regulation & policy

- April 2012 in Nigeria, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) DG, Mallam Magawata, listed the achievements of the outfit under him to include digitalisation efforts to comply with ITV’s 2015 deadline for organisations to migrate from analogue to digital broadcasting; crashing down of decoder-based satellite broadcasting through its Star Times TV; multi channel creation for news, sports, entertainment and education; corporate social responsibility, among others.

Players in the television industry are lobbying the government to involve them in the realisation of a successful switch from analogue to digital broadcasting before East Africa’s set deadline.

Indications suggest that Uganda might not be able to beat the December 31, 2013 ambitious deadline; however the government continues to show optimism of realising the switch before 2013.

The Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has said no person will be required to have more than one decoder to have access to free-to-air channels after switching to digital broadcasting at the end of the year.
Addressing members of Parliament yesterday during a seminar on the subject, TCRA Communications Manager Innocent Mungy said currently free-to-air channels are posted into different service providers, each with its own decoder.
A few such channels use decoders sold by Agape Associates and others use decoders sold by Star Times Limited.

- Police in Monrovia have announced the arrest and probe of a Sky FM/Television staff Lawrence Cole, 31, along with two other suspects - Boimah Kamara and Janet Ahullo for forgery and theft. A release quoting police spokesman George Bardue disclosed that suspect Cole was arrested following complaint from Roosevelt E. Taylor of Global Bank, a commercial bank in Monrovia. In a complaint to the police, Taylor alleged that the bank sustained a loss of L$650,000 allegedly withdrawn from Don Bosco's account by one of its employees suspect Janet Ahullo.

Charges against a TV boss who screened the French film Persepolis should be dropped by the Tunisian authorities, Amnesty International said ahead of the resumption of his trial.

The trial of Nabil Karoui, the owner of the Nessma TV channel, is expected to restart on Thursday after it was adjourned in January.

He faces charges of "violating sacred values" and "disturbing the public order" after his station broadcast the animated film, which has been criticized as blasphemous because of a scene which shows a representation of God.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is deeply concerned about the increased attacks against journalists in northern region following the arrest of TV journalist in Las Anod town of Sool region in Northern Somalia.

Mohamed Shaqale, reporter for Somalisat TV, was arrested on 19 April by Somaliland police in armoured vehicle in the centre of Las Anod, and was immediately taken to CID headquarters where he was reportedly interrogated and currently being detained. The police did not state reason behind the arrest.

- UNESCO and the Government of Tunisia will be co-organizing the main celebration of the World Press Freedom Day 2012 under the theme “New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Society” in Tunis, Tunisia, from 3 to 5 May 2012.

- Uganda: A journalist working with NBS TV, Ivan Kabaale, was knocked down by a police vehicle as he covered the transfer of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change leader Dr. Kizza Besigye from Kampala to Kasangati on Saturday 31 March 2012.

The National Council of Social Communication (CNCS) calls the attention of social communication organs to work with objectivity, exemption and strictness enshrined in the press law and the structuring principle of a democratic society.

This call of attention is part of a decision unveiled on Thursday in Luanda, in which CNCS expresses its concern mainly due to the improper language used in various youth programmes.

Mutinous soldiers who seized power last week from Mali's President Amadou Toumani Touré also occupied the headquarters of the state radio and TV broadcaster and interrupted other TV and radio shows, say Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Human Rights Watch.Some citizens turned to Twitter to get their news updates, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

- Jerry Cole, a senior television cameraman of the state-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), was on March 12, 2012 attacked by some supporters of the main opposition. (source : The Media Foundation for West Africa's (MFWA))

- Côte d’Ivoire: at the end of 2012, Souleymane Diakité Coty, minister of Communication announced that Radio Bouaké will soon be launched.