BROADCASTING POLICY AND PRACTICE IN AFRICA
BROADCASTINGPOLICY ANDPRACTICE IN AFRICAARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSION
BROADCASTINGPOLICY ANDPRACTICE IN AFRICA
First published 2003 by ARTICLE 19. ARTICLE 19ISBN 1-902598-50-4All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, recorded orotherwise reproduces, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form byelectronic or technical means without prior permission of the copyright owner andpublisher.
CONTENTSAcknowledgementsNotes on AuthorsiiivINTRODUCTION1Chapter 1: EQUITABLE FREQUENCY ALLOCATION7Chapter 2: REGULATORY MODELS FORBROADCASTING IN AFRICA34Chapter 3: AFRICAN REGULATION OFSATELLITE BROADCASTING INTHE ERA OF CONVERGENT ICTS71Chapter 4: MEDIA PLURALISM AND DIVERSITY:A Critical Reveiw of Competing Models114Chapter 5: VIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OFPUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING138Chapter 6: ISSUES IN LOCAL CONTENT OFBROADCAST MEDIA162Annex 1:ACCESS TO THE AIRWAVESPrinciples on Freedom of Expressionand Broadcast Regulation181Annex 2:AFRICAN CHARTER ON BROADCASTING200Annex 3:AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMANAND PEOPLES’ RIGHTSDeclaration of Principles on Freedomof Expression in Africa205REFERENCES214i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSe are deeply indebted to the authors of the publication, who areindividually acknowledged in the Notes on authors. We thank themany individuals and organisations, too numerous to mention, whoprovided valuable advice and information for this publication.This publication was edited by Tawana Kupe who also supervisedthe individual authors and produced and copy edited by John BarkerDirector of ARTICLE 19 Africa Programme. Wallace Chuma a PhDstudent in Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand providededitorial assistance towards the end of the project.WRTICLE 19 gratefully acknowledges the support of the SwedishInternational Development Agency (SIDA) for this publication.Aiii
NOTES ON AUTHORSKatrin Nyman-Metcalf (PhD) is associate professor at Riga GraduateSchool of Law, Latvia, visiting professor at Universities in Estonia andSweden as well as international advisory to the CommunicationsRegulatory Authority in Bosnia-Herzegovina and active as a consultant one.g. telecommunications law.Jill Hills (PhD) is Professor of Telecommunications and BroadcastingPolicy, School of Communication, Design and Media at WestminsterUniversity, United Kingdom.Russel Honeyman is the editor of Africa Film & TV journal andyearbook since 1993.Adolf Mbaine is Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication,Makerere University, Uganda.Francis B. Nyamnjoh (PhD) is Associate Professor, Department ofSociology University of Botswana, Botswana.Nixon Kariithi is Pearson Chair Economics Journalism, Department ofJournalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa.Tawana Kupe (PhD) is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, School ofLiterature and Language Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, SouthAfrica.v
INTRODUCTIONBackground and Contextroadcasting is very important in Africa because a majority of Africansget their information, education and entertainment from primarilyradio and then television. The press tends to have an urban bias and isdependent on literacy. Radio uses more African languages than televisionand is therefore more accessible. However, the influence and role oftelevision has grown among urban dwellers in Africa. Television has lowpenetration because of the high costs of sets, lack of electricity andweak coverage.In the overwhelming majority of African countries, broadcasting hasbeen the most controlled medium for both technical and political reasons.The technological limits to the frequency spectrum and its allocation atboth the international and national level have meant that unlike the press,not just anyone can broadcast. Broadcasting’s ability to reach the majorityof citizens in a country has obvious political implications. Colonialadministrations, which introduced broadcasting to Africa, controlled itand used it for largely political propaganda purposes. Post colonialAfrican governments also followed a policy of control of broadcastingmainly for political reasons. Between 1960s and 1980s when coups wereWest and Central Africa’s most favoured mode of change of government,broadcasting stations were often the first institutions to be taken over bycoup plotters.In the recent democratization processes of the 1990s privatelyowned FM radio stations, where they have been allowed, have been citedas an important factor in giving the opposition a platform during electionsand in ensuring that elections are conducted freely and fairly. In Uganda,Mali and Ghana talk shows and discussions have been influential inproviding a forum for robust political debates. Equally control ofbroadcasting has been cited as an impediment to democratization orpluralist politics. It has also been noted that FM radio stations have tendedto be dominated by popular western music rather than local music orprogrammes in local languages.In most if not all countries in Africa broadcasting has sinceindependence been a monopoly of the state justified on the grounds that itB1
