Eversince the local media came to know of Government plans to launch a publication called the “Government Gazette”, concerns have begun to be expressed within the media community. The Government has been working on the Gazette for a while. It is a component of a larger project called the “Central Messaging System” designed by the Information Ministry in its efforts to introduce a media relations system for the Government. The Gazette was designed to be lauched with the beginning of the coming year. One other component of the same project was intiated with the opening of Fansavees as a press briefing hall. Few other components of the larger project are to follow in due course.
Media Fears
The news of the Gazette launch did not go down very well with some media organizations. I was asked a few questions over the Gazette in a recent press conference as well. I also saw some messages being circulated amongst media professionals on the subject. Ibrahim Khaleel, Hiriga Ahmed Zahir and Thayyib Shaheem from the Maldives Media Association also met me on 25th December to understand the project and its scope and discuss the fears the Media organizations have over the issue.
I was told that the Government Gazette would take away newspaper revenues; cause papers to shut down; force jobs to be lost; block access to government information; help corruption within government to prosper; conceal blameworthy acts of the government; and suppress press freedom.
I attribute those fears to inept speculation and serious misunderstanding over the concept of a Gazette. Here, I will deal with the considerations that shaped the decision to launch the Government Gazette.
Reasons for Gazette
Firstly, the Maldives Constitution says that laws will become effective when they are published in the Government Gazette. We are all familiar with that phrase. The phrase has been with us for decades. We just did not pause to ask what it meant and where that Gazette was.
The words “published in the Gazette” are borrowed from the British. The practice is associated with the London Gazette “published with authority” till this very day as the “official newspaper of record”. Information on the London Gazette may be found here on this link http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/home.aspx?geotype=London
-OR- http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/
Despite the fact that laws in the Maldives come into effect when published in the Gazette as understood in the UK, there is no such Gazette in the country. The term has come to be associated with a white booklet. The booklet carrying the title “The Government Gazette” is published and distributed when a bill is ratified. There is no formal register for government records. There is no formal newspaper of official record. There is no local equivalent that performs the functions of the London Gazette or the official gazette of any country, for that matter.
The current attempt is to create that official newspaper of record and give due context to the legal term that we have always used.
Secondly, various departments of the Government publish their announcements in different papers. This makes it hard for any one person tracking government announcements to follow those developments by subscribing to or purchasing one paper. At the end the person either loses the announcement for not having come across one in his paper of choice or has to purchase an additional paper.
It also at times gives rise to lack of adequate response to government announcements as people who may be interested in those announcements were not able to know that those announcements were actually made. This again causes the Government to nullify its previous announcements and publish those announcements all over again to find a proper response and a wider readership. This is money spent all over again.
Finance Minister was telling me that the Government spends over eight million every year to pay for announcements. Today he told me that the figure actually goes into double digits and is far above what he thought it was.
According to him, he has an immediate interest in plugging the amounts spent on publishing announcements and notices in newspapers.
No Real Newspaper
It is unfortunate that the Gazette has been described to mean just another “daily newspaper” to be brought out by the Government. Far from being a daily newspaper, the Gazette is not designed to carry the kind of news or features or content seen in newspapers. That is neither the concept nor the function of an official gazette. Instead the Government Gazette would be exclusive to content such as laws, regulations, notices, pronouncements, appointments and other official acts. It will serve as the formal record of official acts of the Government.
Revenue Loss
It is complained that the publication of the Gazette will cause huge losses in revenue to newspapers as they would have to forgo the revenue generated from publishing announcements and notices of the Government. The complaint is however not supported by any figures of actual or expected loss in revenue.
Neither the Media Association Team that met me to discuss the issue nor any other journalist who raised the issue with me has been able to show me how much each newspaper earns in the country from publishing Government announcements and notices and how much is at stake to lose. Nor have they been able to show me how all newspapers and weeklies in the country would suffer across the board from such a revenue loss and what the magnitude of any such loss would be.
