Media Development Initiative Holds First Legal Reform Meeting

On March 9, 2015, members of the Palestinian Media Legal Reform Committee discussed the committee’s plans to review the laws that govern the work of Palestinian media and to develop draft media laws. This was the first meeting of the committee, which was attended by representatives of government and private institutions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the latter via videoconferencing.

Members agreed to start immediately in building on the achievements of various institutions working on media legal reform. They also expressed the need to ask for assistance from regional and local experts in media laws and freedoms to review drafts and check that they are in accordance with international trends in media freedom, and in harmony with national Palestinian interests.

The Birzeit University Media Development Center has launched this national initiative to develop Palestinian media in partnership with more than 50 Palestinian national institutions and funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The Initiative will be active through the end of 2016.