Call To Spell Out Media Bill

IT is the prerogative of every legislative body of any nation to put forward a motion in its chambers and discuss and if need be turn it into a statutory law.

The motion currently being discussed in the National Council is seeking to put in place a law that will enable the control of the media by the government. But my main concern is that the envisaged law may end up being too restrictive of the media to such an extent that it obliterates the positive role that has been played by the media during the past 17 years of Namibian independence.Media are very important when it comes to the issues of transparency and accountability in the Government as well as for exposing the abuse of state resources.I have every reason to believe that things would not be as positively the same in Namibia if there were no vibrant media in this country.The qualities of our national leaders have played a role, but so did the media, in bringing about the positive developmental changes that we have been witnessing in the past 17 years.The media are an indispensable part of productive participatory democracy.So far it is not yet clear what this bill is aiming at.Maybe the Parliament must explicitly spell out this bill so that the nation can be in a position to say whether it is a good bill or not.A lot of media laws in many other countries are increasingly becoming restrictive of the media to such an extent that nothing much positive will come from them.One of the examples of the provisions of some media laws is that reporters are required to reveal their sources and can be called as prosecution witnesses.Are the media not supposed to be the platform for people’s questions to their leaders and society at large? Why would it be needed for the media to reveal their sources? Is government or affected members of community not supposed to respond to the reports to put the record straight? If a report in the media concerns an alleged criminal activity, then is the State not supposed to use the media report to do the investigation and verify the existence of the alleged crime or its non-existence? In the absence of vibrant media, are we likely to be a nation living on half-truths, lies and propaganda since there will be no effective means through which people can get access to what is happening around them and which may actually be affecting them? If the media operators blunder I am sure that there are effective legal and constitutional procedures for the aggrieved and offended to seek satisfying remedies.Maybe what we need to do in this country is to reform the justice system so that those of us who are aggrieved by the unethical activities of the media operators can get timely justice! D Uuyuni waKamati MarientalBut my main concern is that the envisaged law may end up being too restrictive of the media to such an extent that it obliterates the positive role that has been played by the media during the past 17 years of Namibian independence.Media are very important when it comes to the issues of transparency and accountability in the Government as well as for exposing the abuse of state resources.I have every reason to believe that things would not be as positively the same in Namibia if there were no vibrant media in this country.The qualities of our national leaders have played a role, but so did the media, in bringing about the positive developmental changes that we have been witnessing in the past 17 years.The media are an indispensable part of productive participatory democracy.So far it is not yet clear what this bill is aiming at.Maybe the Parliament must explicitly spell out this bill so that the nation can be in a position to say whether it is a good bill or not.A lot of media laws in many other countries are increasingly becoming restrictive of the media to such an extent that nothing much positive will come from them.One of the examples of the provisions of some media laws is that reporters are required to reveal their sources and can be called as prosecution witnesses.Are the media not supposed to be the platform for people’s questions to their leaders and society at large? Why would it be needed for the media to reveal their sources? Is government or affected members of community not supposed to respond to the reports to put the record straight? If a report in the media concerns an alleged criminal activity, then is the State not supposed to use the media report to do the investigation and verify the existence of the alleged crime or its non-existence? In the absence of vibrant media, are we likely to be a nation living on half-truths, lies and propaganda since there will be no effective means through which people can get access to what is happening around them and which may actually be affecting them? If the media operators blunder I am sure that there are effective legal and constitutional procedures for the aggrieved and offended to seek satisfying remedies.Maybe what we need to do in this country is to reform the justice system so that those of us who are aggrieved by the unethical activities of the media operators can get timely justice! D Uuyuni waKamati Mariental