Kenyan media gag law lesson for Fiji

THOSE fretting over Fiji's proposed "media promulgation" law (what happened to its promised unveiling last month?) ought to consider the latest chilling of press freedom in Kenya. President Mwai Kibaki has signed into law a draconian Communications Amendment Act that will curb press freedom. According to a BBC dispatch about the development:

The law gives the Kenyan authorities the power to raid media offices, tap phones and control broadcast content on grounds of national security. Kibaki said he had carefully considered the journalists' concerns but added press freedom must go hand in hand with responsibility. He said the bill was crucial for Kenya's economic development.
In a statement, Kibaki added that regulating the electronic media would promote and "safeguard our culture, moral values and nationhood". The Kenyan Communications Amendment Bill gives the state power to raid media houses and control broadcast content.

Pictured: Kenyan journos protest against the new media law - Daily Nation.

The Fiji Media Council has called for public submissions on the future of the council and its self-regulatory procedures. The deadline is January 16. Café Pacific hopes that this belated, long overdue review will add a constructive and level-headed dimension not too late to have some sobering influence on the regime's planned "catch all" state regulatory framework. One of three people named to conduct the review - Transparency International Fiji chair Suliana Siwatibau - has called for an urgent national feedom of information law in response to a proposed crackdown on state whistleblowers. Write to: Public Submissions, PO Box 11852, Suva, Fiji. Email: mediac@connect.com.fj

• Kenyan 'media gag' law approved
• Fiji Media Council review submissions now open
• Hypocrisy over state transparency in Fiji - Fiji Times
  

Making the Fiji media more transparent

IS FIJI well served by its Media Council? Not proactive enough, say some. Not visible enough, say others. Has the complaints process been rigorous enough? Is it really doing its job on behalf of media freedom? Is the relationship with the industry too cosy in the public mind? For self-regulation to work fairly and in a balanced way, it has to be seen to be genuinely working in the interests of all stakeholders in the Fourth Estate - and that includes the grassroots public, not just the owners, publishers and broadcasters. One of the more reflective Fiji journalists to emerge in the country's moment of need is Fiji Times associate editor Sophie Foster who gave a thought-provoking speech at the annual awards of the University of the South Pacific's regional journalism programme. While presenting a measured overview of how hell-bent the regime is on pushing through the misguided media law promulgation - and it is all about drafting a law before consultation - Foster said it was about time the self-regulatory Media Council was reviewed:

We suggest a far better approach, and one that will not end up costing the government anything, is to review the Media Council itself, including ways to streamline its processes and make its complaints mechanism more proactive and efficient – and ultimately more effective.
We believe that self-regulation is the way to go. But we also recognise that our detractors believe that self-regulation makes the industry a law unto itself. It is necessary to remove these fears and allay all suspicions in this regard.
As such, the media must make itself more transparent and more accessible to members of the public.

Ironically, this view echoes a conclusion I had reached in a paper - Freedom of the gatekeepers - comparing the 2007 reviews of the NZ Press Council and the Fiji media (Anthony report) presented at the Public Right to Know 7 conference in Sydney in mid-October.

• Time to review the Fiji Media Council
• Freedom of the gatekeepers
• Major Neumi Leweni's view - "Media freedom and constitutional guarantee"