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Media should focus on issues, not personalities - UNDP

Media should focus on issues, not personalities - UNDP
By Joseph Mwenda
Sat 04 Dec. 2010, 03:59 CAT

THE Zambian media should focus more on issues in its reporting rather than personalities, says UNDP resident representative Kanni Wignaraja. In an interview after she visited The Post newspapers offices in Lusaka yesterday, Wignaraja said it was difficult to pick the real issues from what was being reported because of the character assassination perpetuated by the media.

She said there was too much tension and anxiety that was being reported.
“The media has an adrenaline rush that makes a person like me who is new in the country feel scared,” Wignaraja said.

She urged journalists to utilise their intellectual capabilities by bringing out real issues from the newsmakers and consider the opinion of the readers on matters being reported especially in the run-up to next year’s general elections.

“I need to see a more balanced way of reporting. Journalists must be able to distinguish between reporting purely what has been said, reporting with their opinions or those of the newspapers they represent and reporting based on the opinion of the general public not the readers because there is a difference,” Wignaraja said.

And Post managing editor Amos Malupenga said the media was a mirror of society.

“As The Post, we try as much as possible to focus on the real issues because it’s the real issues that are going to make a difference to our country. But it should be noted that the media is merely a mirror of society. What you see in the media reflects what kind of society we have,” Malupenga said.

“Sometimes the media can be blamed when they are merely reflecting what is happening in society.”

Malupenga said there was need to look at the whole issue of media coverage in a holistic manner and ensure that all stakeholders played a positive role.

Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS, ANTHONY UNDI, KANNI WIGNARAJA

posted by MrK @ 9:12 PM