Online ReporterBongani Ndlovu, [email protected]
THE Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) Executive Secretary Mr Godwin Phiri has called for concerted efforts to safeguard public service journalism, saying the survival of the media is critical to the survival of the nation.
Mr Phiri made the remarks on Wednesday after touring the Zimpapers Bulawayo branch and engaging the management as part of the commission’s Bulawayo Media Tour.
He said he was encouraged by the commitment to professionalism and the efforts being made to uphold standards despite the challenges confronting the media industry.
“I think what is most encouraging is that our media industry is still alive,” said Mr Phiri.
“Yes, we have serious challenges related to our sustainability and because of that, our industry seems to be shaking a bit. But we are encouraged by their kind of dedication to professionalism, to upholding standards, to ensuring that our media industry doesn’t die.”
Mr Phiri said the engagement had brought to the fore a number of issues affecting the media industry, ranging from policy and practical challenges to training needs.
He said the commission would consolidate the issues raised before identifying possible interventions and stakeholders who could help address them.
“A number of issues came up, some of them are policy related, some of them are really practical, some are training issues, and we are therefore going to sit down as a commission, consolidate that, and see what entry points we can come up with to begin to address these issues,” he said.
Mr Phiri said addressing the challenges would require a multi-stakeholder approach involving Government entities, private sector players and other stakeholders.
“It will require then that we discuss the number of stakeholders who are related to the issues that we are being raised with. It needs a multi-stakeholder approach. It cannot be handled by one institution,” he said.
He said the commission would, after consolidating the issues, identify relevant stakeholders to bring to the table for comprehensive discussions on the challenges facing the media industry.
Mr Phiri said the overarching lesson from the engagement was the importance of preserving public service journalism.
“I think the overarching lesson is that public service journalism must not be allowed to die,” he said.
“When public service journalism dies, then the very survival of the nation is at stake.”
Mr Phiri said a vibrant media was essential in ensuring that citizens and communities remained informed and had platforms to discuss issues affecting them.
“It’s important that our societies are informed, our communities are informed, that our societies have an opportunity to discuss, to talk about themselves, and the survival of this media is therefore key to that achievement,” he said.
The ZMC delegation visited Zimpapers as part of its Bulawayo Media Tour, which seeks to strengthen collaboration with media houses and assess the state of the media industry amid rapid digital transformation and other challenges
