By PSCU
The Select Committee on Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library toured the ultra-modern Radio and Television studios of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Nairobi to familiarize themselves with emerging media trends in a digitized market.
The Constitution of Kenya Article 35 guarantees the right to information to the public by public institution including parliament.
During their benchmarking tour on Thursday, members were informed that the facility was launched in 2017 Serves as the African Hub with a presence of six services in Kenya.
They were further told that the BBC has 42 services across the world out of which 11 are for Africa.
It was indicated that for the first time, popular Programmes like Focus on Africa/ Dira la Africa were now fully produced from the Kenya based studios.
The committee chairman Daniel Nanok who is also the MP for Turkana South appreciated the huge investment in modern technology which he said had enhanced the output from BBC and provided the opportunity for local benchmarking.
“Parliamentary content is public content and therefore the desire of parliament to open up coverage of committees and other parliamentary oversight work in the field, “he said
The members sampled the radio and television studios and were also taken through the work process by the digital team to ensure they reach their audiences who are gravitating towards use of mobile phones and other electronic gadgets to access news.
The Select Committee on Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library is established by the provisions of Standing Order 212D of the National Assembly Standing Orders and is mandated to amongst others; to Consider and report on all matters relating to the broadcasting of the proceedings of the House.