The deregulation of the broadcasting ecosystem has institutionalized a new brand of journalism in Nigeria. The broadcast media has fared well in the discharge of their constitutionally assigned responsibility of holding government accountable to the people as the industry today witnessed the rise of vibrant private media stations with firestorm kind of where government policies and programmes are daily scrutinized undeterred for public consumption. However, media stakeholders continued to agitate for more freedom as they abhor any iota of regulation. The Act establishing the National Broadcasting Commission entrusted it with certain responsibilities, among which include the power to make rules and regulations for the broadcast industry. In the course of discharging these responsibilities, the Commission has accused of constituting a barrier to freedom of expression and of the media as they argued that the Commission lacks the requisite power to operate as an independent regulatory agency. Stakeholders have called for the amendment of the Act establishing the Commission to make it a truly independent agency especially on the aspects of the constitution of the Board of the Commission, power to grant license and the overbearing power of the Minister on the Commission.
Vol. 1, No 2, pp. 80-85.