LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN April 2010

It is my pleasure to greet you once again in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

 Looking back at the conference I can only give God all the glory for undertaking in such a marvellous way. Thank you for taking the time to complete the evaluation form, which confirms that the majority of you were blessed. Angus Buchan definitely was the favourite as the highlight of the conference and that proves that the unadulterated gospel is what touches peoples’ lives. In his own profound words as he can only say, “people need to hear the truth so stop playing around my brother.” We wish him every success with the Mighty Men conference.

 Many comments centred on the strong networking opportunities that exist at an ACB conference. The awards evening as well as the accommodation and facilities got a five star rating from most of you. Some found the sessions exhausting at times and maybe a short excursion or sightseeing trip would have helped relieve the pressure. The proposal for next year’s venue seems in favour of going to the Durban area. We have started making enquires and perhaps we can talk more about that at our Leadership Summit coming up.

The summit was one of the main issues discussed at our board meeting on the 8^th April. Considering the hive of media activity that’s expected to take place during the World Cup Tournament, I think around August would be the earliest suitable time to host the summit. That would give us sufficient time to plan as well. The ACB office will keep you informed and updated as to progress being made in this regard. I encourage you to read the regular newsletters and please respond appropriately. Your input is of vital importance as to how we chart the way forward for ACB.

Mathew chapter seven speaks about judgement and criticizing. As we look to build a new future for Christian media in South Africa, let us do it by trusting and depending on one another to lift each other up. Every one of us has something positive to contribute. When tempted to criticise, let’s remember that the measure by which we judge our brother – is the same measure by which God will judge us. Mathew 7 vs. 1-2.

Thanks again for making the 2010 conference the success that it was. God bless you.

Yours in His service,

Peter Rice

ACB Chairman

7^th May 2010

1. BACKGROUND

1.1.   The Association of Christian Broadcasters of Southern Africa (ACB) represents seventy five member organizations involved in Christian Broadcasting in Southern Africa, including 15 Community radio stations, and 1 Community TV broadcaster. The ACB was founded in 1994 and has been a pioneer in Community broadcasting in South Africa. ACB members were the first in South Africa to be granted one month and one year Community sound broadcasting licenses and a Community TV license.

1.2.   On 19 March 2010, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa    (ICASA), published in Government Gazette 33046, Notice Number 275 of 2010, inviting interested parties to provide written representations on its draft Compliance Manual Regulations, published in terms of section 4(4) of the Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005, read with section 4(3)(j) of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act 13 of 2000 as amended (the ICASA Act). This submission is in accordance with the invitation published in the above notice.

1.3.   This submission expresses the concerns of our licensed Community Broadcasters. (“C-BS”)

 2. ACB CONCERNS ABOUT THE DRAFT MANUAL.

ACB Members are very concerned that the draft manual may impose confusing and onerous administrative burdens onto licensed broadcasters. There are inconsistencies between the proposed document and existing legislation (ECA & ICASA Acts). There are also inconsistencies between the document and License Conditions, as well as duplications in the information required in different sections of the proposed manual.

• It is not clear whether licencees will have the double burden of reporting both according to the Standard Terms and Conditions of their license, as well as in terms of the proposed new requirements. (EG Changes in the Board of Directors).
• The USAF payment form (App 6) is inconsistent with current ECA legislation. Is double reporting required?
• There is much duplication of information in Broadcast appendices 12A, 12B and 12C. Can these not be combined onto one form? (There is also inconsistency in the numbering of 12A and 12B).
• The ACB sees no need to submit the Judgment form (12D) quarterly. Most of our members have operated for years without a judgment. Reporting the incident within 7 days should be adequate. The same applies to the Complaints Report (13A).
• The SUMMARY of OBLIGATIONS at the end is very helpful, but there are inconsistencies and errors in the summary. (EG Judgments is 13D, not 11D.) There are also contradictions in reporting periods between the summary and the appendices. (EG in Judgments). Those obligations for all licensees should also appear in the SUMMARY. (EG Appendices 2, 3 etc.)

 3. REPORT FORMAT

ACB members would like ICASA to provide the final forms on-line. This would stream-line ICASA’s monitoring task, and save the environment. Built into such a process would be automated timely notification of non-submission by a licensee to ICASA. The system could also send reminders to licensees when submissions are due. Similar processes are currently used by SARS and the Department of Labour (UIF).

 4. CONCLUSION

The ACB welcomes this opportunity to make a written submission to this Draft Compliance Procedure Manual. The ACB will also welcome this Manual if it makes reporting more consistent. The Compliance Manual has the potential of doing this, once the inconsistencies are eliminated, especially if it is implemented electronically.

The ACB trusts that these inputs will be of use to the Authority. The ACB is available to provide further clarity on the issues raised in this submission at the request of ICASA.

ACB COMMENT: Is this the "New World Order?"

There are significant issues affecting the role of media & broadcasting, currently under discussion in South Africa, for example:

• The Public Service Broadcasting Bill (PSB Bill).
• ICASA’s Compliance Procedure Manual.
• ICASA’s Complaints and Compliance Committee Rules and Procedure

 In all of these documents, we see excessive and often confusing use of legislation to control and regulate broadcasting. Before jumping to conclusions about this being just a South African problem, consider this comment from NRB’s (National Religious Broadcasters USA) Executive Summary talking about media in the USA.(30 April) -

“The proper role of media in this country is an issue that will be increasingly debated in years to come. Our Founding Fathers envisioned the press as an important part of the national dialogue, with the emphasis being on an independent press, rather than on a system of information dissemination from the government to the people.”

 The South African PSB Bill is clearly written with the latter concept in mind.

 The major driver to these trends is the global change to the very nature of broadcasting, brought about by the “digital revolution”. And as global side-shows to the broadcasting debate, we have the issues of competing digital standards, and the issues of copyright.

 The NRB’s comment continues as follows:

“Finally, it is imperative that public broadcasting not be super-funded by the federal government, as a foil to any perceived “lack of information” on the part of the American public. Every day it seems that the time-tested independence of our national press is increasingly under assault, and super-funding public broadcasting would move us in the wrong direction. Having larger government-funded media entities, beholden to Congress for their very existence, is the worst way to ensure a free and independent press. Similarly, giving the federal government too much regulatory control over other types of media, such as the Internet, would also negatively affect the free flow of information.”

Some questions that we as Christian broadcasters need to face:

• How much government control do we want? Yes, we want to legislate against pornography, but not against the broadcasting of scriptural truths that may be offensive. How do we do that?
• How do we strive for clear rules that can be applied fairly, rather than confusing rules that can be applied selectively?
• What is “intellectual property” and how can it be safe-guarded? Or is the whole concept archaic?
• Will new digital technology lead to greater freedom to share the gospel, or to greater restrictions to our freedoms, as controls on the use of words and languages … “hate speech” … are applied?

It is important that Christian broadcasters find answers to these questions, or we may find ourselves without a voice.

The ACB will be initiating a BLOG to promote online discussion of these issues in our new web-site.

To read the NRB articles, please Click here to view Craig Parshall’s prepared Remarks in their entirety. (30 April)