Re: [kictanet] Digital Migration Appeal Court Ruling: COFEK Response
Japheth, The issue is not the "persons" - but more of the regulator as a body/institution needs to be truly independent and free of government control or business owner influences/bullying. The persons occupying the offices must be empowered and protected by the law for us to achieve. *(5) Parliament shall enact legislation that provides for the establishment of a body, which shall--* *(a) be independent of control by **government**, **political interests** or **commercial interests**; *(b) reflect the interests of all sections of the society; and **(c) set media standards and regulate compliance with those standards. Wainaina On Mon, Mar 31, 2014 at 9:39 AM, Consumers Federation of Kenya (COFEK) < hotline@cofek.co.ke> wrote:
Great comments, and to the point - wish the "right" people can apply to be considered as board members of the would be "new" regulator
Japheth
*From:* kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+hotline= cofek.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Wyne Bar *Sent:* Monday, March 31, 2014 9:23 AM *To:* The Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek)
*Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] Digital Migration Appeal Court Ruling: COFEK Response
I have kept off this debate because of vested interests by several parties claiming to be making objective analyses. On this list, there's little, if any, objectivity in the matter of Signal Distribution licensing and #DigitalMigrationKE as a whole. I will therefore abstain from making direct comment on the ruling, STBs, Tenders, BSD licences or the Switch-Off date.
Instead, I propose we focus on the new regulator. Six years ago, we had a somewhat related debate (copied below) about Media Owners versus Editorial Freedom.
The matter of what really constitutes 'media freedom' came up in 2012/13 as it did in 2008 around the election period. It came up again during debates on Media Laws as media owners presented their grievances. We forget to sort out media regulation in fair weather.
After the ruling by the Supreme Court enforcing Section 34 of the Constitution, what we may want to ensure as "Consumers of media", is that the new regulator will be truly "independent" and yet "powerful"...cannot be influenced by Media Owners or Government etc and can make & enforce bold decisions.
If we get the composition, independence and (power) of the new regulator wrong, nothing else we debate here about Signal Distribution, investor protection or consumer rights will be of any consequence in protecting consumers from rogue media or a rogue government.
On Broadcasting, the cliché "content is king" still holds and whether or not BSD licence goes to local private media, the right to access/rebroadcast their FTA content must remain with the Broadcaster. That is also true for upcoming content producers who need protection of their content from other players along the value chain. As we debate the issues, let us remember there are many players in the Digital Broadcasting value chain.
As the ruling has proved, the REGULATOR is a critical player in the industry. Let us all help to put together a regulator that will guarantee justice, innovation and all our ICT aspirations as a country.
**This is my personal position as a Kenyan consumer of media...and my views do not represent any media house; or group of Broadcasters**
Have a regulated day,
Wainaina
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Subject: [kictanet] Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent To: wainaina.mungai@gmail.com Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Allow me to re-deflect the issue away from a specific media house and state the following as a way forward:
1. Journalists must work with all Kenyans to make the press free from undue influence from Media Owners. Press Freedom will not be achieved until we liberate the journalists from the editorial biases of the media owners.
2. Editors must be held responsible when media houses publish/broadcast in an unethical manner. For this to hold, we must ensure that the media owners are not the 'final' editors.
3. Journalists/reporters have developed a culture of accepting inducements in order to edit stories as requested. This must be treated as a crime due to the privileges society accords the press.
4. Media houses must employ and retrain qualified and ethical staff. There must be standards that ensure professionalism. Engineers, Doctors and others submit to standards that the media continues to dodge.
5. Kenya needs a Media Council "with teeth"...that will be a watchdog that acts in the interest of the public not as a affiliate lobby for Media Owners.
The verdict should be a clear message to all of us in the media circles. It's time to look inwards and liberate the profession of journalism from the businessmen who own the media houses.
Wainaina
On 2/13/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina.mungai@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Farida,
We should not consider the presence of lessos in ballot boxes in Kajiado
or Kamukunji as evidence that your story was true. The pre-marking or ballots and the lesso story are what would be considered mutually exclusive events. The use of lessos as indicator of accuracy is at the very least speculative. The fact that [it is possible] for an election to be stolen does not mean that and election [will be] stolen.
For KTN/Standard, the more direct issues as you vouch for the integrity
of your story would be:
1. Did you have [evidence] that the ballot boxes were stuffed with
pre-marked ballot papers? or were you speculating because someone came forward as a "witness"?
2. Do you believe that the killings of the Administration Police in
Nyanza were a direct result of the story you authorised? If so, what have you done to at least console the families of the bereaved policemen?
3. Did you have evidence that the Citi Hoppa buses that were carrying
APs to various parts of the country were meant to be used for a rigging mission? and would you consider that your story was responsible for the burning of Citi Hoppa buses?
