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Government has applauded the media for playing a significant role in disseminating information on Covid-19, saying they have become essential to societal responses to the pandemic.
Speaking during Zimbabwe Defence Forces media day in Harare yesterday, the chief director in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Jonathan Gandari said Zimbabwe was very fast in coming up with Covid-19 interventions and urged media houses to spread factual information.
Covid-19 issues are dominating the media space with both broadcasters and print media seeing significant increases to their audiences.
“We are there to make sure that information on lockdowns is well conveyed. A study was done to assess the effectiveness of the media and we were informed that 97 percent of the population, regardless of the geographical distance, have received information about the pandemic. Radio stations, national newspapers and social media did a fantastic job in disseminating the information on Covid-19,” he said.
Speaking at the same event Herald Deputy Editor Ranga Mataire said the media played a critical role in dispelling the myths on Covid-19 and denounce vaccine hesitancy among individuals.
He said the Herald newspaper had created space for inclusivity to ensure everyone in society understood the information in vernacular languages. “The media plays a critical role to ensure survival of the nation. As a national newspaper, our role is to help dispel certain myths about the disease because some of the myths fuelled vaccine hesitancy.
“Government is our major source of information and gives us news on pandemics like this one. We still follow what scientists say about the disease. As media, we are also guided by the country’s interests,” he said.
Mataire urged journalists to take their jobs seriously and understand that fair, balanced and credible stories were crucial elements in media. Alpha Media Holdings Editor-in-Chief Wisdom Mudzungairi said: “The Media should empower citizens to make informed decisions and therefore information must be reliable.”
Online Reporter