Maravi

Harassments of journalists are upsetting, says Wurst

Harassments of journalists are upsetting, says Wurst
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Saturday, June 13, 2009 4:05:47 PM

HARASSMENTS of journalists are troublesome and upsetting, outgoing United States embassy public affairs officer Christopher Wurst has charged. And Wurst has urged the Zambian government and parliamentarians to quickly enact the Freedom of Information (FoI) law because it was very important in any democratic and transparent society.

In an interview in Lusaka on Thursday, Wurst said there was no place for verbal or physical harassment and beating up of journalists.

"Well, anywhere in the world there is no place for it. There is absolutely no place for it and I don't care if it's in Zambia or in the United States or anywhere else," Wurst said.

"Journalists should be allowed to be free to tell stories. In places where there is over-censorship, in places where we know that journalists are not able to tell the story, we get very upset. There is no place for it. It is very troublesome."

Recently, MMD cadres have frequently harassed journalists working for The Post and other private media over their critical coverage of President Rupiah Banda's administration and exposure of corruption and irregularities.

And Wurst said it was important to pass FoI law that could be successfully implemented.

"I think it will be dangerous to pass legislation that could not be implemented. So I hope that when Parliament gets around to passing this legislation and I hope that it's soon, that they will have a good plan at implementing this," he said.

"I think that when you talk about media legislation, it's important not only to talk about freedom of information but also to bring in some of the regulatory Acts; the IBA [Independent Broadcasting Authority], the ZNBC Act."

He said the key thing with FoI Act was to realise that citizens were the beneficiaries.

"Freedom of information allows people to know the truth about [for example] how money is being spent, how laws are being implemented, what is going on. So it's vitally important in any democratic and transparent society to have access to this information," Wurst said.

"When Freedom of Information is passed, I really hope that it's the citizens of Zambia that stand to be beneficiaries of this law."

Wurst observed that there was a fundamental misunderstanding in Zambia about what Freedom of Information Act was.

"First of all, I can tell you from my experiences in the United States that journalists generally are not the greatest beneficiaries of Freedom of Information Act. Often times are businesses, citizens or lawyers that are using Freedom of Information laws," Wurst said.

He dismissed fears that FoI law would risk the security of Zambia.

"Any Freedom of Information Act in any country is going to have certain safeguards; you are not going to give state secrets," Wurst said. "I do think that with freedom comes responsibility and there is no denying that."

He said the media had to be accurate and responsible.

"I think there are great journalists working here and there are lazy journalists working here. I would like to see people being punished by their editors and hopefully the professional standards will be high enough that a good newspaper, a good television station, a good radio station requires," said Wurst.

Labels: CHRISTOPHER WURST, PRESS FREEDOM

posted by MrK @ 3:10 PM