Addressing journalists at a workshop on media self-regulation in Gweru
recently, the MDC’s director of information, Luke Tamborenyoka, said
journalists must not see their quest for press freedom as isolated but
should unite with other progressive forces to bring about full-fledged
democracy in the country.
Tamborenyoka told participants that the MDC -along with the generality of
Zimbabweans- has been a victim of government’s stranglehold on the
media, as it has been denied access to state-controlled media.
He said the MDC believes that journalists, like other professionals
such as lawyers and doctors, should be allowed to regulate their own
profession, adding that the party also believes statutory regulation
inhibits freedom of expression and is open to abuse by politicians.
"We are very clear that as MDC we believe in self-regulation; we
believe in a voluntary media council. We believe that government is a
demon which must be exorcised out of the media; that journalists must
be left to protect and regulate themselves. But we are not saying that
they must do that recklessly; they must do it within the confines of
the law. But we believe that government has nothing; must have nothing
to do with media regulation,"
he stated
Tamborenyoka said the coming into force of Constitutional Amendment
number 19, which provides for the formation of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission, means that the MIC is now a legal nullity.
He said he is surprised that journalists continue to legitimize the
existence of the MIC by paying registration fees, adding that although
the proposed Zimbabwe Media Commission is another statutory body,
journalists have a chance to be well represented if they lobby members
of the house of assembly to ensure that people who best serve their
interests are chosen on the Commission.
"The correct legal position is that the Media and Information
Commission is now a legal nullity. It has since been overtaken by a
board which was set up under Constitutional Amendment number 19, and
that was the Zimbabwe Media Commission. The Zimbabwe Media Commission
is a body that is supposed to be set up through Parliament. In other
words, the Committee on Standing Orders and Regulations, which is
chaired by the Speaker of the house of assembly, brings up names and
seconds them to the President whose job is only to choose a chairperson.
"That is the correct legal position and the Zimbabwe media Commission
has since not been constituted, so, unless that happens and before that
happens it means that the Media and Information Commission has since
been outlawed, and it has no reason and no legal status or legal moral
high ground to continue to demand registration fees from journalists
because it is a legal nullity. So what it means is that as of now there
is no legal body.the only legal body is the Zimbabwe Media Commission
which has not yet been constituted, but right now the Media and
Information Commission has no locus standi to continue to extort money
from journalists under the guise of registration," Tamborenyoka said.
Since its inception in 2002, the MIC has largely been seen as
heavy-handed, shrinking the media industry and curtailing the
operations of journalists through victimization and closure of
private-owned media houses seen as hostile to the Zanu PF government.
This has made Zimbabwean journalists fight for self-regulation,
culminating in the launch of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe in
2008.
However, journalists and other stakeholders have decried the Council’s
lack of visibility and initiative. Some of the workshop participants
blamed this on the fact that people who constitute the Council do not
have the interests of journalists at heart.
The workshop was organized by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists.
Zimeye
Post published in: News