Parliament reporters urge NRSA to scrap media bill

Parliament reporters urge NRSA to scrap media bill

Reporters covering parliament news on Sunday issued a statement calling for the National Reform Steering Assembly to withdraw the controversial media bill from the meeting agenda of the NRSA.

The Bill on the Protection and Promotion of Media Rights, Freedom, Ethics and Professional Standards, drawn up by NRSA's media reform committee, is set to be deliberated by the NRSA on May 1.

The parliament reporters said in their statement that they had followed the work of the NRSA, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and reported to the people on the gist of the controversial bill.

The reporters said they were of the opinion that the bill, if passed into law, would put all media professionals, including those using the social media to disseminate their information, to be under state control and restrictions to an extent that they would not be able to exercise their rights and liberties as stated in the constitution which has been approved in a public referendum.

They said in principle any legislation concerning the media should be intended to protect their rights and freedom and provide mechanisms to ensure media independence, not to control them.  The media should be allowed to exercise their rights with responsibility, they said.

They concluded in the statement that the draft legislation by the NRSA's media reform committee, which allowed for state officials to control media professionals as well as users of the social media, is not acceptable.

They called for the NRSA to withdraw the bill for a review.  More opinions should be taken from media organisations and field reporters.


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