APM clashes with media

The State House has declared it would be ridiculous for anyone to think they can mediate between a Head of State and any of his citizens anywhere in the world. The State House reacted in a response to our questionnaire that sought its position on a matter Media Council of Malawi (MCM) is attempting to mediate between President Peter Mutharika and the media.

Mutharika has gone on offensive since his return from the United Nations General Assembly (Unga) in October, attacking two media houses at any given opportunity for their alleged unethical reports on his health status.

This compelled MCM to step in by writing President Mutharika’s director of communications, Bright Molande, in a letter dated October 28 2016, expressing their concern about the President’s attacks which the Media Council views as intimidation.

Molande said: “You cannot bully the Head of State with propaganda and false reports into negotiating with you. “

First, there is no such dispute that warrants mediation. The trouble we have is that there are media houses that want to criticise everybody, but they don’t want to be criticised.”

But MCM executive director Vales Machila in an interview yesterday said it was up to the State House to ignore their intervention, adding it is always one’s choice to choose whether they want their case heard. M a c h i l a s a i d t h e President cannot wish the media away, and equally, the media would always need the President for information because of the office he holds.

However, Molande said when the media is critised or challenged to be professional, they dub it a dispute. “We are worried that Media Council of Malawi is not doing its job.

Their mandate is to check ethics and professionalism in the media, which they are not doing. “The second problem is that Media Council of Malawi is legally weak and they cannot act meaningfully to safeguard media ethics,” Molande said.

While admitting that the Media Council was not doing enough as they would have loved owing to limited resources, Machila said they have mandate and they were doing all they could based on resources available.

Machila said they did not say they want Mutharika to a roundtable, but his machinery. He said if anything, the machinery was not helping the President.

He said the officials at State House and Ministry of Information, who are experts, know what the Media Council is looking for and they have to help the President.

Machila said it was clear the President has issues with the media. Molande said some media houses were creating the dispute using Media Council to gain sympathy from media professionals, adding the State House was ready to discuss with any media house owner who is humble enough and reasonable.

“In an open democracy, every institution must be open to criticism and be accountable to someone else. That is the kind of democracy Malawi should be.”

MCM last Monday in Blantyre invited to a strategy meeting all interested media houses following Mutharika’s attacks on the two media houses, Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) and Times Group.

Another strategy meeting, according to Machila in a response to our earlier questionnaire, is scheduled this Monday. Meanwhile, Machila disclosed, the media body was yet to receive a response from the State House to a letter dated October 28 2016 which Media Council addressed to Molande.

In the letter, the Media Council complained about the President’s conduct and reaction at the State House news briefing and the remarks he made in Mchinji during campaign for by-elections about Zodiak and Times Group, publishers of Malawi News, The Daily Times, Sunday Times and operators of Times Radio and Times TV.

Machila said: “We believe his reaction and statements bordered on intimidation. And this is what the media fraternity led by Namisa (National Media Institute of Southern Africa) and MCM [custodians of press freedom] fights against.

“The President is already aware of MCM’s existence and what role it can play in this matter. He has copy of our Code of Ethics and complaints procedures booklet that outlines how media complaints can be dealt with by MCM.”