Uganda
Uganda Broadcasters Face New RegulationsPosted Apr 27 2011
Uganda journalists are facing legislation that could regulate broadcast media. This change of regulation comes after Uganda’s Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko believed that broadcasters incited the public to cause violence, according to the East African Journalists Association.
Uganda’s government announced on April 21, its plans to plan a law in parliament to regulate broadcasters. The EAJA also said the new proposal is met with opposition by broadcasters who fear the possible regulation could “undermine media freedom, if done hastily, secretly and without consultations with the stakeholders.”
Broadcasters are also coming under fire from the Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC), which recently told broadcasters that action would be taken against those broadcasters that chose to air material to promote, “culture of violence, ethnic prejudice and public insecurity,” the EAJA reports.
The EAJA story goes on to say: “EAJA Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman said the media in Uganda was already under serious assault from the government with journalists being harassed and intimidated and restrictions being placed on media coverage of the ongoing protests over rising food and fuel costs.”
This is not the first time broadcasters in Uganda have come under fire from the government and UBC. In 2009, the UBC issued new regulations for radio owners and those who sought to join the industry.
Currently, the government has banned live talk shows, yet the government has denied claims that it is trying to silence the media.