Thursday 24 of June 2010
Zambia: Ministry of Information cautions Media Liaison Committee
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Ronnie Shikapwasha has cautioned the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) to exercise sincerity when dealing with media issues.
Reacting to comments from the MLC spokesperson Amos Chanda, that government had no role in the facilitation of study tours for the media to learn how media regulation was being implemented in the region, Shikapwasha said that his statement was deliberately misunderstood.
“What I said was that government facilitated the tours by discussing with cooperating partners who were in a position to finance the study tours,” he said in a statement issued on 23 June 2010.
He said facilitation does not mean government had a role in the study tours undertaken by the MLC. Shikapwasha alleged that it was unhelpful for Chanda to say that government had sent a parallel team abroad to disrupt the MLC study tours on self regulation.
“ I know not of any such team that travelled abroad. Once again, I wish to appeal to the MLC to exercise sincerity in dealing with media issues”, the Minister said.
He also denied allegations that the government boycotted the World Press Freedom Day for 2010 because it did not provide funds to the organizing committee. “ It is unfair for Media Liaison Committee spokesperson Amos Chanda to accuse government of having boycotted this year’s World Press Freedom Day commemoration simply because the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services did not provide financial support to the organizing committee”, he said.
The Minister said that though he was not present during the commemoration of the same because he was attending 32nd Session of the United Nations Committee on Information, government was represented by a full cabinet minister, Dora Siliya who was acting Minister of Information at the time.
Background
The media in Zambia have formed the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) under which it is seeking to establish a non statutory media regulator. However, the MLC has reached a deadlock with government who have indicated that the proposed self regulation framework will not be effective and have described the proposed Zambia Media Council (ZAMECO) as being equal to the defunct Media Council of Zambia (MECOZ).
However, the process to set up MECOZ was not adequately consultative and The Post was not part of the process. //End//
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Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
Official Email: reagan@misa.org
Private Email: reagan32002@yahoo.com
- June 24, 2010 by MISA
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Source: www.misa.org (received via email alert 24.06.10)