[kictanet] Media Council Draft Bill 2010 (Day one discussion)
David Makali
dmakali at yahoo.com
Mon Jan 24 17:18:39 EAT 2011
francis,
the broadcast content advisory council (bcoac) was constituted last year but as
far as i can tell it remains moribund 'because' the regulations proposed and
published by the ministry to give effect to the communciations act of 2009 were
challenged in court, in as far as they proposed to automatically renew the
licences of the current broadcasters and legitimize the previous discriminatory
licencing regime. that suit is pending and is the excuse - or reason - for the
paralysis that the broadcast media finds itself in. apparently, the courts
injuncted the ministry from operationalising the regulations pending the
determination of the case (they are actually 2; one filed in nairobi and
another in nakuru)and thus froze the cck from licencing new electronic media.
so the argument, i guess, is that the BCAC is idle because the regulations are
not in force. but then you wonder why they are earning allowances and occupying
office yet doing nothing if in the first place their own legitimacy is in
question. in any event, the provision for a broadcast content advisory board is
contained in the parent communications act not the subsidiary
legislation/regulations. may be dr ndemo should shade some light on this situ.
david
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________________________________
From: Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com>
To: dmakali at yahoo.com
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Mon, January 24, 2011 4:54:47 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Media Council Draft Bill 2010 (Day one discussion)
Thanks Grace
First - what is the difference between this
-----> http://www.mediacouncil.or.ke/ and the body proposed below?
- I have seen an old story
(http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company%20Industry/-/539550/853208/-/view/printVersion/-/15urpbxz/-/index.html)
that mentions the creation of the Broadcast Advisory Council (according to that
link it was to be in place about one year ago). I have also seen mention of
"Broadcasting Content Advisory Council"
- http://www.cck.go.ke/news/2010/news_09june2010.html - and from there I'd like
to quote:
"...Information and Communications Minister Hon. Samuel Poghisio urged the
Council to move with speed to rid the airwaves of inappropriate programming."
Please bear with me if this seems off topic- but in a sense perhaps this offers
pause for thought on whether a media council will indeed make any difference if
a broadcast content advisory council is YET to show any difference on matters
that IMHO are no-brainers (like reading a recipe - e.g. if the music video is
intended for adult audiences, DO NOT PLAY IT - simple - not rocket science) .
The BCAC was inaugurated in June 2010 - its been six months now and according to
the quote above we really should have seen some difference.
Could someone please provide me with contact details for the BCAC?
On 24 January 2011 13:58, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com> wrote:
Dear All
>
>Thanks Walubengo, Khisa, Cook and Toby for your insights. And just a quick
>response to each of you:
>
> Walu, Yes there is a media policy in place that was passed just before the KCA
>Act of 2008. Unfortunately I do not have a copy and I have checked at the
>Ministry of Information website. It is also not available. But the MCK Bill has
>a basis on the media policy in matters of regulation. So, we are on the right
>track. There is a media council in place. I will not judge its success but I do
>know it has continued to receive complaints from the public. It also has
>conducted several trainings aimed at professionalizing the media.
>
>Khisa, the MCK is one form of control mechanism. There is also the broadcast
>Advisory Council (under CCK) where ordinary people can lodge in their
>complaints/concerns on news and programmes.
>
>Hook, I apologize on that repetition. It should actually read… "interests of all
>sections of society". Please find attached a soft copy of the MCK Bill 2010 for
>ease of reference. You can also access it on http://www.information.go.ke. On
>your suggestions to re-phrase it to capture common morals and ethics, this
>number 2 is in Article 34 (5) of the constitution. At this point, we can only
>make suggestions on the MCK Bill and not on the constitution. But lets see if
>there are possibilities of capturing your concerns in the subsequent dicussions.
>
>In regard to content on some of the FM Stations, there is a Broadcasting
>Advisory Council to take care of this. And this is in addition to MCK which
>deals with complaints regarding media conduct. We will be discussing the
>composition of the Council on day 4 (Thursday this week). I can already tell you
>that religious leaders are not proposed. However, it would be important for you
>to make contributions on which other professions should comprise Council
>Members.
>
>Toby, I agree with your sentiments. However my understanding is that a
>constitution is only meant to provide guidelines. The specifics can be spelt out
>in the Act. And yes some concerns you have raised about registration of
>journalists will be dealt with later in the week. We hope to see your
>reflection(s) on this.
>
>
>Thanks a lot people. Please lets hear more from the rest of the listers.
>
>
>And just a reminder of today's discussion:
>
>
>The purpose of the Media Council Bill:
>
>An Act of Parliament to provide for the realization of the right to freedom of
>expression and freedom of media; for the establishment of the Media Council of
>Kenya; for the conduct and discipline of journalists and the media, and for
>connected purposes.
>
>Article 33 of the Constitution provides for Freedom of Expression, while Article
>34 provides for the freedom of Media. Further in Article 34, sub article 5, it
>states...Parliament shall enact legislation that provides for the establishment
>of a body which shall:
>
>a) be independent of control by government, political interests or commercial
>interests;
>b) reflect the interests of all sections of society; and
>c) set media standards and regulate and monitor compliance with those
standards.
>
>We welcome responses/reflections to the following:
>
>1. Is the purpose (as stated above) satisfactory, or should it be enhanced
>to reflect the provisions in the constitution?
>2. Is this proposed Media Council best placed to perform and fulfill this
>purpose?
>3. Will the proposed Media Council enhance professionalism and growth of
>media in Kenya?
>
>
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--
Francis Hook
+254 733 504561
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