adminThe commemorations come at a time when the media has lost and continues to lose many journalists who are killed while executing their duties. In Zimbabwe journalists continue to be confronted by many operational challenges that have become a hindrance to their execution of duty.
At a time when journalists in Bulawayo were supposed to join the rest of the world to reflect on their operations the previous year, the Mayor of Bulawayo Councillor Thaba Moyo decided to attack the media. Clr Moyo who probably has been incensed by what he called negative stories about his city, has threatened to bar the media from covering council meetings.
In his opening remarks to a full council meeting on Wednesday, Clr Moyo said the media should leave the city council alone.
He said the media should be ashamed of the lies it was publishing. What is said to have irked Clr Moyo is the coverage of the council strike last week and also recent media reports alleging that the council’s Revenue Hall, Tower Block and the City Hall could be attached over a debt the council owes a local bank.
The council reportedly obtained a loan from the bank to buy vehicles for managers and surrendered title deeds of the three buildings as collateral. What has to be pointed out from the onset is that the media’s role is to inform, educate and entertain. The media is in fact a mirror of society and Clr Moyo should not expect it to do more than that.
It is not the business of the media to run the affairs of Bulawayo City Council or to spruce up the local authority’s image. Clr Moyo and his councillors were given the mandate to run the affairs of the city by Bulawayo residents who have expectations that should be met. The media is simply playing its watchdog role by reporting the goings on in council.
We want to say thumbs up to journalists in Bulawayo for exposing the ills in council which has so infuriated Clr Moyo who, if he had his way, could have declared some of the journalists personae non gratae in Bulawayo. What Clr Moyo should realise is that it is not a favour for journalists to be allowed to attend council meetings but they are mandated to do so by their profession.
The media has an obligation to inform residents who are the employers of Clr Moyo, his councillors and council officials about what is happening in council. The ratepayers want to know for example how their money is being used, why council is facing challenges in service delivery, why certain projects have taken long to complete and other such information to do with their local authority.
It is unfortunate that Clr Moyo, who is head of council, is of the view that residents should be denied such information. Clr
Moyo should, instead of attempting to gag the media, co ncentrate on addressing the shortcomings of his council such as late payment of salaries, poor service delivery, council’s indebtedness and ensuring that council gets its priorities right. It defeats all logic for a local authority which is failing to pay salaries to spend about $400 000 on luxury vehicles for managers.
The media, while it has a mandate to report on council matters should always strive to be accurate. We do not condone reporting falsehoods and if Clr Moyo feels strongly that the media is deliberately distorting information, he should shame such media by providing the correct information. Just denying what has been reported is just not enough because residents want information.
We want to once again urge Clr Moyo and his council to appreciate the role of the media and help facilitate the dissemination of information so that residents can make informed decisions. Residents who are kept in the dark are dangerous because they end up making uninformed decisions whose consequences might be too ghastly to contemplate.
Online Reporter