> breakfast, lunches and  
> >  > cocktails held for parliamentarians - none of which
> seemed to yield  
> >  > much. Eventually it was too late - the Bill had gone
> for 2nd reading  
> >  > - and passed without any changes - now only the
> Minister and  
> >  > President could make any  changes. But we didn't
> give up.....
> >  >
> >  > At the end of the day we were able to find a way of
> getting the draft  
> >  > to the then Minister - Hon. Ntimama. He read through
> our 
=== message truncated ===

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