Online Reporter
The Herald, 11 March 1981
THE Institute of Mass Communications has “gigantic” task to train Zimbabwe’s mass media personnel who will help lead the country into the “new age”, says the Institute’s director, Mr Ezekiel Makunike.
Mr Makunike, appointed in January, believes the institute will have to respond positively to the challenge if it is to fulfil its role in a dynamic society of Zimbabwe.
“People are looking for Information and answers to their problems,” he said in an interview yesterday. “The mass media will have to reach not just 20 percent of our people, but their totality. This is a mammoth task for which so much manpower is required.
“This is where our institute comes in to train people in various areas of the mass media and train them in a way as to make them help to lead the country into the new age.” He said the institute, to train 40 students in broadcast and print journalism as from next month, will also conduct research, seminars and workshops related to the mass media.
Mr Makunike, a former director of the Africa Literature Centre in Zambia, said he feels “deeply humbled” to have been offered his new post. The teacher turned Journalist, Mr Makunike was born at Nyakatsapa Mission, near Umtali, in 1929 and received his primary and teachers’ training courses at Old Umtali Mission. He did his secondary education at Goromonzi Secondary School.
After a lengthy teaching spell, which saw him promoted to headmaster of three schools, he was appointed lecturer at the Mutambara Teacher Training College in 1964. He left the college the next year to take up a post as director of the Methodist publications and editor-in-chief Umbowo, a monthly newspaper, for the next six years.
Mr Makunike, who holds a BA degree in English, political science, psychology and history from Hislop College, Nagpur, India, became director and senior lecturer of the African Literature Centre in Kitwe in 1970.
Mr Makunike also holds a diploma in journalism and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Syracuse University, New York. He is working on a dissertation for a doctorate also from Syracuse University, in mass communications.
Lessons for today:
Here are clear, relevant lessons for today drawn from the 1981 Herald article about the Institute of Mass Communications and the vision shared by its director, Ezekiel Makunike:
Lessons for today
- Mr Makunike emphasised the “gigantic task” of training media personnel for a transforming society. A professional, well-trained media sector remains crucial for accountability, informed citizenship, and democratic participation especially in an era of misinformation and digital noise.
- He stressed that mass media must reach the totality of Zimbabweans, not just 20 percent. Inclusive communication is still vital. Modern media must bridge the digital divide and ensure rural, low income, and marginalized communities are not left behind in access to credible information.
dyton mupawaenda