Public Service Media Bill (Unofficial Translation)

Public Service Media Bill (Unofficial Translation)

Published on Sunday, 23 June 2013 16:58

Preliminary

The Union Assembly Parliament promulgated the Public Service Media Bill with a view to transforming the State-owned Media into an independent public service media in the interests of political, economic and social welfare improvements of the country.

Chapter (1)
Title and Definition

1 This law shall be called the Public Service Media Law.
2. The definitions contained in this Law shall replicate the following meanings.
(a) "Public Service Media" means public service newspapers, radio and television broadcasting enterprises, which were transformed from the State-owned Media so as to adhere to the basic principles of PSM, as stated in the Chapter (2);
(b) "Council" means an independent Public Service Media Council prescribed by this law. It  is to provide technical assistance and advice to the PSM and non-commercial media;
(c) "Public Service Newspaper Enterprise" is defined for The Mirror and Myanmar Alin as transformed  from the State-owned Media so as to adhere to the basic principles of PSM as stated in the Chapter (2);
(d) "Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise" is defined for Myanmar Radio and Television that was transformed from the State-owned Media so as to adhere to the basic principles of PSM as stated in the Chapter (2);
(e) "Non-Commercial Media" is defined for the printing and publishing or radio and television broadcasting enterprises, regardless of their profitability,  organized by civic bodies, NGOs, community-based bodies, education organizations, and other sector organizations in order to disseminate information to the respective communities or the concerned organizations;
(f) "Hluttaw" means the Union Assembly;
(g) "Ministry" means the Ministry of Information of the Union Government.
(h) "Governing Body" means public service newspapers enterprise governing body or public service radio and television broadcasting enterprise governing body prescribed by the law to carry out close supervision, and give guidances and suggestions;
(i) "Advertisement" means a notice beneficial to the public informing them about the services, products, rental, purchases and sale promotions in the newspapers and televisions with paying charges or through provision of 'assistance' equate to the amount of charges;
(j) "Transmission programmes" means the programmes including different types of sectors and advertisments to be presented to the audience in limited time periods;
(k) "Assistance" means money to be provided directly or indirectly to a programmes by the publishing or broadcasting with a reputable contributor, a product logo or a product promotion launch on TV and radio;
(l) "Codes of Ethic" means codes of ethic prescribed by the governing bodies of the respective public service newspaper enterprises and public service radio and television enterprises to be practiced in accordance with guidances and norms that can be supportive to the media works.

Chapter (2)
Basic Principles of PSM

3. The following are the basic principles on PSM.
(a) the right to express, write, and inform freely;
(b) the right to completely provide the public service, entertainment, knowledge and information programmes by taking into consideration ethnic minorities, different cultures and languages, remote areas and disability of individual persons;
(c) the right to provide programmes that the private media cannot do in the public interest; programs that can meet the requirements of the people and serve their interest; and innovative quality programs based on the public views and from various perspectives;
(d) It is necessary to have appropriate incomes for a sustainable long term operation although the media focuses on the public service, not to undertake under expectation of  profitability;
4. PSM shall respect the following factors in implementing the basic principles;
(a) highlighting the importance of the dignity of the editorial work and being free from political, administrative and economic controls;
(b) featuring unbiased, fair and complete news and information about local, regional and international issues;
(c) highlighting the national characters that reflects diverse cultures of all the nationalities in Myanmar;
(d) featuring programmes in the languages of major national races and ethnic minorities;
(e) providing special programmes that can fulfill the requirements of the audience with different views among other programmes;
(f) providing information about the legislative, executive and judicial affairs in a balanced way;
(g) featuring issues that are related to the interests of Region or State, Self-administered Region and Self-administered Zone;
(h) informing the public of important events without fail;
(i) featuring programmes intended for women, the disabled, elders and children at appropriate times;
(j) supporting local programming;
(k) featuring discussions and debates so that the public can improve knowledge of local and international issues.

