Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
While media freedom is a cornerstone of democracy, there is no room for promoting the overthrow of a legitimate and democratically-elected Government, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere, has said.
Speaking at the third anniversary celebrations of 3K Television in Harare yesterday, Dr Muswere highlighted the importance of understanding the constitutional framework governing media operations as the nation moves towards Vision 2030.
Section 61 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and media and Section 62 pertains to access to information, but neither gave the right to press for overthrow of the legally-elected Government.
“We should also be very clear in terms of the supreme law of the country, the right to broadcast the overthrowing of a legitimate and democratic Government does not exist in our Constitution. The media freedom, the freedom of expression that we have should always be guarded jealously and we should always protect our journalists,” he said.
Dr Muswere said the Zimbabwe Media Commission and his ministry would continue working together with journalists and the media to give direction to all media houses and grow them.
“But as we have our Constitutional obligation in terms of freedom of expression, we should also be very clear that what will grow the media industry is the ethics, the ethos and the facts.
“We are masters of our destiny and that is why the President has always said ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’. So every member of the Fourth Estate has that responsibility,” he said.
Media ethics, Dr Muswere said, remained the cornerstone of journalism.
“It is an opportunity to verify and make sure that the sources of information we generate, use, as we generate content, all these sources are credible. This will ensure that the robustness and the growth of the media industry continues on a growth and positive trajectory.
“As a Government, we have also put in place a number of legislative and policy and infrastructure initiatives in order to support media plurality and also media diversity in our country as we seek to ensure that we inform the nation, we educate the nation and we also entertain the nation.”
Dr Muswere said since the Government was working towards amendments in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act, it was also cognisant of some of the challenges that affected the growth of the media industry.
“But at the same time, what is an adversary? What is success? It is the capacity and determination to triumph over adversity, to be able to have the leadership, the leadership that will direct, manage, plan, organise and control resources of institutions.
“I have had an opportunity to familiarise myself a lot with 3K TV studios. This is where technology meets human capital development in terms of miniaturising the sizes of our studios and in terms of the modernisation of our studios as we journey towards an upper middle-income society with a knowledgeable and informed society.”
Dr Muswere appreciated the role that 3K TV continued to play in promoting Government projects and other voices within marginalised communities.
He said 3K TV was one of the success stories of the opening up of airwaves under President Mnangagwa’s leadership.
“This is one of the achievements in terms of the 8 000 projects that we always talk about each and every time in terms of the deliverables that have been achieved under the Second Republic,” he said.
Job creation remains at the heart of the Second Republic.
“The more our nation imports most of its content from other countries, we are exporting jobs to those particular jurisdictions. We need to support our local artists.
“We need to support many other disciplines that need a platform to voice issues that affect micro and macroeconomic growth in our country, issues that affect social, political and economic spheres within our country,” he said.
Jester Media Services Group chief executive Mr Pilate Machadu said the company had a cordial relationship with the Government.
“We want to applaud the Government and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe for opening up the airwaves in introducing diversity in the sector,” he said.
3KTV station manager, Abigail Mvududu, said they were proud to have contributed significantly to the growth of the film industry in Zimbabwe by working and collaborating with local producers.
