Botswana Broadcasting Policy, which aims to achieve a diverse broadcasting system, has been presented to Parliament for approval. Communications, Science and Technology Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said the broadcasting industry was growing, adding that the time had therefore come to provide a policy framework to underpin laws and regulations.
Venson-Moitoi said the draft policy had been developed with the aim to achieve a diverse broadcasting system, which serves the needs of the publics diverse shades of opinions, beliefs, rights, views, interests and tastes. In addition, she said, the policy would promote freedom of expression and public participation as well as reflect, safeguard, enrich and strengthen the identity, culture and character of Botswana. She said it would also contribute to the growth of the economy and showcase Botswanas story to the rest of the world.
Venson-Moitoi explained that these goals would be achieved by keeping a three-tier system for broadcasting: Public, private and community, as stated in the Broadcasting Act of 1998. A proposal for community broadcasting services has been incorporated into the Botswana Broadcasting Policy. In particular, she said, a public broadcasting service should be a forum to reflect issues of the communities of Botswana and should be accessible to most of the population, including those with special needs.
The public broadcaster should set the standard for broadcasting in the nation and, most importantly, be funded in a reliable way which protects it against interferences; normally in whole or part through the state revenue, she said. Regarding private broadcasting services, she said, they should offer news and current affairs programmes, which must be comprehensive, unbiased and independent taking cognisance of the variety of services. It shall be necessary to ensure that available frequencies for private broadcasting services be awarded through a competitive process and decisions on applications be made through a transparent process and according to clear criteria, she said.
On community broadcasting, Venson-Moitoi said community broadcasters would be accountable to the community they served through organisational structures, which ensure control by community. In addition, it should offer community-driven programmes with active participation of the community in their initiation, production and presentation that must include local news and information relevant to the community. They should be specifically sensitive to the language, traditions, beliefs and culture of their communities and the broader national interests, she said. She said government expected a community broadcaster to be sustained through local finance. Donor funding, however, would be allowed subject to review every two years. In respect of relay live broadcasts from outside Botswana, she said, the community broadcasters would be regulated through the licence conditions.
We expect all broadcasters to respect accepted professional standards of reporting news truthfully, being sensitive in using material with violence and sex, ensuring balance in controversial issues and respecting the privacy of individuals, she said. Local content should be enhanced in all tiers of broadcasting, adding that the broadcasting and production industry would be encouraged to agree on voluntary quotas for Botswana content. We further propose that the majority of local productions should be outsourced to independent producers, she said.
As a principle, she said, frequencies should be distributed in a fair manner among the three tiers of broadcasting. We also need to give priority to signal distribution systems which enable affordable reception to the public, and which give access to all operators, she added.
Regarding ownership, she said: We wish to limit controlling of ownership of broadcasting services to avoid monopoly over the opinion market. She said minimum shareholding by citizens would be defined with the possibility of higher foreign shareholding if it was in the interest of the development of the industry. However, she said, services wholly owned by foreign entities would not be licenced.
She informed Parliament that it was also proposed to establish public complaints procedures, adequately publicised and easily understood by the public. She emphasised that the proposed policy would be an important step towards further enhancing Botswana’s democracy.
(Source: Botswana Government website)
