• • • • • • Neither existing nor prospective legislation make a clear distinction between public, private and community broadcasting, as provided for the Protocol and Declarations. Nor does it provide for the regulation of the public broadcaster by an independent authority accountable directly to the public, which would be a necessary mechanism for ensuring the NBC represents and promotes diversity. Legislation promoting the development of infrastructure and establishment of funding mechanisms that encourage diversity are confined to the telecommunications sector. For example, the Universal Service Fund provided for in the Draft Communications Bill encapsulates the kind of proactive mechanisms called for in the Protocol and Declarations, and yet this measure or similar ones are not applied to broadcasting and other sectors of the media. The prioritisation of telecommunications in the pending Draft Communications Bill is not in keeping with the SADC Protocol and AC Declaration, which attach equal importance to all forms of communication. The Draft Communications Bill does not recognise the distinct nature of broadcasting, and the important role broadcasting has in promoting diversity in Africa. If the SADC Protocol and AC Declaration prioritise any medium, it is broadcasting. Both the Protocol and Declarations pay particular attention to the importance of community media, and yet the development of community media is not prioritised through existing and prospective legislation. The legal criteria for appointing the members to the boards of public media and communications regulators make no concrete provision for the representation of less empowered groups such as rural and disabled people, women and children. Therefore these bodies are less likely to promote the interests of these groups, and therefore less likely to promote genuine media diversity. None of the existing and prospective legislation covered in the study provide for the use and promotion of indigenous languages. Editorial independence (see Table 4, Appendix 3) The main principles of the Protocol and Declarations with regard to this theme are as follows: • • • • The SADC Protocol defines independent media as “media which are editorially independent of their owners and of government, be they private, public or community based”. There have to be measures in place safeguarding media from undue interference in editorial decision-making, particularly of an economic and/or political nature. Editorial independence stems from the boards of public media, and media regulators being similarly free from political and economic interferences, as boards appoint senior editorial staff and make policies regarding editorial content, as do broadcasting regulators. However, for media to enjoy editorial independence, boards and regulators should not interfere in the day-to-day editorial decision-making. Therefore this section on Editorial Independence should be read together with the section on the Independence of Boards and Regulators. Journalists need to be able to carry out their work free from fear and threat of intimidation. The main findings in the analysis are that: • • • There are few legislative measures currently in place safeguarding any media from interference in editorial matters. The editorial independence of public media is not guaranteed, as legislation provides the Minister with the power to influence editorial decision making either directly (by way of regulations that enable the Minister to determine media content and/or the appointment of key editorial staff) or indirectly through the boards and regulators that the Minister appoints. One mechanism provided for in the AC Declaration for increasing the independence of regulators and the boards of public media is for them to be accountable directly to Namibia Media Law Audit – report final draft 24