Chapter (3)
Rights and responsibilities of PSM

5. Public Service Newspapers shall-
(a) distribute publications to the entire nation, Region/State, or Self-administered Region/Self-administered Zone as a non-profit public service newspaper organizations;
(b) have the right to operate independently, although they are under the Ministry; and their independence must always be respected;
(c) have the right and power directly or indirectly to accept and follow the basic principles in this law; and have the full right according to the law regarding the use, maintenance and acquisition of transferable properties;
(d) register at the Intellectual Property and Registration Department of the Information Ministry in accordance with the existing laws;
(e) register with the Council for technical assistance and applying of services under Section 27 of this Law;
(f) take over the right and power, functioning, assets, utilities, capital, accounts, contracts and other supplies of the state-owned Mirror and Myanmar Alin dailies at the inception of the Council in line with this Law;
6. The governing body of the Public Service Newspaper Enterprise shall use necessary authority and duty to take responsibility in maintaining, supervising, and managing funds, properties, accessories, investment, accounts, agreements, and contracts in accordance with this Law. Respective state-owned newspapers shall be reformed as the Public Service Newspaper Enterprise as soon as the implementation starts.
7. The Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise shall -
(a) Be formed as a public service radio and television broadcasting organization that is not aimed at making profits and  broadcast for the entire of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Regions or States or Self-administrative Regions or Self-administrative Zones;
(b) Be allowed to work independently even though the authority is under the Ministry. This independence shall be respected at all time;
(c) Have the authority either directly or indirectly to undertake the fundamental principles stated in this Law. Full authority shall be given in accordance with the Law regarding the use, maintenance, and takeover of the transferred properties;
(d) Obtain a license in accordance with the law for radio and television broadcasting;
(e) Register with the Council to receive permission for technological assistance and services stated in Article 27 of this Law;
(f) Take over the authority, operation, property, investment, accounts, contracts, and other facilities from the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television after the Council is established.
8. The governing body of the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise shall use necessary authority and duty to take responsibility in maintaining, supervising, and managing funds, properties, accessories, investment, accounts, agreements, and contracts in accordance with this Law. Respective state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television shall be reformed as the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise as soon as the implementation starts.
9. The Public Service Newspaper Enterprise and the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise shall
(a) Have full authority to operate their respective media enterprise independently;
(b) Not have pre-censorship on their reports or broadcasts and hindrance and prevention of their freedom;
(c) Be allowed to write their news reports and editorials independently;
(d) Receive rights related to copyright.
10. The Public Service Newspaper Enterprise and the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise shall -
(a) Work with the aim for the benefit of the public;
(b) Aim for the benefit of the public in selecting programmes and contents;
(c) Always respect the freedom and rights of individuals and organizations;
(d) Have high quality news and creative presentations for publishing and broadcasting;
(e) Be objective and unbiased when publishing and broadcasting the news;
(f) Present the publications or broadcast programmes with diversed ethnic languages;
(g) Give priority to publications or broadcasts which recognize the diversity of ethnic people including language, literature, and culture; and displays the symbol of national unity;
(h) Publish and broadcast high quality performances in accord with the wishes of the public;
(i) Publish and broadcast the laws, decisions, and announcements released by Parliament; the bylaws, announcements, procedures released by the Government; and announcements released by social organisations;
(j) Present programmes that provide education, information, and entertainment to the children;
(k) Present the opinions, views, debates, and interviews with experts;
(l) Follow the rules and regulations issued by respective governing body in carrying out the tasks.

Chapter (4)
Non-Commercial Media

11. Non-Commercial Media
(a) Shall be at liberty to express and publish freely their convictions and opinions as stated in the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar;
(b) Council that is included in this Law's section 27 subsection (a), (b), (d)(f) and (g) shall earn the rights and benefits supportive to Public Service Media;
(c) Political advertisements are forbidden except those permitted by the Election Commission.
12. Media that are not running as commercial shall not attain any other rights except rights in Section 11 under this law.

