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Zambian journalists issue int'l alert on gov't threats to regulate industry

Xinhua, April 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Journalists in Zambia on Thursday issued an international alert on government's threats to introduce statutory regulation of the profession.

On Tuesday, Information and Broadcasting Minister Chishimba threatened that the government will be forced to introduce statutory regulation of the media because it was evident that the industry has failed to regulate itself.

The Zambian minister said the print media has failed to regulate itself through a media body that was formed to regulate the industry and that government will have no option but to introduce statutory regulation.

But the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chapter said it has received with concern remarks by the government spokesperson threatening statutory regulation of the profession.

"The remarks are saddening as there is an already hostile operating environment for the media in Zambia evidenced by the increase in political violence against journalists, legal and other persecution as well as several laws inimical to the freedom of the press," Hellen Mwale, the organization's chairperson said.

She added that this was not the first time the government was issuing such threats of statutory media regulation, adding that the threats amount to a call for a de facto censorship of the media by a government that purports to be democratic.

"We condemn the threats by the chief government spokesperson and we call on the president to clear the government's position on media freedom in Zambia especially that the government campaigned on a platform of further liberalizing the media industry in Zambia,' she said.

"MISA has since issued an international alert to all cooperating partners, human and media rights organizations as well as multilateral organizations because the continued threats against the media are also an affront to democracy," she added.

In 2009, the previous government's plans to introduce statutory regulation of the media were thwarted by various stakeholders, a move that resulted in the media introducing a self-regulatory mechanism by the establishment of the Zambia Media Ethics Council which was officially launched in 2012. Endit