Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
2002
“Abuse of Journalist Privilege” is proposed
to be amended by Clause 20, to
read: “A journalist who abuses his journalistic
privilege by -
(a) Intentionally or recklessly falsifying
information; or
(b) Maliciously or fraudulently fabricating
information; or
(c) Publishing any statement
(1) Knowing it to be false or without
having reasonable grounds for believing
it to be true
(2) Recklessly or with malicious or
fraudulent intent, representing it as
true”.
The words “Intentionally or recklessly”
and “maliciously and fraudulently”
are the proposed additions. The
Bill seeks to repeal Section (d) of
Clause 80, which stipulates that a journalist
would have committed a criminal
offence if he/she “contravenes any
part of this Act” (AIPPA). The original
Section 80 imposed criminal liability
even where the reputations and
freedoms of other parties had not been
threatened by the so-called “falsehoods”
and “fabrications”. The amendment
therefore seeks to place intention
as a prerequisite to the application of
this law. In other words, it must be
demonstrated that someone’s reputation,
freedoms, rights, etc. have been
maligned, threatened by the publication
of a “falsehood” or a “fabrication”.
However, journalists can still fall
foul to the proposed amendment of
Clause 64, on “Abuse of Freedom of
Expression”, which still provides for
a broad interpretation.
Whereas the principal Act stipulates
that foreign journalists can be accredited
for a “short period”, the amendment
proposes that foreign journalists
be accredited “for any period specified
244 So This Is Democracy?
by the commission not exceeding 30
days”. This proposal in the Bill will,
in other words, mean that no foreign
journalist can report from Zimbabwe
for a period of more than 30 days.
Clause 2 proposes to widen the definitions
of mass media, media services
and journalists. The dissemination of
information has been widened to mean
the sale, subscription, delivery, diffusion,
or distribution of periodically
printed publications, audio recorded,
electronically distributed information
or teletext programmes. This definition
will include such information and dissemination
mechanisms as websites
and cell phone text messages. A mass
media service is proposed to be defined
as a mass medium service and to include
any medium or media consisting
in transmission, circulation or distribution
of voice, visual, data or textual
messages to an unlimited number
of persons and includes an advertising
agency, publisher, production house.
This definition is a catchall, as any
form of publication, even by civic society
organizations, will be covered
under that.
The definition of a journalist as proposed
under Clause 2 of the Bill would
be “a person who gathers, collects,
edits or prepares news, stories and
materials for a mass media service,
whether as an employee of the service
or as a freelancer”. Mass media service
would mean “any service that produces
mass media products, whether
or not it also disseminates them”.
Clause 6 of the amendment Bill proposes
to make it a criminal offence to
“deliberately falsify information to a
public body”. This information would
have been gathered by any public body
and specifically by the Media and In-