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{
    "id": 216366,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/216366/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 178,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Maore",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 284,
        "legal_name": "Richard Maoka Maore",
        "slug": "maoka-maore"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is a very offensive piece of article. I am actually intending to sue the newspaper. I am trying to say that, when you have a newspaper opening and using insults just because they have an outlet, it needs to be controlled. We do not want a situation whereby you have a pen and paper and you are not different from a monkey carrying a loaded gun. We need some control. We need some sanity. For this reason, I have gone through the Bill. We, as a committee, scrutinised it and proposed amendments. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the media is supposed to be the mirror of the society. It is supposed to be the catalogue of our events. In every bit of society you have some mad men and women. It is these elements that we want to contain. It is these elements that we need to legislate on. It is possible to negotiate some of the issues. It is possible to litigate others. However, when you can legislate, this House has a duty to litigate the issues of the media. Accuracy and truth in the media is not subsidiary, it is the central and core value of any media house. It does not help when we say we want the media to be free. Yes, it is free; it is very vibrant, but on those who want to go beyond the limit of good manners, how do you contain them? How do you tame them? Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Media Owners Association (MOA), who have been purporting to regulate themselves, never raise a finger against each other. When these matters happen to victims, they just meet and laugh it off. There is no piece of legislation that requires them to do one or two corrective measures. So, on the creation of the Media Council, who should be in it should not be the issue. The issue is that we need it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the issue about the Media Advisory Board is not who should be in it or how they should be there, but we need it. We would want to support the amendments, when they come. Where it is acceptable, the Minister should not fear to stand firm. It is through his standing firm that we will tame the sensationalition of stories by media Houses in order to sell most. I remember there is one that came up today in the media for the first time! What appeared there, actually borders on criminology. If you read the headline--- 2176 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 3, 2007"
}