A prerequisite for this is that the various media taken together provide the population with full and accurate information on all aspects of life in Mauritius and the world, without censorship and bias, with fully interactive programmes and slots, as well as airing differing viewpoints on all matters of social, economic, cultural and political importance. Only on this condition shall Mauritius meet the internationally accepted standards of good governance, transparency, independence of press and of other indicators (a sine qua non condition for attracting investment amongst other things)

Present situation : Only private radios provide a verbal interactive forum where people feel free to express themselves on current themes and indeed on any matter that is of concern to the listener; one daily newspaper provides daily a large space for readers comment and inputs; others do so to limited and restricted extent.

The most powerful media instrument in the country (MBC-TV) shamefully fails to live up to the law and the spirit of the law (as contained in the MBC Act of1964,70,82,85 as well as in the IBA Act) to provide unbiased information and to be opened to all currents of opinion, political, religious or otherwise. On a typical evening (e.g. on 17.5.2007), from 19.30 to 19.45(almost half of MBC?s main news bulletin) only one person is directly heard giving his views, a complete failure by all broadcasting standards.

As a living example, the 2007 French Presidential elections made room for full and free political debate, an excellent example of democracy in action. Another good example is the US, where all debates in the Senate and the House of Representatives are broadcasted live and in real time. Compare to the local situation in our Parliament where questions asked (an essential feature of parliamentary democracy) are not heard, only the Minister answering the question is! This is like watching Julien Lepers in his Questions pour un champion where you hear the topic (?question litterature?) and the answer, but not the question!

Starting point : It is proposed to start by MBC-TV and through this action to salvage the legitimate right of Mauritians for accurate, unbiased information. Together we shall propose remedies (see Recommendations) to radically improve the situation.

1. The specific objective is to demonstrate how MBC-TV can be better run while remaining the official news, information, education and entertainment channel, funded by the Government of Mauritius, with sponsors money and viewers licence fees.

2. Aberrations: We have analysed the MBC Act and noted built-in inconsistencies such as

MBC is ?independent? and at the same time it has to ?comply with instructions from the Prime Minister?.

The Prime Minister appoints the Chairman, the Director-General, the Deputy Director -General, with the obvious possibility of clash between these three political appointees.

There is a parallel body to the Board. It is the General Advisory Council consisting of 23 persons.

A person aggrieved by MBC can ask for a right to broadcast his reply but the Board has the power to grant or refuse such a request;

The Board has control over the Corporation but can anyhow delegate all its powers to the 4 Committees that can be set up under the Act.

The Director General is accountable for all the activities of the Corporation but can get away just by submitting to the Board a report only every six months.

This last mentioned point was highlighted in the Glover Report (see below) in these words:

?Again, however, the Act seems to blow hot and cold since it only requires the Director-General to submit to the Board a report on the activities and finances of the MBC once every 6 (six) months!?

<B>The Glover Report, 2003</B>

On 12 May 2003, Sir Victor Glover was informed by the Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Civil Service that the Government had decided to review the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation Act (hereinafter referred as ?the MBCA?) and to give him an assignment which would comprise:?an examination of the legislation governing the MBC, a review of the functioning of the MBC and the submission of recommendations with a view to redefining the powers and prerogative of the Chairman, the Board, the Sub-Committees and the Director-General?.

Given below are specific recommendations of Glover which (as far as we know) were never implemented. The wisdom contained in these recommendations makes them entirely utilisable in 2007, for the purpose described above.

?The MBC should be simply defined as a Public Service Broadcaster which is politically and economically independent and whose mission is to satisfy the aspirations and interests of its listeners and viewers in the fields of information, education, culture and entertainment?.

Some of these main recommendations are given below:

?The MBC should be simply defined as a Public Service Broadcaster which is politically and economically independent and whose mission is to satisfy the aspirations and interests of its listeners and viewers in the fields of information, education, culture and entertainment?.

Its duties should be:

(i) to aim for accuracy and neutrality in its broadcasts;

(ii) to refrain from giving unnecessary publicity to any person or matter;

(iii) to afford a fair hearing to any person who can be identified in a broadcast;

(iv) to strike the right balance in promoting the languages taught or spoken in Mauritius;

(v) to put across the various points of view on controversial matters;

(vi) to comply with any code of conduct prescribed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority

Further Recommendations from the Glover Report:

?An organization like the MBC should have a Board of Governors with the power to make policy decisions, composed of the right blend of executive and non-executive directors of high calibre, and a manageable and well-ordained agenda?.

?Finally, it is proposed, as recommended, that the MBC?s TV channels should achieve their independence like the MBC Radio which has weathered it with success. Decisions must be made as to the need, if any, for privatization and the contents of the channels, and, more particularly, on a number of matters such as how one attempts to set up ?une chaîne du savoir? at the MBC, how one promotes English, which has become the language of communication, otherwise than by broadcasting lots of rather silly serials, how one recruits news presenters who can correctly pronounce words in the language they have been chosen for (press articles indicate that the situation is as bad for oriental languages as it is for English, Creole and, to a lesser extent, French), how the Mauritius College of the Air integrates the MBC and when it is necessary to use Creole or Bhojpuri effectively?.

?Such an exercise is something which I am not competent or physically able to tackle on my own and which would require addressing a much wider audience by a small body of eminent and knowledgeable persons? (quoted from the Report on MBC by Sir Victor GLOVER, Kt.G.O.S.K, August 2003).

<B>Reflection, discussion and action </B>

We are calling on all ?goodwill ambassadors to join forces to impress upon the Minister of Information(who is also the Head of Government!) to open ?free and broad consultations? as to what can be done for MBC-TV. Politically, the Head of Government has here an opportunity to gain international and certainly local acclaim by rendering MBC fully independent. And it is most likely that all opposition parties in Parliament will support such an initiative, given the criticism they have voiced so far they cannot afford not to.

It is thus highly desirable that the MBC Act be rewritten, and the daily operations of this station be ?democratised? to meet the legitimate right of Mauritians for accurate, unbiased information and a fair hearing to all.

The debate is open. We appeal to all to join in. We could start by asking these questions:

Can and must MBC be politically independent in this day and age?

Can the necessary parameters be defined to allow MBC to perform its duties with accuracy, neutrality, refraining from undue publicity to any person or matter?

Can the new MBC give a fair hearing to any person who is defamed just like under section 289 of the Criminal Code binding editors of newspapers to publish a reply from an aggrieved person?

Can and must MBC be financially (and consequently politically) independent?

Can and must MBC personnel (from the Chairman of Board and Director-General to Heads of Dept. and other cadres) be made legally liable for their actions, as is the case under the Companies Act?

Is the present Government and other parties in Parliament really prepared to give Mauritius the National TV station it deserves?

<B>Old Royals and Friends (ORAF) </B>