Chapter (5)
Public Service Media Council

13. Council shall be formed with 15 experienced experts in journalism or broadcasting; or creative or business or financing areas. Persons with different skills, members from public organizations, ethnics, experienced experts, veteran citizens, women and youths also shall be included to give diversity and balance to the Council.
14. The President of the State, the Upper and Lower House Speakers shall select 5 Council members in line with this Law.
15. The President of the State shall select those 15 experienced experts as Council members.
16. The chairman, vice-chairman and secretary for the Council shall be elected by member voting system.
17. Appointing Council members shall be transparent.
18. Pre-announcement shall be made on the names of the proposal Council members to have public nominations, based on their good moral standings, and qualifications.
19. Person who is being appointed as a Council member must –
(a) Not be a government official;
(b) Not be either a member of staff from any political party, or a person who is serving on state official duty;
(c) Not be a person who is being appointed to any government organization;
(d) Not be a person whose significant income is derived from any media organization whether directly or indirectly;
(e) Not be a person who has been convicted by a court of law for a serious crime or immoral behaviour.
 20. The Council members are—
(a)  to exercise good judgment and righteousness while implementing the fundamental policies in Chapter 2;
 (b) not to prescribe the instructions that are not stipulated in the rules;
(c) to stand up for the public and not to take advantage of any parties or organizations for personal gain.
21. Council members shall not be allowed to serve more than 2 consecutive terms of five years.
22. The President of the State has the power to terminate a person's Council membership after reaching a consensus with the Upper and Lower House Speakers if the person is —
(a) Unable to qualify as member under Section 19;
(b) Convicted by a court of law while holding Council membership;
(c) Proposed for termination of membership by two-thirds of Council members;
(d) Absent from work for a period of five months continuously for no apparent reason.
23. Any Council member who wishes to resign from Council before the expiry of term must obtain permission from the President.
24. A Council member shall be replaced or terminate membership in accord with Sections 22 and 23 and in case of resignation or decease, replacement shall be sought in accord with Sections 14, 15, 16 and 17.
25. A person who is replacing a Council member has to serve the term of terminated or resigned or deceased member. A replacement for Council member will be sought if membership is due to expire in less than six months.
26. Council has authorities to exercise the following —
(a) to develop and sustain nationwide public service media and non-commercial media enterprises;
(b) to supervise public service media and ensure they respect ethical rules and execute duties in accord with the following:
(1) Code of ethics, work procedure, rules and regulations;
(2) Fundamental policies in Chapter 2 of this Law
(3) To act in accordance with Sections 65 and 66 with regard to aid and advertisement;
(4) Be responsible for any content posted on the internet;
(5) To build an archive of documents;
(6) To manage and process political advertisements in accord with the directives of the Union Election Commission.
(c) The Council is bound to inform responsible authorities of any violation committed by any public service media enterprise under the condition that it believes the accused media is in violation of any duties and responsibilities as set out in Section 10;
(d) The Council shall make a necessary investigation, condemnation and dismissal by itself, if the responsible authorities fail to take action against any violation within a period of three months although the authorities are informed in accordance Sub-Section (c);
(e) The management of the public service newspapers and broadcasters shall apply for annual financial aid from Parliament in accordance with the descriptions of Section 64 after convening together to consider ways and means to seek income from other sources based on the previous year's inflation rate;
(f) To manage the funds provided for the Council by local or overseas individuals and organizations;
(g) To make bylaws for the public service media.
27. The Council shall provide the following assistance for the public service media to be successful:
(a) Providing technical assistance through the funds received from the donors;
(b) Providing capacity-building assistance such as evaluation of training needs, training materials and training itself when required;
(c) To research other potential benefits, any impact of new information technologies on the public service media, and to conduct readership surveys;
(d) To help exchange news programs and information between public service media;
(e) To provide any financial aid if required to the public service media to buy required printers and other equipment at reduced rates;
(f) To negotiate with the concerned authorities on tax reductions for equipment and other materials imported for the public service media, and to reduce transportation costs for the public service newspapers and non-profit newspapers;
(g) To keep a record of business dealings for the financial aid in support of the public service media.
28. The Council members are eligible for a monthly salary, travel allowances and daily expenses in accordance with by-laws made by the Council.
29. The Council shall form an office group in accordance with the by-laws.
30. The Council shall authorize staff rules, salaries, allowances and other benefits for the staff appointed to the office group.

