Swedish journalists visit The Post

Swedish journalists visit The Post
Written by Sydney Mungala
Wednesday, December 03, 2008 9:22:23 AM

It is easy to take freedom of the press for granted if you are operating in a country that has had press freedom for a long time, visiting Swedish newspaper editor Anders Goliger has observed. And Post deputy managing director Sam Mujuda said the project was an opportunity to share tips on how the two newspapers operate.

Goliger, who is assistant editor for Goteborgs-Posten newspapers made a comparison between Sweden that has had press freedom since the 1800s and Zambia that has a new democracy. He said visiting Zambia would give the Swedish team a different experience.

“In Sweden we have had press freedom since the 1800s and so it is very easy to take this freedom for granted. That is why it is important to learn from countries like Zambia where democracy is quite new,” Goliger said.

He said that while the average age for journalists in Sweden was about 45, The Post had presented a different case where journalists were on the youthful side.

“For us, journalism has people with an average of 45 years but The Post, I understand, has a crop of young enthusiastic journalists so it is an opportunity for us to learn and spread this enthusiasm among our young people,” Goliger said.

He also said the common challenge of the progressions toward digital journalism was one the two organisations could share.

And Mujuda said since the Swedish visitors were coming from a superior technology and different political background, the exchange was going be beneficial to both institutions.

“For us at The Post we attach a lot of importance to this initiative by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) because it is an opportunity to share tips on editorial, marketing, circulation and technology because, of course, the two publications have different experiences,” Mujuda said.

He noted that the exchange programme could expose the tourism potential of Zambia to the wide audience of Goteborgs-Posten.

Mujuda said that visit was a two-way exchange that would involve representatives from The Post visiting Sweden next year.

“This is the first leg of the programme. A team from The Post will visit Sweden early next year to learn about culture, democracy, politics and press freedom of that country,” he said.