One of the principle aims of the FXI is to 'foster media diversity'. To this end, the FXI lobbies for the promotion of the greatest possible diversity of media to defect the demographic composition of the country. South Africa has inherited media that largely reflect a society skewed in favour of whites. While a great deal of work has already been done to correct these imbalances in broadcasting (for the FXI campaign on broadcasting, click here) the print media is still characterised by a concentration of (mainly white) ownership. The FXI has in the past argued for the introduction of tight cross-media ownership rules (for the FXI submission on cross-media ownership to the IBA Triple Enquiry, click here)

In 1998, the FXI also responded to the Competition Bill, which was put out by the Department Trade and Industry. The submission was made with the intention of ensuring that it would be applicable in instances where monopolistic, anti-competitive behaviour was practised by the media. While by no means being a guarantor of media diversity, competition legislation can be used to ensure that the further concentration of the media does not go unchallenged. For the FXI's submission on the Competition Bill, click here.

Lobbying around the promotion of media diversity in South, including the establishment of a Media Development Agency and the implementation of a media diversity-friendly Competition Bill.

The FXI supports the idea of establishing a statutory Media Development and Diversity Agency to foster media diversity. The establishment of the MDDA (which was previously called the Media Development Agency) was mooted by a Communications Task Group called COMTASK, set up by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki's office to investigate the state of government communications. COMTASK found that the lack of media diversity represented a significant access to information bottleneck, and proposed the MDA as one corrective measure. The FXI then embarked on a campaign with the National Community Media Forum (NCMF) for the establishment of the MDA. For more information on this campaign, click here. In July 1999, the FXI and NCMF held a national seminar on the need for, and role of, a Media Development Agency. The following papers were delivered at the seminar:

• Joel Netshitenzhe, CEO, Government Communication and Information System - The Need for and Role of a Media Development Agency
• Paul Murschetz, Public Voice Lab - Press Subsidy Schemes in Europe: Theory and Practice.
• Mark Weinberg, Print Media Diversity Fund - The Fund and the MDA.
• Clive Emdon - Independent Media Diversity Trust - Sustainability of community media and the MDA .
• Ferial Haffajee - presentation of research on the South African press and the MDA .
• Tracey Naughton - presentation of research on South African broadcasting and the MDA.

The seminar broke into three groups. Click below for reports from each group.

• Funding for the MDA , supportive media policy and international contacts.
• Structure and function of MDA: print .
• Structure and function of MDA: broadcasting and new media .
  

For a report on the seminar, from the FXI quarterly publication Update, click here.

Since then, the MDDA Act has been passed into law, following public hearings held by the Portfolio Committee on Communications. Click here for relevant documents:

• MDDA Act
• Position Paper on MDDA, produced by the Government Communication and Information System
• Other documents of interest on the MDDA
  

The Community Media Policy Research Unit participated in the Portfolio Committee hearings on the MDDA Bill. For more information, click here.

The FXI aims to ensure that the MDDA is established free of vested interests, that funders make an on-going financial commitment to the MDDA and that all processes around the establishment of the MDDA are transparent and open to participation.