State to consider views on draft media development policy

COMMENTS, sentiments and ideas shared during a consultation workshop on the draft national media development policy yesterday will form the basis of the next draft version, stakeholders have been told.
Minister for Information and Communications Technology Timothy Masiu told a stakeholder’s workshop in Port Moresby yesterday that consultation was “ongoing”.
He denied that the proposed policy was an attempt by the Government to regulate, restrict, censor or control the exercising of the freedom of expression or speech enshrined in the Constitution.
“Your comments, sentiments and ideas have been captured and will form the basis of the next version (of the draft policy),” he said.
“For those who are saying it’s a rushed thing, we had to start from somewhere.”
He added that the proposed policy was to outline “objectives and strategies for the use of media as a tool for development, such as the promotion of democracy, good governance, human rights, and social and economic development”.
Transparency International chairman Peter Aitsi called for proper, genuine and meaningful consultation, saying that it should not be a “three-week process”.
The first version of the draft policy was released on Feb 5 with 12 days allowed for review, the second was released with six days for review, and the most recent one was on Wednesday – a day before the workshop. Department of Information & Communications Technology deputy secretary policy Flierl Shongol said his team had noted down all the comments.
“We’ve got some comments in written form. We’ve also taken notes of comments presented in this workshop. So, we will respond to those comments,” he said.
“You can also respond to tell us if our response actually reflect your views. (It) will form the basis of the next policy that will come out.”