The Media, Youth and Culture Committee of the National Assembly, Chaired by Hon. Wavel Woodcock met with the Media Commission yesterday morning. The Media Commission was represented by the Chairperson, Dr. Marie-Reine Hoareau, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Ibrahim Afif and the Media Secretary, Ms. Tessa Henderson.
The purpose of this meeting was for the Committee to touch base with the Media Commission as the Committee that has oversight on the Media Industry for the 7th Assembly. Furthermore, the Committee had the opportunity to discuss a few matters relating to the Media Commission Act that is being revised to be presented to the Cabinet soon, along with the Newspaper Act. The Chair of the Committee pointed out that it is in fact important to have such discussions with bodies like the Media Commission as these Acts come before the House in the end.
The representatives of the Media Commission had several points to discuss with the Members in terms of limitations that they face and what specific changes will have to be made to the Acts in order to be more efficient in the roles they need to carry out. Moreover, the topic of decriminalising defamation in the Penal Code was also addressed in the meeting which brought forward some interesting views from the Committee and the Media Commission. Both sides agreed that there is indeed a lot to be understood, reviewed and analysed on this matter.
Other Members of the Committee that were present for this meeting were Hon. Philip Arissol, Hon. Naddy Zialor, Hon. Kelly Samynadin and Hon. Noline Sophola. The Members made the most of this meeting by asking a few pertinent questions relating to the role of the Media Commission, their strengths and weaknesses and the areas that they feel they can improve on to better enable them to carry out their stated and desired functions. To conclude, the Committee thanked the Media Commission for such an in-depth discussion and looks forward to having future discussions that are just as fruitful.
