In Malawi, broadcasters are being prompted to adhere to their broadcasting licence obligations, which emphasise that their content is 60 per cent local.
The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority – MACRA officials made the call in Blantyre during a content development curriculum validation gathering with the broadcasters.
MACRA notes that the engagement revealed the fact that many broadcasters air more foreign than local content in violation of the licence provision that stipulates transmission of 60 per cent local and 40 per cent foreign content.
According to MACRA’s acting director of broadcasting, Matilda Kanjeri, the current ratio of local to foreign content on most broadcast service providers is 20 to 80.
The content validation exercise follows MACRA’s recent efforts, including a local content production project with the University of Malawi – UNIMA and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences – MUBAS.
UNIMA’s Sydney Kamkuzi indicates that 11 short courses have since been developed and will be rolled out once all processes are done.
