THE government has officially set in motion the
process of licensing print media outlets in compliance with the Media Services
Act 2016 and its regulations.
Speaking
at a media briefing session in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Director General of
Tanzania Information Services (MAELEZO) and Chief government spokesperson Dr
Hassan Abbasi, said all newspapers, journals, newsletters and magazines being
published currently must be registered afresh.
He said October 15, 2017 had been set as the deadline for
application of new licenses, as well as registration of all newspapers,
magazines, newsletters and journals that are currently being produced.
Dr Abbasi said MAELEZO would process the applications at its
offices in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma regions, stressing that, beyond the
deadline, any publication that would not have finalized the procedures would
not be allowed to operate, clarifying, however, that, this didn’t apply to
fresh applicants.
The DG pointed out that the issuance of
new licenses would now be done annually, to heed the legal requirements
stipulated by the law and guided by its regulations announced in the Government
Notice (GN), Number 18 of February, 3, 2017. Dr Abbasi explained that, in order
to simplify the licensing and registration process, stakeholders could also
access all the necessary information, including the application forms, payment
account and the required supporting registration documents in its website: www.maelezo.com.
The chief government spokesperson urged media house managers,
practitioners and proprietors to read and grasp the Act and its Regulations
carefully for effective implementation, emphasizing that the major objective of
the Act was to inject sanity into the profession.
According to Section 5 of the Media Services Act, 2016, the
Director General of Tanzania Information Services is, among other things,
charged with responsibility of licensing print media.
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