Chapter (6)
The authorities for the public service media

31. The concerned authorities shall take overall responsibility for the public through the council.
32. The authority for the public service newspapers shall be formed with 11 qualified experts who are knowledgeable in regional development activities such as journalism, information and communications technology, laws, economics, management and finance. It must include persons with different skills, members of public organizations and ethnic groups, skilled experts, veteran citizens, women and youths as its members proportionally.
33. The authority for the public service broadcasting shall be formed with 11 qualified experts who are knowledgeable in regional development activities such as broadcasting, technology, laws, economics, management and finance. . It must include persons with different skills, members of public organizations and ethnic groups, skilled experts, veteran citizens, women and youths as its members proportionally.
34. The council shall appoint members of the authorities in accord with the following;
(a) The process to choose and appoint members must be transparent;
(b)     People from non-government organizations, social organizations and scholastic organizations can be included;
(c)    The government is required to set a date in advance for the announcement of the shortlisted candidates to allow for criticism and consultation with the pubic;
(d)    The governing body has the right to choose given two-thirds of the votes from members.
 35.    A chosen member of the governing body:
    (a) must not be a civil servant;
    (b)    must not be a staff member or an official appointee of any political party;
    (c)    must not be a person appointed to a government organization;
    (d)    must not be a person who is profiting, or deriving his/her earnings, from the media either directly or indirectly;
    (e)    must not be a person who has been convicted of a serious crime or misconduct by a court of law.
36.    The governing body
    (a)    has the right to act independently and honestly to implement the basic principles stated in Chapter 2;
    (b)    shall not obey the degree not in accord with the rules;
    (c)    shall stand by the side of the public and not misuse the power to its own advantage or  other parties' or organizations'.
37.    The members of the governing body must not be chosen more than twice to serve the three-year term.
38.    The council can remove any member of the governing body from his/her current post if he/she violates the following rules:
    (a)    does not qualify for an appointment as a member under Section 35;
    (b)    is convicted by a court of law while holding membership;
    (c)    is voted out of his/her current duty by two-thirds of the council members;
    (d)    resigns from his/her duty with his/her consent;
    (e)    is absent from his/her duty within a period of three months continuously with no appropriate reason.
39.    The governing body shall be entitled to a salary, travel expenses and daily expenses under the law stated by the council.
40 (a) The governing bodies are responsible for the appointment of posts including the managing director to lead public service newspaper enterprises and public service radio and television broadcasting enterprises in order to lay down policies, rules and regulations. Financial matters relating to the public service media must be executed appropriately in accord with the basic principles prescribed Chapter (2);
(b) The governing bodies are responsible for abiding by basic principles prescribed in Chapter (2), but, in acting accordingly, they must not disrupt daily tasks of the executive committee and concerned staff along with the privacy of the editors;
(c) The governing bodies must write and approve necessary provisions, editor's policies, work guidance as well as rules and regulations in negotiation with the executive committee;
(d) Expenditures and the annual reports of public service newspaper enterprises and public service radio and television broadcasting enterprises must be submitted to the council in negotiation with the executive committee;
(e) The governing bodies must accept and manage the assistance rendered by a person abroad or an organization abroad to help public service media.
41.    The process of the governing body is as follows:
    (a)    The respective governing body has to elect its owned Chairman and Vice-chairman and needs to arrange meetings and to establish discipline.
    (b)    The Director General attends the meeting as non-voting member except in case of specific assignments of the governing body.
    (c)    The governing body shall base a decision on the number of votes if no other specific rules have been assigned. If the vote is tied, Chairman of the governing body has the deciding vote.
42.    The governing body shall appoint the director general for public service newspaper and public service radio broadcasting for each with two-thirds of the votes by members of the governing body who are present.
43. The governing body can terminate the duty of the Managing Director with at least two-thirds of the members' votes if the Managing Director can be found evading responsibilities under this law, including failing to obey the basic rules under Chapter 2 or fail to promote the well-being of the PSM.
44.  The Managing Director can lodge a complaint in case of being terminated the position under this law in Section 43.
45. The service term of a managing director is three years. He/she is allowed to serve the next service term.        If the next suitable managing director cannot be elected on the expiry of the managing director's term, the present incumbent can serve for next three months before the new one can serve.
46. The Managing Director has to supervise daily implementation of the editor's policies together with the editors.
47. The Managing Director has to propose to the governing body in accord with the defined parameters any high-ranking staff whom he/ she wants to employ.
48. The Managing Director has to employ the staff according to allocated budgets.
49. The Managing Director and the staff must –
(a) Not accept any instruction that deviates from the law statement in working procedures;
(b) Stand up for public benefits;
(c) Not abuse the power for personal well-being, other parties or organizations' well-being.

