By Nompilo Simanje to the public but does not include book publishing. BACKGROUND Botswana gazetted its Media Practitioners’ Association Bill on 21 June 2022. From the memorandum, this Bill seeks to achieve the following objectives: • To establish a Media Practitioners’ Association in order to promote and protect the freedom and independence of the media. • To ensure the maintenance of high professional standards by making provision for the establishment of the Complaints and Disciplinary Committee which will receive, investigate and deal with complaints involving the media. • To provide for the registration of journalists and media enterprises and the professional bodies in the media fraternity Of note is the fact that the Bill is repealing the existing Media Practitioners’ Act thus also repealing the existing Media Council and replacing it with the Media Practitioners Association. This law also establishes several institutions or structures in the regulation of the media and these include the Media Practitioners Board, The Ethics and Conduct Committee, The Complaints and Disciplinary Committee and also The Appeals Committee. ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED LAW To begin with, Clause 2 of the Bill is the Interpretation clause which defines several terms and of note are the following: • Journalism is defined as the collecting, writing, editing and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers and magazines, radio and television broadcast including any other electronic means. This definition encompasses all forms of media including online media; hence the definition of a journalism includes online media or online publishing and blogging. • A journalist is defined as any person who is recognised as such by the Association upon the fulfilment of any criterion as may be set out by the Association. The law is therefore leaving the definition of journalist open to interpretation by the Association. It is MISA’s position that in defining who should be a journalist the Association should consult with media stakeholders. • Media means the production of electronic and print media for circulation Clause 4 of the Bill provides for the functions of the Association which include its role to register in such a manner as may be prescribed, professional bodies responsible for the training of journalists and the certification of the competencies of journalists. The term professional body was defined as an organisation with members who practice a profession in which the organisation maintains an oversight of the knowledge, skills, conduct and practice of the media profession and includes: • Botswana Editors Forum • Media Institute of Southern AfricaBotswana Chapter • Botswana Press Council • Botswana Media and Allied Workers Union The Association is also expected to ensure national security, public order and public health are safeguarded in accordance with applicable law. This provision is concerning as there is a potential that these principles will interfere with the functions of the Association. It is common cause that aspects like national security and public order have been relied on to unjustifiably infringe on fundamental rights including access to information and media freedom. Providing an obligation on the Association to safeguard national security and public disorder is therefore problematic. Such aspects should be appropriately addressed by applicable laws and not necessarily through the Media Practitioners’ Association Bill. It is plausible that in Clause 6 of the Bill, the Association shall be independent and separate from the government and that it shall operate without any political interference or influence. Be that as it may be, it will be important to ensure that safeguards are put in place for the realisation of this clause, including that the Executive should not have any role to play in the appointment or dismissal of any of the position holders within the association’s structures and committees. This will also include that any appointments should be done through nominations and interviews open to the members of the association. With regards to termination of membership, Clause 8 of the Bill notes that one ceases to be a member upon failure to pay annual fees, violation of Code of Ethics, among others. With regards to these two issues, it is MISA’s position that the annual fees should be reasonable and within the reach of many. Further, where a member is alleged to have Analysis of the Botswana Media Practitioners’ Association Bill, 2022 3