[kictanet] New Regulations & the Media

Fri Jan 15 16:36:44 EAT 2010

Alice, thanks for giving the bigger picture to regulating the media in a fully digitised environment. I want to believe our media is savvy enough to see these issues of convergence (and hopefully they like that end of the regulations) but are rightly worried about politics. Their response is a natural one in a fledgling democracy. We experience significant freedoms in Kenya, but where the rubber meets the road, things become very grey - just take a close look at trade union governance in Kenya. The poor leadership of COTU, for example, is by government design. 

I think the media need to demonstrate self regulation maturity if there are to obtain popular support (that will eventually help them win political battles). Right now with the close to pornographic broadcasting (that causes a lot of concern to parents) and our still vivid memories of 2008 (when the media failed to internalise that we were in a conflict environment - results that could not verified were reported with action type music in the background and then all that blood and gore) the public will not rush to the support of the media.   

But that said, I would not dismiss the media case off hand. The oppressive political forces are not asleep and government is not apolitical. For example using Section 43 1, can the media independently declare a situation to be an emergency (remember when govt used to underplay famine for political reasons). What if the 'emergency' was of a partisan nature to undermine political opponents (like the shifta wars of the '60s), would be media be obliged to report because the govt has said so?

regards, Wamuyu

________________________________
From: alice <alice at apc.org>
To: wamuyulearn at yahoo.co.uk
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Thu, 14 January, 2010 20:01:14
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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> 
> 
>    --    Barrack O. Otieno
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