Media practitioners oppose IBA directive
By Staff Reporter
ZAMBIA Institute of Independent Media Alliance (ZIIMA) says the directive by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to radio and television stations to submit recordings of their programming every two weeks is an affront to media freedoms.
ZIIMA president Jajah Coulibaly said that the decision must be rescinded immediately as the unreasonable measure was meant to destruct the media houses.
And the Media Institute of Southern Africa, MISA Zambia chapter has described as illegal, the directive by IBA to radio and TV stations to be submitting content every two weeks.
MISA-Zambia chairperson Helen Mwale said it is not stated anywhere in the IBA Act compelling media houses to submit broadcast material every two weeks.
“What the IBA should do for now is to ask government to procure the monitoring equipment which will help monitor radio and TV stations across the country,” she said.
Meanwhile, Coulibaly has said that this directive will be costly to the media and entails that the media will not be operating their daily duties independently in fear of been called or sanctioned by IBA.
“It is shameful that IBA wants to usurp all the powers and begin to behave like a complainant, arbitrator, jury and judge in addition to their role of a regulator,” he said.
Coulibaly has appealed to Information minister Dora Siliya to address this disregard of the little professional freedom being enjoyed by the media houses.
Mwale advised radio and TV stations to ignore the IBA directive as it would be costly to the already struggling media houses in the country.
