LI 2224 not intended to promote censorship – NMC Chairman
Mr Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), has said the Content Standard Regulation (Legislative Instrument LI 2224) is not intended to promote censorship adding the country will never return to the days of censorship.
He said the LI 2224 was intended to help the broadcasting industry to work according to the best standards to promote the interest of the public.
Mr Gyan-Apenteng said this during the inauguration of the Northern Regional Media Advisory Committee (RMAC) in Tamale on Friday.
The seven-member RMAC will work to complement the efforts of NMC by dealing with issues of professionalism in the media industry in the region.
The NMC’s establishment of the RMAC is supported by the European Union as part of widening the scope of the NMC’s work not only geographically but also at the conceptual level
Mr Gyan-Apenteng said there was no country in the world that did not regulate broadcasting adding that “the regulation of broadcasting is necessary because the spectrum on which every broadcasting station runs is a public resource and its use must conform to standards that inure to the interest of the public”.
The Content Standard Regulation LI 2224, which was passed by Parliament and gazetted in December last year, has generated discussions in recent times in the country with some people suggesting it was meant to censor the press.
He said the accusation that the NMC had acted beyond its powers was not true adding the constitution gave the NMC the power to enact laws that were reasonably required in the interest of national security, public order, and morality and for the purposes of protecting the reputations, rights and freedoms of all.
He urged journalists to let professionalism be their watch word in this election year to promote peace in the country.
Mr George Debrie, Assistant Registrar at the University for Development Studies, who chairs the RMAC, thanked the NMC for the confidence reposed in them urging other members of the RMAC to work hard to complement NMC’s work to improve the media industry in the region.
Source: GNA