YES, MOVE FAST TO AMEND DRACONIAN MEDIA LAWS

There could be light at the end of the tunnel as the government revisits its freedom of information regime, starting with last week’s lifting of bans on four newspapers – Tanzania Daima, Mwanahalisi, Mawio and Mseto.

According to the recently-appointed Minister for Information, Communications and Information Technology, Mr Nape Nnauye, the newspapers were banned or suspended for publishing articles that were considered to be critical to the government in recent years.

However, the minister went on to say that the relevant laws, specifically the Media Services Act of 2016 as amended from time to time, and which is generally said to be highly restrictive of the publishing industry – “will be reviewed to create a smooth environment for independence mass media housed to operate freely”.

Needless to lay it on thick, this has thrilled mass media stakeholders no end – exciting as it is that a new chapter is about to be written on the freedom of expression in all its forms.

These include (but are by no means limited to) the right to publish and otherwise disseminate information, thoughts and opinions without undue, unwarranted and/or inappropriate restraint or censorship from the authorities of the day,

Indeed, “press freedom” also includes the right of an individual to report objectively, as the right information is very important to societies/communities at large, who are entitled to objective reporting and other forms of dissemination.

So, banning or suspending dissemination of same is breach of the freedoms and rights of the disseminator as well as the targeted person(s).

While Mr Nnauye’s pledge that the draconian policy and regulatory frameworks on the freedoms of speech, information, etc., are to be reviewed and improved upon is a good start, we nonetheless strongly urge that equally drastic measures be taken apace to effectively rectify the anomaly.

As sages have said down the ages, action speaks louder than words – and, the sooner the action, the better.

CELEBRATING ROLE OF RADIO

Yesterday, February 13, was World Radio Day (WRD), so-proclaimed by the Unesco in 2011, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2012.

The Paris-based Unesco is an accredited UN agency that was established in 1945 “to promote the exchange of information, idea and culture” worldwide.

As such, its WRD proposal was just as soon adopted for implementation by the UNGA. This is basically because the radio is “a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity, and also constitutes a platform for democratic discourse,” Unesco says.

Indeed, the radio continues to be one of the most trusted and used mass media organs in the world, with the unique ability to reach the widest audience, and “offering a wide variety of programmes, viewpoints and content (thereby) “shaping society’s experience of diversity; an arena for people to speak out, be represented and heard”.

Tanzania is aware that radio is the most effective and trusted way of delivering public information, and that radio stations provide a diverse selection of programmes that are appropriate for people across the globe. Tanzanians are, therefore, grateful to Unesco and UNGA for World Radio Day.