{"id":217869,"date":"2019-06-07T23:31:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T03:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=217869"},"modified":"2019-06-07T23:31:41","modified_gmt":"2019-06-08T03:31:41","slug":"malawi-suspends-broadcast-call-in-shows-over-election-unrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/06\/07\/malawi-suspends-broadcast-call-in-shows-over-election-unrest\/","title":{"rendered":"Malawi suspends broadcast call in shows over election unrest"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_217870\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-217870\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/21761566_1677634268927777_4624189870887713763_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-217870\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/21761566_1677634268927777_4624189870887713763_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"960\" height=\"685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/21761566_1677634268927777_4624189870887713763_n.jpg 960w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/21761566_1677634268927777_4624189870887713763_n-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/21761566_1677634268927777_4624189870887713763_n-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-217870\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The communications regulator&#8217;s statement was issued after days of confrontations between police and opposition supporters who allege irregularities in the election narrowly won by President Peter Mutharika. (File <a href=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/APMutharika\/photos\/a.896356583722220\/1677634268927777\/?type=3&amp;amp;theater\">Photo<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/APMutharika\/\">Arthur Peter Mutharika\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>BLANTYRE, Malawi \u2014 Malawi&#8217;s government on Friday ordered all call-in shows to be suspended while accusing some broadcasters of \u201ccareless and unethical coverage\u201d of unrest after last month&#8217;s disputed election. Journalism advocates quickly called the directive \u201ca very serious violation of media freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The communications regulator&#8217;s statement was issued after days of confrontations between police and opposition supporters who allege irregularities in the election narrowly won by President Peter Mutharika.<\/p>\n<p>The United States ambassador on Thursday was caught up in tear gas fired by police against protesters while she met with opposition leader and election runner-up Lazarus Chakwera. The U.S. has called for restraint.<\/p>\n<p>Mutharika in a national address Thursday night accused Chakwera and his Malawi Congress Party of trying to cause chaos. Both Chakwera and third-place finisher Saulos Chilima have petitioned the High Court to nullify the results of the peaceful election.<\/p>\n<p>Friday&#8217;s government statement warned broadcasters that call-in shows have the potential to \u201cincite the masses into violence\u201d in the southern African nation.<\/p>\n<p>Media advocacy organization MISA Malawi demanded an immediate reversal of the order, calling it a serious violation of the constitutional right of freedom of expression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is surprising and worrying that the regulator has decided to unlawfully punish all broadcasters, their listeners and the general public with an unjustified suspension of all phone-in programs,\u201d the group said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Malawi Police Service said 18 people were arrested in the capital, Lilongwe, on Thursday on charges including malicious damage and proposing violence but called the current situation in the country \u201cvery calm.\u201d It added: \u201cRest assured that the police are containing all acts of political violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BLANTYRE, Malawi \u2014 Malawi&#8217;s government on Friday ordered all call-in shows to be suspended while accusing some broadcasters of \u201ccareless &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":217870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-gregory-gondwe","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":217871,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217869\/revisions\/217871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}