Maravi

Ronnie explains govt intention to regulate media

Ronnie explains govt intention to regulate media
By Ernest Chanda
Sat 12 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT

INFORMATION minister Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha has said the government wants to regulate the media because it does not want the 2011 campaigns to be destroyed by one media organisation.

Featuring on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)'s National Watch programme on Wednesday night, Lt Gen Shikapwasha said what government was doing was in line with the people's wish.

The programme also featured Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) vice-president Amos Chanda and Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia chapter, chairperson Henry Kabwe.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said it was unethical for some newspapers to endorse particular candidates during elections.

“Certain media organisations are anti-government, they have gone political and they want to show their own candidate. You can't have a media that promulgates a bad situation when it's not bad all the time," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said.

"We move with the people because we don't want 2011 campaigns to be destroyed by one media organisation. Again we have one radio station which is every day insulting those in power. This is unacceptable."

When reminded by the presenter that all those in power were under the spotlight and therefore should accept to be scrutinised, Lt Gen Shikapwasha accused the media of being selective in their scrutiny.

“The spotlight should also shine on opposition leaders, it must not be a one sided spotlight. It must not be right for a newspaper to say Shikapwasha is an angel when I'm a thief. So let their light shine upon every political leader, not just those in power," he said.

When asked why the government should propose a law just to control one particular media house as evidenced by the debates in the last sitting of Parliament, Lt Gen Shikapwasha claimed that the government wanted to regulate all media houses.

“The debates in Parliament and cries from many people are not that one newspaper should be regulated. People are simply saying that all journalists should be responsible in their reporting. What one newspaper writes is an example of bad reporting. And yet that newspaper wants to stay out of a media council that can help promote ethics, that's wrong," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. “There are so many hawkers of news who claim to report for The Post, the Times of Zambia, or the Daily Mail.

Yet, to use the medical term they are only quacks who have infiltrated the media industry. It is the cry of the people of Zambia that if not regulated, the media owners will become too powerful. They will start directing the course of the country and will determine whether to throw the country in chaos or not."

But MISA Zambia chairperson Henry Kabwe argued that the alleged bias from private media organisations has been prompted by the public media's unprofessionalism.

"The temptation by private media institutions to be anti-government could be lessened if government-controlled media institutions stopped being biased towards government. But because our colleagues in the government-controlled media have been biased towards government, the private media have tried to fill in the gap and portray the other side of life," said Kabwe.

And Chanda observed that the Media Ethics Council of Zambia (MECOZ) had major weaknesses, which made it toothless.

"There were two major weaknesses in MECOZ: first that the major player which is The Post newspaper had opted to stay out of the Council. This had a negative bearing on MECOZ. And secondly that those other players who are inside, like the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail have not respected MECOZ decisions.

There are several decisions MECOZ has made against the Times of Zambia and the Daily Mail, which these two institutions have not respected. These, in my view are major weaknesses in MECOZ," said Chanda.

Labels: MEDIA, REGULATION, RONNIE SHIKAPWASHA

posted by MrK @ 5:49 AM