[kictanet] New Regulations & the Media

Thu Jan 14 20:39:12 EAT 2010

Alice Best,

Thanks so much for this. 

The day in this beloved Nation of ours we will marry "Letter" and " Spirit",

will be the day we'll make the big leap to move this country forward to 
prosperity and greatness for posterity..

Best..
Harry

-----Original Message-----
From: kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+harry=comtelsys.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of alice
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 8:01 PM
To: harry at comtelsys.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] New Regulations & the Media

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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>     Administrative Manager
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