Members of the media commission, which is appointed by the Minister of Information, would now be appointed by the President from a list submitted by a bi-partisan parliamentary committee and should have media experience.

The media will be opened to foreign owners but foreign journalists remain barred from working permanently in Zimbabwe.

The government in 2003 used the act to shut Zimbabwe?s then largest circulating daily paper, the Daily News and its sister Sunday paper after the Supreme Court ruled that the publication was acting outside the law by publishing without a license.The paper is still battling to get a license.

Changes made to the Broadcasting Services Act include a demand for public broadcasters to run news and programs not biased in favor of the government while foreigners can now have majority shares in a broadcasting service.