Broadcasting Policy and Practice in Africawas a public service critical to development, the fostering of unity and thepromotion of national culture and identity. To achieve these policy goals,broadcasting was often located in Ministries of Information orBroadcasting and the state broadcaster was answerable and accountable tothe Minister and the State President. This arrangement allowed theMinister and State President a direct say in appointments to boards,management issues and programming content in the ‘national interest’.The national interest was often defined as or meant the political and policychoices of the ruling party. Rarely was there a reference to the ‘publicinterest’ which was more pluralist and inclusive. More often thannot, these institutional arrangements violated the editorial andprogramming independence of the public broadcasters and turned theminto state broadcasters.It could said then that broadcasting policy and regulation used to be‘simple’. Simple in the sense that it seemed self evident that like otherpublic services, broadcasting should be run by the state. In the immediatepost independence period, it seemed also that the tasks of nation buildingand development were clear priorities and governments which had leadthe independence struggle the undisputed leaders. Simple also in the sensethat in many countries, private broadcasting was not permitted and theonly broadcasting entity to regulate was the ‘public’ broadcaster operatingunder the ambit of the government.Liberalization of the AirwavesThe 1990s witnessed the beginnings of changes in broadcasting in Africathat have been described as ‘liberalization of the airwaves’. Liberalizationof the airwaves is a reference to a process that has led to the emergence ofprivate broadcasters and to a much lesser extent and in a very fewcountries, ‘community’ broadcasters. It has also included the emergenceand growth of satellite and subscription or pay services. By 2002, directto home satellite TV had reached 41 countries in Africa.The liberalization of broadcasting, is happening in a context ofpolitical change from military and one party state governments of theperiod after independence to multi party governments. These politicalchanges have been called democratization and are a result of broaderpolitical changes at the international level in which the former socialistand communist governments in East and Central Europe and the former2
IntroductionSoviet Union collapsed and western liberal democracy gained ascendance.The relevance of these changes to broadcasting is that pluralist politics isnow linked to the existence of pluralist and diverse media systems asopposed to government and state monopolies. Freedoms of expression andthe media especially with regards to editorial and programmingindependence have become central issues linked to the provision ofalternative sources of information. New buzzwords of deregulation,commercialization and privatization of broadcasting andtelecommunications became popular and in some people’s mindsimmediate policy choices that would create a new broadcasting landscape.Demands for democratic reforms include demands that statebroadcasters be transformed into public service broadcasters that enjoyeditorial and programming independence, as well as the licensing ofprivate broadcasters to exist in their own right and as alternatives andcompetitors to the public broadcasters.Technologically, the 1990s also witnessed the rapid development ofsatellite broadcasting and the convergence between broadcasting andtelecommunications, which meant the presence in national broadcastingsystems of foreign broadcasters not necessarily subject to local regulation.The rapid development of digital technologies also meant the promise ofmore channel availability, which could in technical terms mean an end tothe problem of limited spectrum availability.It is important to note that the advocates of liberalization of theairwaves have not often thought through the full implications ofliberalizing the airwaves. Many if not most thought that the entry ofprivate broadcasters was sufficient and would result in competition,editorial and programming independence and choices for audiences. Inshort, private ownership is equated to editorial and programmingindependence. Pluralism of stations equated to diversity of programmechoices for audiences. While these equations are understandable in thelight of a history of monopoly of state-controlled broadcasting beingcontrary to editorial and programming independence and to choice foraudiences, it is a simplification that is not borne out by the practice. Theydid not realize that the existence of many broadcasters does notnecessarily mean more choices in programmes for audiences. Privateownership does not exclude editorial controls for political and commercialreasons. They also did not realize that private broadcasters also entered thebroadcasting arena as legitimate commercial activity and would operatethem according to how they could make money even if it meant just3
Broadcasting Policy and Practice in Africaplaying popular music or showing popular television programmesimported from abroad with very little news or locally made programmes,if any.They also did not realize that without transparent regulatorymechanisms licenses could and would be easily awarded to either the richand powerful, or to those linked to powerful politicians or even topoliticians who doubled up as private businesspeople. Finally, they did notrealize that building democratic societies characterized by pluralistpolitics and respect for human rights including freedom of expression,required not only a pluralistic media system, but media diversity as well.Achieving both media pluralism (many media owners and operatorsincluding genuine public service media) and diversity (different mediaowners and operators offering the widest possible range of contentrelevant to needs and wants of audiences as citizens in a democraticdispensation) required deliberate policy development.Broadcasting policy and regulation is no longer going to be ‘simple’.What is actually needed is a different policy regime from that whichexisted in the immediate post independence period