[kictanet] New Regulations & the Media

Thu Jan 14 20:01:14 EAT 2010

But what happened to the right to receive accurate and honest 
information? On the current coverage of the broadcast regulation, the 
media seems to be focusing on the political/economic self interest 
aspect only rather than the broader interplay between technology, 
markets, government and political self-interest and I have not 
seen/heard or read anything on the benefits to the public, 
(viewers/consumers).

There is also some misrepresentation of for example section 43 1. Some 
of the TV and radio stations have reported that the new regulations will 
limit broadcast and reporting of emergencies: But that section (43 1 of 
the "Kenya gazette supplement number 86 of December 2009) in fact 
compels broadcast service providers to provide notice of public 
emergencies:

'43 1) all broadcasting service providers shall provide a public notice 
of an emergency or a public disaster announcement upon the request of a 
person authorized by the Government'

And did you know that the recent STATUTE LAW (MISCELLANEOUS AMENDMENTS) 
BILL, 2009 *deleted* the much contested section 88 of the Kenya 
Communications Act 1998, which gave the minister powers to "take 
temporary possession of any telecommunication apparatus or any radio 
communication station apparatus within Kenya? If you recall the drama at 
the beginning of the year, when media stuck to reporting, erroneously, 
that this section was contained in the new KCA amendment act 2009, while 
it had been in existence since 1998.

The genesis of the broadcast regulation is not just limited to politics; 
rather, it has been influenced by the rapid evolution of broadcasting 
technology, and especially the recent move from analogue to digital 
which will transform our broadcast landscape beyond recognition. 
Digitisation will enable grater compression of content into what 
spectrum we have available, so scarcity will no longer be the issue for 
new entrants, it will also enable viewers to decide on what content they 
care about to watch or listen to and will depend less on the platform 
used for transmission of the content. The same content can be 
viewed/listened to on mobiles, computers, internet sites, etc other 
factors include bundling of attractive content with advertising, unlike 
analogue, viewers can block the adverts, which may make the traditional 
way of financing content unsustainable, but will make processing 
(technical aspects) of information/content cheaper.

The changes for broadcasters have major implications for regulators, for 
example, while digitisation will introduce more competition, diverse 
market for broadcast content and enhance viewing decision making, issues 
of piracy, abuse of intellectual property (because of the ease at which 
digitisation will provide for copying of content) is likely to rise. 
Further, there will be need for vigilance on market power of bigger 
broadcasters, or new broadcasters, particularly those who have the 
resources to corner the market with say premium content like football 
matches, etc. So it’s not just about politics, there is much much more...

Views expressed are personal and not a reflection of any of the 
institutions/organisations I am affiliated with.

Best, Alice

Leonard Mware wrote:
> Spot on Barak! Tumechoka! The sooner something is done the better, 
> Bwana Ndemo.
>
>
>
>
> --- On *Thu, 1/14/10, Barrack Otieno /<otieno.barrack at gmail.com>/* wrote:
>
>
>     From: Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
>     Subject: Re: [kictanet] New Regulations & the Media
>     To: mleonardo at yahoo.com
>     Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>     Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 12:22 PM
>
>     Bwana Wainaina tumechoka!
>
>     I was just listening to Classic 105 this morning in a matatu and i was
>     ashamed of what i was hearing at 9.00 am, i thought we used to have
>     such programs after 11 PM (late night ) as they were called at this
>     rate life expectancy might as well be reduced to 30 (i have no
>     scientific justification or research to support this). The problem is
>     not freedom, the issue is what to do with the freedom, if i heard Dr
>     Ndemo correctly when he did a press briefing, he mentioned the fact
>     that he had invited all the stakeholders in the media fraternity to
>     deliberate on the issue but they are either reluctant or non-commital,
>     i see the media as a double edged sword, it can liberate and it can
>     kill, can the media council and the media owners get their act right
>     in so far as content regulation is concerned, otherwise we might end
>     up with a scenario akin to the Matatu Industry madness which is
>     holding our nation at ransom. (and by the way did anyone do some
>     research on how much we lost during the two day strike?)
>     We shall overcome
>
>     On 1/14/10, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina at madeinkenya.org
>     <http://us.mc552.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>>
>     wrote:
>     > Hi all,
>     >
>     > When Dr. Ndemo published the new media regulations a few days
>     ago, the
>     > Media Owners complained..... naturally.
>     >
>     > However, there has been no debate on KICTANet and the press seems
>     > unsure on whether to fight this time round.
>     >
>     > I am surprised at the very loud silence on the issue. Is it a sign
>     > there is a major storm brewing?
>     >
>     > Wainaina
>     >
>     > --
>     > Sent from my mobile device
>     >
>     > ---
>     > http://www.bungesms.com <http://www.bungesms.com/>
>     > http://www.madeinkenya.org <http://www.madeinkenya.org/>
>     > http://www.wainainamungai.com <http://www.wainainamungai.com/>
>     >
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>     -- 
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