Chapter 7
Ethics and working procedures rules and regulations

50. The governing body is responsible for drawing ethics, procedures, rules and basic regulations for the respective public service media. That drawing process must be transparent, including all editors, journalists, anchors and members of the public.
51. The ethics and regulations that are drawn by the governing body must fit the respective laws.
52. Ethics and regulations of the Public Service Media must consider the following issues.
(a) Accuracy and equality;
(b) Personal freedom, invasion of privacy, and deceiving;
(c) Child protection;
(d) Sexual and offensive words usages;
(e) Treatment on the affected persons and grieving ones;
(f) Crimes or violations of social conducts;
(g) Advertisements;
(h) Financial abuse of personal benefits or to get the information;
(i) Discrimination;
(j) Information leakage and protection of the sources.
53. Anyone who breaks the law of ethics and regulations under Sections 50 and 52 can be reported to the governing body. The governing body has to solve fairly.
54. In order to solve the reports according to Section 53, the governing body has to draw the problem-solving procedures.
55. In the problem-solving procedures of Section 54, suitable responses should be printed like correction of the reports, reaction to the reports, and the apologies.

Chapter 8
Public Service Newspaper

56. Public Service Newspaper means not only the print media but also the online media.
57. It has to try to launch the State-level newspaper or regional newspapers that include regional news, union-level news, and other important events.
58. The public service newspaper has to print other notices in accord with the basic rules revealed in Chapter 2.
59. Although the public service newspaper can run the operation with the profits gained from commercial services, those commercial services cannot use the national funds.

Chapter 9
Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise

60. The Public Service Radio and Television is
(a) It can transmit free nationwide radio and television broadcasts;
(b) Radio or television programs shall be broadcast in respective languages of the divisions or states or self-administered states or self-administered regions;
(c) To broadcast radio and television programs according to the Sub-section (a) and (b), required broadcasting frequencies shall be set in accord with Radio and Television Law.
61. In addition to broadcasting radio and television programs as described in Section 60, more broadcasting channels using satellites, cables and other technologies may be expanded.
62. Public service radio and television broadcasting enterprise
(a) shall broadcast films, produce or subtitle movies, disseminate their contents as well as broadcast them on the internet in accord with the basic principles in Chapter 2;
(b) shall use profits from commercial services in running public service radio and television broadcasting, but shall not use public funds for operating commercial services.
63. Public service radio and television broadcasting enterprise
(a) shall store the original movie record of the broadcast programs at least for 28 days;
(b) if the program is a proof for a complaint or a dispute, its movie record shall be stored until the case is resolved.

