(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 30 November 2001, the Botswana government published the contents of a draft Mass Media Communications Bill in the government gazette. According to MISA-Botswana, the draft is almost an exact match of another bill which the local media successfully crushed in 1997, aside from a number of omissions on broadcasting issues. MISA-Botswana […]
(MISA/IFEX) – On Friday 30 November 2001, the Botswana government published the contents of a draft Mass Media Communications Bill in the government gazette. According to MISA-Botswana, the draft is almost an exact match of another bill which the local media successfully crushed in 1997, aside from a number of omissions on broadcasting issues.
MISA-Botswana reports that local press groups, worried that the media bill proposed by the government would restrict free and independent reporting, have called for a public meeting to air their concerns and hear the public’s perspective. The meeting will take place on 13 December.
The bill, if passed by parliament, would set up a government-appointed Press Council and require newspapers and local and foreign journalists to register before they can report in Botswana. Also under the bill, senior police officers would have the power to seize any publication. The Press Council – its chair and vice-chair, appointed by the government – would adjudicate on complaints and maintain professional standards. Erring journalists could face up to three years in jail or a hefty fine. Any new newspapers would have to be eight percent-owned by the citizens of Botswana.
According to Reuters’ reports, on Saturday 1 December, Botswana President Festus Mogae said that the government was not trying to control the press through the bill.