That argument becomes relevant when we know that it is not all newspapers in the Maldives that benefit from revenue earned from publishing Government announcements and notices. It is the older and more established papers who receive the most jobs from the Government since those papers have the advantage of wider circulation and greater recognition. The newer breed of papers and weeklies suffer from limited circulation and restricted readership and therefore are not the favorites in getting orders from Government departments to publish their announcements and notices.
Therefore, once again it is the older and established papers who would feel any impact. But they must acknowledge the immense financial support the Government has extended to them to come this far. That is in addition to allowing them to earn from Government notices and announcements.
They must also understand that due to their wide and established readership they could easily make up for the reduced revenue by penetrating deeper into the private sector and obtaining commercial advertisements and even government advertisements for that matter.
We must also acknowledge that these same papers have due to their long dependence on Government funding and publication jobs succeeded in establishing and diversifying their business portfolios and shall not necessarily need to depend on Government announcements and notices for their survival.
Recent papers anyway do not have that happy status quo with the Government and receive that many jobs from the Government to publish announcements and notices. Therefore they would not feel the crunch.
Plus One
Once the Gazette comes out Government departments would be required to publish their announcements and notices in the Gazette to meet the basic requirement of general publication. However, the Government will allow its departments to elect one additional newspaper in which they could publish the announcements or notices apart from compulsory publication in the Gazette. This is internally referred to as the “plus one” approach.
This approach will ensure that there is some room for papers to obtain jobs from the Government as far as its announcements are concerned. They of course would have total opportunity for publishing advertisements of the Government as the Gazette would not provide for such publication and is more of a formal record.
Information Suppression
There is no fear of suppressing information by publishing a Gazette. Freedom of Information Rules would be introduced by Executive Decree in the early part of this year. Although I have not told the media when it would be brought out, it is a stated commitment that I would do that before March 2008. That is before submitting the revised Freedom of Information Bill to parliament. Thus the Rules once brought into effect would facilitate the media as a matter of right to obtain information from Government departments.
Further, by definition, the Gazette will only carry limited content. It would not contain news, views, features, articles and columns as found in newspapers. The Gazette will contain a more official record of acts. Therefore, there is no reason for any apprehension that the Gazette will block access to information, allow corruption to prosper and Government to hide acts perceived as blameworthy. I would not say “incriminating” this time.
Have a look at the London Gazette on this link for some idea of what will be the content of a Gazette. http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ -OR- http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=58552&geotype=London&type=Supplement
Media access to information held or produced by the Government is on a totally different track of business than the publication of the Gazette. Access to information is to be governed by the Freedom of Information Rules and it encourages movement from the media to the Government in the form of requests for information. It becomes a legally enforceable right to provide information within the Freedom of Information Rules mechanism.
The publication of the Gazette on the other hand would allow formal acts of the Government to be brought to the media and the general public. In fact the Gazette will become a further "source” for journalists to gather newsworthy information.
Press Freedom
There is the argument that stopping the publication of Government announcements and notices in newspapers would adversely affect press freedom. Some go to the extent of saying that it would in fact undermine press freedom.
It can be argued the other way as well. The Government can control the editorial policies and content of newspapers if those newspapers survived on jobs provided by the Government to publish its announcements and notices.
Therefore, having a Gazette to publish the announcements and notices of the Government will in fact take away the possibility of any Government interference or influence in the press community or editorial policies of individual newspapers, thereby strengthening the principles of press freedom.
This may actually be a welcome opportunity to clear any government influence in print media and give the media more credibility that the Government has no financial relationship with the private media.
There are already radio stations in operation. Television stations are working hard to go on air soon. More stations are being licensed. At a time when the Government is moving forward with the licensing of private radio and television stations and where we are all experiencing the benefits of listening to liberal private stations, it beats common sense to argue that having a Gazette would undermine press freedom.
Media Release
As I was finishing this post, news is out of a press release issued by the Maldives Media Association on the same subject. I will study the MMA Release and offer my response as may be found appropriate.
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