Benin: the HAAC announces future regulation of university press
The university press in Benin will soon be regulated by a specific legal and institutional framework. This was announced by the Secretary-General of the High Authority for Audiovisual and Communication (HAAC) during his appearance on the show The Interview, broadcast this Sunday, July 6th on BIP Radio.
SUMMARY
For many years, this particular media segment has remained on the fringes of traditional regulation mechanisms. However, as the Secretary General of the HAAC reminds us, the university press is an integral part of the Beninese media ecosystem. He points out that several personalities, including the current president of the HAAC, Édouard Loko, came from it, just like himself.
A void about to be filled
Until now, the HAAC had not established a clear framework to regulate university media, despite their role in training and expressing young journalists. This gap is about to be filled:
“The present term of office is working hard to make up for the accumulated delays. The necessary documents are being drafted. We must start by defining the terms, contours, and responsibilities,” the Secretary-General clarified.
The project is part of a broader momentum to update the legal framework of the media in Benin, especially those with public service status.
Public service and appointments: clarify the rules
Addressing the issue of so-called “public service” media, the HAAC’s Secretary General recalled that in principle, the appointment of those in charge of these bodies should follow a specific procedure:
“For public service media, it is the HAAC who proposes the leaders, and the head of state proceeds with their appointment. But so far, this process was not clearly established nor applied.”
This desire for clarification also extends to satellite channels, whose status and operational framework are currently the subject of debates and assessments within the institution.
“We’re not overdoing it”
In the face of criticism suggesting an intense regulatory activity, the Secretary General justifies this momentum by the need to repair a long institutional silence:
“What some perceive as excess is simply catching up on work that should have been done a long time ago. It is about correcting, specifying and equipping the sector to make it more credible.”
With the upcoming regulation of the university press, HAAC thus intends to lay a new foundation in the structuring of Beninese media, taking into account current realities and professional requirements of the sector.
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