Chapter (10)
Fund

64. Public service newspaper and public service radio and television broadcasting enterprises shall receive direct subsidy from the state revenue as follows;
(a) Public service newspaper and public service radio and television broadcasting enterprises, as described in the annual state budget law, shall receive seventy percent of total operation costs from the state revenue or shall receive the same amount from one kind of tax as decided by  Parliament. The annual subsidy shall be given to them directly.
(b) Management boards of the public service newspaper and public service radio and television broadcasting enterprises shall calculate the required funding for operation and make submissions through the council to ask for subsidy from the state revenue.
65. Thirty percent of the required funds for operating a public service newspaper enterprise shall be earned as follows;
(a) Printed advertisement: Below shall be followed regarding the advertisement:
(i) Seventy percent of the total printing area of newspaper shall be used for news and information, and the rest thirty percent shall be used for advertisement;
(ii) Editors shall not be influenced by the advertisers;
(iii) Advertisement fees shall be set with approval from the management board.
(b) Assistance from development association;
(c) Newspaper sales;
(d) Donations from local and international associations which do not interfere with public service media functions.
66. Thirty percent of the required funds for public service radio and television broadcasting enterprise shall be earned as follows:
(a) Advertisements: Advertisements shall be accepted as follows:
(i) Advertisements shall take no more than 7.5 percent of total broadcasting time, and no more than 10 percent of a program's broadcasting time.
(ii) Radio and television programs shall not be influenced by the advertisers.
(iii) Advertisement fees shall be set with approval from the management board.
(b) Sponsorship: Sponsorship shall be accepted as follows;
(i) Sponsorship shall be clearly stated both at the beginning and end of the program if it is sponsored;
(ii) Sponsorship shall not cause any damage to the contents of radio and television programs;
(iii) Sponsorship shall not be accepted for news programs.

Chapter 11
Taking responsibility

67. The governing body has to inform the public about the annual inventory that is already audited by the auditor general office. Following factors have to be included in the annual inventory.
(a) Annual income and brief of the auction from the auditor general office;
(b) Data of other business or company that relate totally or partially with the Public Service Media directly or indirectly;
(c) Budgets of upcoming year;
(d) Information about finance and management;
(e) State of the implementation of the previous year's targeted aims as to whether it had reached the purposes and objectives of the upcoming year;
(f) Editorial policy of the Public Service Media;
(g) Plans and changing of the plans;
(h) Suggestion for the publishing of the Public Service Newspaper and Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting;
(i) Complaints from the reader or the audience;
68. The governing body shall submit their yearly report to the Council. The Council shall collect the yearly reports from respective governing bodies and submit them with their own appraisals to the President and Hluttaw simultaneously.
69. The governing body shall submit their evaluation and appraisal on tasks carried out by the managing director every year. This appraisal shall be released and be widely distributed.

Chapter (12)
Prohibition and Punishment

70 (a) No one can have the right to invade privacy of editors, reporters and those working for the media. In addition, they are not allowed to be unofficially taken action;
(b) If anyone violates the sub-section of 70 (a), he or she is subject to a fine of K 500,000.

Chapter (13)
Provisions for Emergencies

71 The council must have been formed within 9 months and the governing body within 12 months after the law has taken effect.
72. The Ministry of Information will have to take up the duties for public service newspaper enterprises and public service radio and television enterprises until the council and the governing body prescribed by the law have delegated the tasks.
73. In transforming State-owned media into public service media, if officers and staff wishing to change their jobs meet with qualifications necessary for the public service media, they will be shortlisted and appointed.
74. The officers and staff from The Mirror, Myanma Alin and Myanmar Radio and Television who do not wish to change their jobs must remain in their former positions.
75. Those who are appointed by the public service media enterprise must be dismissed from government posts.
76.  The governing body can award prizes to the outstanding servants of the public service media for their high performance and improvement of production depending on the profit of each enterprise in negotiation with the Managing Director.

Chapter 14
General

77. The Public Service Newspaper Enterprise and the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise -
(a) Can provide online services;
(b) Shall have rights, freedom, and responsibility enacted in this Law for the programmes that are published online;
(c) Shall establish respective archives each;
(d) Shall try to publish the information from the archives online.
78. The Public Service Newspaper Enterprise, the Public Service Radio and Television Broadcasting Enterprise and Non-commercial Media shall not carry advertisements for any political parties or candidates from political parities which are not in line with the rules and regulations and instructions released by the Union Election Commission.
79. The Council shall release necessary bylaws, notifications, orders, instructions and procedures with agreement from the majority of the Council members.

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Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/06/23/public-service-media-bill-unofficial-translation/