Maravi

‘Media transgression won’t justify regulation’

‘Media transgression won’t justify regulation’
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Friday, November 14, 2008 7:58:30 AM

NO amount of media transgression will justify regulation of the media, Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) vice-president Amos Chanda has said.
And Mongu Catholic Diocese Bishop Paul Duffy has urged the media to use the power it has to better the lives of the people especially those in rural areas.

During the media day celebrations organised by Caritas Zambia on Tuesday, Chanda said no amount of media transgression would justify regulation as long as they remain within the law.

“The media should never be licensed because the regulation that the people are talking about amounts to licensing a journalist and that licensing means you can only practice when you have a licence. That means that you are not just targeting the journalist in a certain media but other professionals who want to write a column in the media. It will hit the unintended target,” he said

Chanda said statutory regulation of the media could not be justified under whatever circumstances and that if a media organisation transgresses, it was better use other means within the law other than to pass a licence.

“Licensing journalism would be licensing a fundamental part of human rights, freedom of expression which does not just belong to journalists,” he said.

He said it was necessary that the freedom of information law be passed as it empowers the citizens to demand information held by public officials and makes government more accountable.

Chanda said the media was a moral conscious of society but the media often ignored the Church in most instances.

And Bishop Duffy said the public media needed to be privatised as the government was too much involved in their operations.

“We only hear and see what they want us to hear and see. The reality on the ground is somewhat different. If it privatised, we will get the realities in rural areas ...,” he said.

Bishop Duffy said the media had a tremendous potential to promote the common good but was often underutilised.

He said often, the media reported on the events making news but that there was little effort to analyse the happenings in order to inform the citizenry better.

“The media could also be used to identify the development needs of the people and popularise these for the information of policy makers. The church takes a keen interest in the media because it is a tool through which evangelisation can fully take place,” he said.

Bishop Duffy said the Church relies on the mass media to convey its messages to the people of God.

He said the role of the media and the Church in development could not be over emphasized.

Bishop Duffy said the media today had become a very powerful tool that could and should be used for the betterment of all people.

He also said there was a lot of work that the Church and civil society organisations were doing which were not very often reported in the media.

Bishop Duffy challenged the media to cover the activities that were being carried out throughout the 10 dioceses covering the entire country.

“For example, the work that Caritas Zambia does in promoting sustainable agriculture and organic farming as an option rather than depending on chemical fertilisers. And the work that is being done in trying to influence government policies that are pro poor. These areas are seldom covered by the media,” said Bishop Duffy

And Caritas Zambia director Sam Mulafulafu called upon the new President to seriously look at media autonomy that has been in existence for a long time.

Labels: AMOS CHANDA, MEDIA, PAZ, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 8:00 AM