Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has approved the Broadcasting Services Amendment Bill which aims to merge the country’s media and telecoms regulators. The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) are to be combined as the Broadcasting and Communications Authority, in a move which the government says will improve accountability and ensure there is no state interference in the country’s media.
A report from New Zimbabwe cites Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa as saying that the new bill seeks to harmonise the Broadcasting Services Act with the constitution. She stated: ‘All state-owned media … must be impartial and free to determine independently the editorial content of their broadcast.’