in the 1960s and up tolate 1980s. Liberalization requires broadcasting policies which favourdiversity and pluralism. Government can no longer define the role ofbroadcasting as just nation building and development. In line withpolitical changes, broadcasting has to play democratic roles as well.Democratic roles come with the imperatives of respecting and upholdingfreedom of expression and a free flow of information and ideas. Statecontrol and regulation has to give way to independent regulation.Independent regulation requires new institutional arrangements, which areinclusive and transparent.It is important also to point out that the economics of broadcasting ismuch at the fore than in earlier decades. Broadcasting institutions are nolonger just political and cultural institutions but also economicinstitutions. In this respect, the challenge of policy and regulation is toensure that they do not become purely economic institutions to the neglectof their democratic and cultural roles.Therefore, policy and regulatory frameworks have to cover a wholehost of issues.4
IntroductionNew Directions in Policy and RegulationFrameworksFirst, the question of how to create a pluralistic and diverse broadcastinglandscape characterized by different (but complementary) forms ofbroadcasting i.e. public, commercial/private and community. Thisincludes, determining the number of players in the sector as a whole andin each tier given that frequency spectrum is not infinite, but due to recenttechnological developments especially digitalization, channel availabilityhas expanded tremendously. In this regard, technological developmentsshould be harnessed in a proactive fashion to not only increase the numberof players and but also to promote diversity of ownership and content.Second, devising funding mechanisms for the entire system and inparticular public service broadcasting, as funding is critical to survival andto what kind of programming is offered to audiences. Third, creatingindependent, credible, adequately funded and viable regulators, whichensures the achievement of the policy goals and the viability ofbroadcasting. The independent regulators would perform the duties ofallocation of frequency spectrum and licensing and the monitoring ofbroadcasters’ compliance with license conditions, including content issuesand competition, as well as protecting and upholding the editorial andprogramming independence of all broadcasters.Developing new policies and regulatory frameworks necessitates adifferent kind of politics from that of the pre 1990 period and aqualitatively different kind of politics of the post 1990 period, which tendto be characterized by rhetorical affirmations of democratization anddemocracy. Democratization or democracy is often taken to be theexercise of some degrees of political pluralism often in conditions wherecompetition for political power was unfair as institutions had not beensufficiently reformed to play independent roles. The media including thestate broadcaster and the new private broadcaster, often did notnecessarily play impartial roles during elections and in their generalcoverage of currents affairs. The new politics that is required would openthe policy process to all stakeholders and to entrench the notion ofindependent, transparent and credible regulation. To a large extent, this isan essential element of a democratic dispensation.A first step is the institutional separation of policy making andregulation. Such separation means that government and their designated5
Broadcasting Policy and Practice in Africaministers cannot as the ultimate policy makers double up as regulators justas regulators are not policy makers. Separation does not mean there are noprincipled and defined links. Regulators exist by virtue of policy,implement policy and operate in a policy environment defined bygovernments. Because of the institutional knowledge they gather in theregulatory process, regulators should be able to feed into policy processes,including policy reviews.A second step linked to effecting the separation between policymaking and regulation is creating all the institutional arrangements, whichare necessary for regulators to be independent. These arrangementsinclude locating the regulators outside the government ministries, givingthem constitutional guarantees of independence, devising appointmentsystems to governance and management structures that are transparentand exclude representation of political and economic interests and theallocation of adequate financial and human resources to enable credible,effective, efficient regulation. Institutional arrangements should alsoinclude transparent lines of accountability, which do not undermineindependence. There are different ways of achieving such arrangementsand the contributions in this volume refer to some. The SouthAfrican example is often quoted in Southern Africa as a model wellworth emulating.It is important to point out that the intention of this volume is not toprescribe a particular model rather to suggest different models. Ultimatelyis important is not a particular model but whether the objectives of apluralistic and diverse broadcasting system that is accessible, well funded,well managed, viable and responsive to the needs and wants of all thecitizens are achieved.6
