No interest from media in picking members for Commission

There is no competition regarding the electoral process of members for the Media and Broadcasting Commission created under the newly passed Media Regulation Bill.

The Media and Broadcasting Commission will have seven members. Three of them will be appointed by the Parliament, while four of them will be chosen via an electoral procedure by the media.

As per the Election Commission (EC), six individuals put in their nominations for the Media Commission posts as the deadline came around. Four individuals applied for the representation of broadcasters (two available positions) and two individuals applied to represent online or other media (two available positions).

Three of the four individuals that applied for the Broadcaster representative positions had their candidacies approved, while one had theirs denied, as per the EC.

Of the three whose candidacy was approved, one of them retracted their name. And so the other two candidates have been elected for the roles.

Of the two individuals that applied to represent various other media, one of them had their candidacy approved while the other had theirs voided, as per the EC. It has been made known that the reason their candidacy was voided was due to the fact that they are an editor at a media organization.

While one individual has been chosen as the representative of other media without an electoral process by the EC, the commission has opened up the opportunity for nomination regarding the other slot.

With that, three members have been chosen for the Media Commission, while one position is still vacant.

Journalists had voiced against the Media Regulation Bill, its passing and its ratification.

The main concern journalists have is the regulation of journalists through a government system. Journalists also see issues with the fact that three of the seven members of the Media Commission will be appointed by the Parliament, along with Parliament having the power to remove any and all members of the commission.