U.S. Britain fund Media Council Resuscitation

After a decade of inactivity, the Media Council of Malawi was officially launched in Mangochi on Saturday, February 17.  At the launch, stakeholders adopted the Media Council Constitution and elected five individual and institutional members of a governing council, comprising the Chairman Patrick Semphere, the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA), Nation Publications Limited and Capital Radio.

USAID contractors Casals and Associates implemented the resuscitation of the Council with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).  MCC is a U.S. government supplementary aid program launched by President George W. Bush to assist developing nations that invest in their people, promote economic freedom, and demonstrate good governance.  The British High Commission also contributed K2 million for the revival of the Council.

During the launch, speakers paid tribute to the renaissance of the Media Council.  The  Council plans to promote freedom of the press in Malawi, assist in ensuring that journalists adhere to professional standards, and create a functioning dispute resolution mechanism for cases involving the media.

United States Embassy Public Affairs Officer, Mitchell Moss congratulated media practitioners in Malawi for fulfilling a responsibility of forming the Council and urged them to ensure its independence.  Commenting on press freedom, Moss said, as part of the MCC Threshold Program, the Malawi government committed to enact the Access to Information Bill and modify the Communications Act, to provide for the independence of public broadcasters.  Moss said: “All the great accomplishments of this government are undercut when the independence of public media comes under question.”

Acting British High Commissioner Wendy Freeman said a media council is a vital institution in any democracy.  She said the British and American involvement in the resuscitation of the council “was a great example of the Anglo-American cooperation in Malawi." 

Information Minister Patricia Kaliati said without the Media Council issues were hard to settle in the country.  She said government resorted to other means such as withdrawal of advertising or lawsuits to settle disputes with the media.  She expressed her optimism that the Media Council would make the media responsible.  “Government was afraid of speaking to the media for fear of being misquoted,” said Kaliati.  She expressed government’s commitment to the Access to Information Bill and said that she hoped the bill would be passed into law.