Chapter 1EQUITABLE FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONDr. Katrin Nyman-MetcalfAbstracts a global resource, frequency allocation is made at two levels,internationally and nationally. At the international level, which is thefirst step, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is in chargeof frequency allocations to three defined regions.It is the responsibility of each nation to do frequency planning at anational level. In the frequency allocation process, African countriesshould take into account:A the importance of a transparent, open and a participatoryapproach to the decision making process; the application of the principle of fair and equitable use; the existence of independent regulators, operating in a clearpolicy context, to manage frequency allocation; the equitable sharing of frequencies among the three tiers ofbroadcasting, whilst public service broadcasting should beallocated the most effective frequencies to ensure nationalcoverage; the existence of clear, open and transparent frequency licensingcriteria consistent with promoting the goals of pluralism anddiversity of ownership and content; the granting of frequencies for a reasonable length of time toallow users to develop their operations; the active monitoring of frequency use by regulators to ensureactual usage adheres to license conditions. the pricing offrequency spectrum, which differs from country to country, asthis has implications for equitable allocation at the national level; the use of new technologies to increase channel availabilitywhere frequency spectrum is limited.7
Broadcasting Policy and Practice in AfricaIntroductionWhen gazing up at the starry sky on a dark night, space may appearendless, but the radio frequency spectrum, which is found up there, is alimited natural resource. It is a resource that belongs to all of humankindin common and should be used for its benefit in an equitable manner.These fine words not only reflect a beautiful principle but are also theguideline for a very practical and concrete activity: the allocation offrequencies for different uses in all countries on Earth. With moderntechnology there are more ways of using frequencies and of getting moreinformation on to the limited frequencies available, but even so thespectrum is not limitless. Convergence of technologies may mean moreefficient use of the frequency spectrum but also more users needing spacein the spectrum. Consequently, there must be a way to distributefrequencies in a fair and equitable manner so that everybody can enjoythis important resource. This is crucial for broadcasting but also for thedevelopment of other modern means of communication such as mobiletelephony and Internet.As it is a global resource that does not recognise national boundaries,frequencies have to be distributed on a global level, with an equitableallocation between states. In order for the aim of achieving an equitableuse of the frequency spectrum for all humankind to have any real value,the allocation must also be equitable on the national level – within thestates. The international system and its obligations must be transferreddown to the national level and put into practice in a manner that allows thefair and equitable use to permeate to the end users of frequencies.The availability of d
Broadcasting policy and regulation is no longer going to be ‘simple’. What is actually needed is a different policy regime from that which existed in the immediate post independence period in the 1960s and up to late 1980s. Liberalization requires broadcasting policies which favour diversity and pluralism. Government can no longer define .
4 Industry Attitudes towards Multicultural Broadcasting 43 4.1 What is Multicultural Broadcasting? 43 4.2 Multicultural Broadcasting Now 51 4.3 The Issue of Programme Genre 61 4.4 Multiculturalism:Guidelines and Policies 68 4.5 Employment and Multiculturalism 74 4.6 The Future of Multicultural Broadcasting: Industry Views 86
1) Technical aspects on the introduction of digital terrestrial and multimedia broadcasting. 2) Information on standardized broadcasting systems in digital terrestrial and multimedia broadcasting networks, and some guidance on their implementation. 3) References to normative documents (standards, technical specifications, reports, recommendations
broadcasting to minority language development what role does Scottish Government see for Gaelic in public service broadcasting? The Chairman welcomed Margaret Mary Murray, BBC ALBA, and Donald Campbell, MG ALBA, to address the conference. 5 R eport from Gaelic Broadcasting Conference, Edinburgh, 15 March 2016 Donald Campbell MG ALBA and BBC ALBA were delighted to hear people’s views. MG ALBA .
BROADCASTING CORPORATION THIS DEED is made the 7 November 2016 BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY’S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT (“the Secretary of State”) and THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION whose chief office is at Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA (“the BBC”). BACKGROUND (1) The BBC was first incorporated, for a limited period of time, by a Royal Charter .
Guidelines on –Transition from analogue TV to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) –Introduction of Mobile Television Broadcasting (MTV) Identification of –The policy, economic and technology choices –Their potential impact DTTB and MTV introduction Providing many practical examples and references to
Nigeria shall meet local needs without compromising international standards; d. Broadcasting in Nigeria shall provide the entire range of sound and vision services that cater for, and reflect the diverse range of Nigerian cultures and communities through effective distribution of public, commercial and community broadcasting services; e.
Act (FARRA) (Public Law 105-277). Under FARRA the BBG assumed authority for IBB, Voice of America (VOA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), and oversight for three grantees, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The BBG is a diverse and multi-cultural agency that oversees all U.S.
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