Who owns the airwaves 2009

It showed that the content of many stations was being defined by profit rather than social responsibility and that an inability to deal with controversy and diversity had led the most influential media corporations to oppose militantly any opening that would encourage competition, especially open-access television.

The concentration of communications resources in a few hands had reinforced the power conferred by the privilege of access to a radio or television concession. That capacity for influence had made the main licensees into powers that were sometimes parallel to the state, and they had tried to set themselves above the legal institutional framework. Public and community AMEDI pointed out that in their desire for control, the communications consortia had managed to push through a reform that expanded the privileges they already had.

It also denounced their attempts to subordinate important elements of the political class to their designs. AMEDI noted that recent technological progress had made new information resources available, but their development in Mexico was limited and unequal. There had been no public policies broad enough to provide the majority of Mexicans with open, constant and quality access to these resources. The digital divide had added to other factors of social exclusion. AMEDI called for socially inclusive legislation, with rules to ensure equity and participation.

The broadcast spectrum must remain national property, taking advantage of information technology as much as possible. And finally, there should be an autonomous regulatory agency. AMEDI came out in favor of genuinely public media. In the case of indigenous communities and peoples, it proposed granting rights according to constitutional principles under a transparent and simplified system.

It emphasized that community media are the closest to citizens, responding to specific needs in the immediate environment and based on self-management in formation, operation and maintenance, characteristics the Mexican state ought to recognize. The new legislation should regulate the administration of the airwaves, which are the property of the nation, and deal with the issue of content. Pluralism and prevention of media monopoly were important.

There should be more channels in the hands of a variety of actors with diverse perspectives. The new legislation should have effective enforcement mechanisms. AMEDI made concrete proposals for sanctions: fines and loss of concessions. A national coalition is born Many elements for new legislation emerged during the discussions, but the powers that be exerted strong pressure to impede any new legislation.

When this coalition was formed, AMEDI called on the Senate to keep its word and deliver the new media legislation by the end of February. It claimed that legislators with ties to broadcasters were trying to delay the debate. Meanwhile, broadcasters ridiculed the electoral reforms and ran paid political propaganda disguised as soap operas, special programs or interviews. The coalition stressed the obligation to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, not only to rectify the existing laws but also to provide new legislation that incorporated the 23 recommendations made in the discussion and the ruling itself.

Televisa: A unique case Televisa is unique in the world for its control of so many frequencies. The major electronic media have become enormous unelected powers that set themselves above constitutional powers, commercializing and denigrating politics and setting the public agenda with no accountability to anyone.

The members of the new coalition agreed on a number of actions, including bombarding the legislators with emails and letters, and calling and visiting them. They also decided to prepare a questionnaire for legislators, asking their position on a new media law. There were even plans to collect signatures from the public. Salvaging democracy means democratizing the media via legislation that guarantees the public interest and makes organized citizens a counterweight to the de facto powers.

There can be no democracy unless citizens can fully exercise their right to be well informed. And that cannot happen if the current invisible censorship and distortion of facts by television continues. April: the time is now Those involved in the civic struggle called on legislators to make use of the historic opportunity to promote a new media law, underlining the urgency of legislating soon, before the session ended in April, since waiting until the September session would bring things too close to the federal election campaign for , making it even harder to reach agreements.

It was time: either things would continue to be dictated by the big media corporations, which would get even stronger, or there would be progress toward democracy. The legislators had to decide if they were going to help recover democracy or carry the shame of having been accomplices and slaves of the opprobrious dictatorship. In mid-April, it decided to commit the legislators publicly, inviting them to forums and events where they would have to state their positions. It was an extremely important moment for Mexico; modern, democratic plural reform that would encourage diversity and make the most of technological innovation was in the offing.

During the forum, the situation of the public media in various countries was compared. There were discussions of broadcast media pluralism, market concentration, competition and community media. Just at that moment the opposition staged a takeover of Congress to halt immediate approval of the oil privatization reforms. April drew to a close without the passage of any media legislation.

Meanwhile, together with the National Front for a New Media Law, it worked out a new strategy to continue pushing for the legislation. They demanded that the guarantee of the right to communication not be postponed indefinitely. We own the air They also explained why the new law is required. Because his village of Soza has no electricity, he walked to an out-of-town barbershop to recharge the cell phone and the car battery that powered the station.

The station had a volunteer staff of about 10, each of whom took three-hour shifts. But not everyone was pleased and, for that reason, Pachikweza is now off the air. There are 23 radio stations currently operating in Malawi, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa. Malawi liberalized the use of its public airwaves after holding its first multiparty elections in , but license applications were not accepted until Even now, the government accepts applications only during occasional, announced periods, according to Zadziko Mankhambo, a MACRA spokesman.

Local journalists have complained that political interference has tainted the process, and the government has often imposed censorship , and carried out arrests and closures of stations over political coverage , particularly during election cycles, according to CPJ research.

Operating without one, he was subject to penalty. He spent only a night in prison before family, neighbors, friends and fans of his radio station pooled their limited resources to pay the fine.

He was also offered a scholarship to Kaphuka Private Secondary School in the commercial city of Blantyre and began attending classes this month. In the days after his release, he met with MACRA officials to discuss potential options for acquiring a license so that he could reopen his station.