Most voters know that ballot boxes are checked before the start of
voting and sealed infront of witnesses (agents, ECK officials etc). It is therefore unlikely that rigging would only take place is unless there is an elaborate conspiracy involving [all] officials/agents at a polling station.
Overall, the "vibes" KTN/Standard fraternity must contend with is not
that they are a model of "free press" but that it is biased against the government or pro-ODM. The vibes stations such as Royal Media, Kameme and KBC contend with is that they have given Kenyans reason to be seen as pro-government/PNU. Those are the issues the press must address honestly and not hide behind tags and clichés such as 'press freedom' and 'muzzling the press'.
NOTE: I work for a competing media house but that is not my motivation
for the issues i have raised on KTN/Standard. I respect journalists for the effort that goes into writing even the simplest story. However, I am aware that media houses and journalists have continued to allow their political and other biases to influence the way they report stories.
Wainaina
On Feb 14, 2008 12:09 AM, Farida Karoney <fkaroney@ktnkenya.com> wrote:
Wainaina I personally authorised the story you are blaming KTN for and can vouch
for the integrity of that report any time. If indeed you believe it is not possible to steal an election, how come that ballot boxes were found with lessos, and election materials in some polling stations?
We cannot resolve explosive issues by hiding or supressing the truth,
and no one is trying to exonerate the press. Let us not pretend that we do not know why we are where we are, it is definately not because of KTN or the Standard Group.
And it is certainly not an academic excercise, afterall most of us do
not have another place to call home except Kenya. Believe me, any Country which calls itself democratic must be able to live with a free press, no matter how much of a nuisance it is.
By all means industry players need mechanisms to promote responsible
behaviour in the media but aggression against media houses in light of the current political crisis is in my opinion misplaced.
regards Farida
----- Original Message ----- From: Wainaina Mungai
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Guys,
If an organization by the then name of CCK had done its homework and had greed not been the overriding factor in issuing the Digital Licenses, we would not be in the mess that we are in today, where Wanjiku has lost big time.
Any smart person @CCK would have foreseen what has happened the moment
On Sunday, March 30, 2014, Ngigi Waithaka <ngigi@at.co.ke> wrote: the current broadcasters lost the bid for the digital broadcasting license. You cannot wish away such a large fish swimming in the pool. The smart thing would be to work with the big fish as you rear other fish and only confront the big fish once you have other sizeable fish in that pool.
They say "...The law is an ass..." and I can't think of a more
applicable case than this!
Way forward: 1. Issue the local broadcasters the Digital License. This gets them out
2. Issue similar Licenses to Signet and that other Chinese firm 3. Get sober minds at CAK. If we don't do this, we wouldn't have a regulator to talk about in the next couple of months. 4. And let the conspicuously absent CS ICT to take charge. There is not a single *BIG* deal that touches ICT that can go through without hullabaloo!
Exactly whats is hard in doing this?
On Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 11:57 AM, Bernard Kioko [Bernsoft Group] < bkioko@bernsoft.com> wrote:
David,
You have summarized it well.
Perhaps the benefit of what happened yesterday is that at the Supreme
Court, sanity will carry the day without the option of going to any other court thereafter. It appeared to me like that's the "the plan" . Then again, is this wishful thinking on my part.
Regards
From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bkioko=
bernsoft.com@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of David Makali
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 11:40 AM To: bkioko@bernsoft.com Cc: kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Digital Migration Appeal Court Ruling: COFEK Response
The court exceeded its mandate and sowed more confusion:
1. By legitimizing the expectation of the media owners for a license and proceeding to grant it one uncompetitively. So, why did the const require vetting of judges who were in office by 2010? They had a legitimate expectation to continue working into pensionhood, having held their
2. By simply voiding the rights of PANG which had been issued a license
3. By failing to admonish the govt for its confused policy (chaotic
really) and confirming how dangerous it is to invest n this country, in ict
of the way positions for years. The pt: the constitution erased all preferential expectations and set a new standard because of grievances over legitimacy and competence of the status quo. In the case of ICT/ broadcasting, similar questions lie over the evenness of the ground. The "competitive" standard in the award of any public resource or positions is to address such issues. pursuant to a competitive process, however conducted by an "illegal" cck, and disregarding the injustice and financial consequences of such a decision. Why uphold the rights of one party and extinguish the rights of others? The court's Sympathy only seemed to lie on one side for which it poured out its heart generously, but totally ignored the rights of Pang and its subscribers. A middle ground position, recognizing the predicament of the current media investors and a suitable remedy to the injustice it found committed against them by cck would have sufficed to put the country on a forward footing. But this? The next Destination seems to be the Supreme Court, which am afraid is going to be choking soon with many unnecessary petitions, thanks to the court of appeal's contestable strokes of justice. Pang, a subscriber, another investors, or even "cofek's" unrecognized consumers have more than enough ground the way I see it. particularly, because it has protected investors, and others are secondary regardless of the processes, which are now routinely reversed.
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Wainaina Mungai