Malawi parliament sets tough media conditions

With a new parliament poised to meet for the first time today, 22 June 2009, new tough media conditions have been set up and the Media Council of Malawi has since given the new set of rules its seal of approval.

Although the clerk of parliament Matilda Katopola says the new conditions are meant to ensure professionalism and efficiency of parliamentary reporting, some media institutions have received the news with caution.

Amongst the conditionalities, any media house whose representatives contravene rules and conduct of journalists covering parliamentary proceedings, that include standing orders, or any rules made by the speaker, will be excluded.

Media houses and their representatives are expected to abide by rules made by the speaker for regulation of the admittance of strangers or ‘actions taken if a journalist persistently misreports parliamentary proceedings or neglects or refuse on request from the speaker or clerk of parliament to correct any wrong doing'.

The media in Malawi, except TV camera personnel, cover parliamentary proceedings from a transparent glassy press gallery which was strategically built above the chamber.

But Katopola said since parliament is currently in the process of reviving a committee of journalists to look after the affairs of the parliamentary press gallery they are in collaboration with the media council for the time being and parliament will employ the new conditions.

However, since some of the reasons for coming up with the conditions is to ensure that journalists are not reporting parliamentary proceedings negatively, Blantyre Newspapers Limited which publishes The Daily Times, The Malawi News as well as the Sunday Times cautions that parliament's conditions should not be restrictive.