adminThe setting up of a minimum wage is also aimed at fostering regional integration and free movement of journalists.
Journalists from Zimbabwe work within the region mostly in South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana.
Few media organisations have instituted collective bargaining standards to determine what journalists can expect as salaries.
Regional leaders of journalist unions met in Windhoek recently to discuss working conditions.
They also discussed issues to map forward in the face of challenges such as exploitation in the globalised economy.
Participants felt journalists in the region were being exploited as there was no set minimum wage while senior journalists were being pushed out of employment to pave way for juniors.
Ms Zoe Titus, the regional director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, said working conditions for journalists inhibit their capacity to perform in line with professional obligations and required ethics.
“Poor provision of social benefits for journalists, weak union activities, gender inequality and an increased culture of brown envelope journalism have become real concerns in the media landscape,” she said.
She said the majority of journalists had no job security while some were owed numerous months of salaries.
She said reporters were poorly paid and ill-motivated which explained their poor performance and continued disregard of ethics.
“Media enterprises need to provide health and safety insurance to their staff who find themselves covering conflicts or violent events or who are victims of accidents or other forms of natural disasters in the course of their duties,” she said.
International Federation of Journalists commissioner Mr Kindness Paradza said the major issue affecting journalists was the failure to sign collective bargaining agreements.
He said a lack of unity among journalists also affected them when it came to presenting a united front to fight for their labour and professional rights.
“It is time for journalist unions to pronounce their mission and agenda than to be seen as an arm of political parties. Signing of collective bargaining agreements should top the agenda,” he said.
Temba Dube