BUJUMBURA April 13th (ABP) – The National Media Council (CNC) suspended on Wednesday the commentary section of the “Iwacu” newspaper for three months. The same newspaper together with “Renouveau” newspaper and Culture radio were warned off. The warning was issued in a press briefing that Council chairman Karenga Ramadhan held on Wednesday following the closure of a two-day special session.
Indeed, Karenga indicated that the session was convened to discuss several items on the agenda. Some of those are, as Mr. Karenga said, media coverage of upcoming elections including the constitutional referendum next May.
In this regard, he revealed, the National Council has adopted a code of conduct that reflects the opinions of all but that will be implemented after consultation with all partners including media professionals through their representatives.
According to the CNC Chairman, the monitoring report of the listening services for the first three months of 2018 was analyzed. Through the latter, he added, performances but also the shortcomings of each other were detected. To do this, some measures of rectification for some and retaliation for others were taken so that the press can, according to him, function in a professional way. Indeed, Mr. Karenga said that the Iwacu newspaper has, in one of its publications, exceeded the professional standards and especially in its “Comment” section of the online version, the reason why it has been suspended for a period of three months. The same newspaper, along with the State newspaper, “Le Renouveau”, were warned for their publication in English without the CNC’s consent. In that regard, Karenga pointed out that even the level of language is subject to regulation. Culture radio, too, was warned following a recent broadcast, through its antennas, which concerned relations between the United Nations and Burundi.
