Your Excellency

The Freedom of Expression Institute welcomes the Zambian government’s decision to temporarily withdraw legislation for a statutory media council. The FXI concurs with the view of a number of journalists and media organisations in Zambia that the effect of a statutory media council will have a negative effect on media freedom, and therefore support them in rejecting the proposed legislation.

The FXI is mindful of the fact that journalists have a responsibility to uphold journalistic ethics through their professional codes of conduct. These codes have been developed over many years by journalists themselves and they include the obligation to adhere to the principles of fair and factual reporting.

We believe that structures should be put in place which hold journalists accountable for their practices within the context of the accepted professional ethics and standards. We believe too that the public should have recourse to structures which will deal with complaints and adjudicate on matters pertaining to the media.

We believe, however, that these structures should in no way pose a threat to the right of journalists to practice their profession freely, nor should it pose a threat to the freedom of expression rights of citizens, which includes the right to receive and impart information. We believe further that these structures should be voluntary structures that are free from both government intervention and control. Indeed voluntary media councils can be a powerful institution for the regulation of the ethical conduct of journalists for the following reasons:

* Voluntary media councils are self-imposed and as such they display a commitment from journalists to uphold professional standards. The self-imposed nature of the institution means that journalists are obliged to be vigilant about their conduct and the conduct of their colleagues, not with the aim of criminalising their actions, but with the commitment of ensuring that their profession is not brought into disrepute;

* The criteria used by voluntary media councils to adjudicate on matters are drawn up by journalists themselves thus increasing the obligations on them to respect and adhere to these criteria;

* Voluntary media councils involve condemnation by peers on the basis of democratically accepted criteria. We believe condemnation by one’s peers is a powerful self-regulatory mechanism which journalists can neither ignore nor avoid if they wish to continue in their profession.

Contrary to views expressed by the Zambian Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Ernest Mwansa, we do not believe that a statutory media council will promote democracy and freedom of the press. Instead the proposed legislation will have the opposite effect and will in fact have the potential to impede the work of journalists while also extending unacceptable powers to government to determine the boundaries of press freedom and freedom of expression rights in Zambia.

We urge the Zambian government to completely scrap its plans to pass legislation for a statutory media council and instead recognise the Independent Media Council that was established on February 21 this year. We believe this will give concrete expression to the Zambian Government’s commitment to media freedom.
 

Yours faithfully
 

Raymond Louw
Chairperson FXI Executive Committee

cc

Rt. Hon Minister David Mpamba
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services

Mr W Zastrau - Acting Director for Southeastern Africa
South African Department of Foreign Affairs

Zambian Independent Media Association

Media Institute of Southern Africa

International Freedom of Expression Exchange