adminVILLAGERS in the communities of Bulilima and Mangwe have demanded access to local media content as they feel they are being sidelined from major development issues
Participants at an Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI) public meeting held on Friday in Plumtree said they were in the dark in terms of current affairs.
They also called for the establishment of community newspaper written in the Khalanga language.
Some residents in Plumtree also complained of poor radio and TV signals.
“The bulk of us who are living in the rural areas are in the dark as far as getting information is concerned. We only live 30 kilometres away from the town but given our situation it is as though we live in another country.
“We cannot use our own phone networks and we cannot access our own media content be it through the television, radios or newspapers,” said Mr Mtshumayeli Ndlovu, who is the councillor of Malanswazi in Bulilima.
He said it was high time Government made information accessible for them as they were not benefiting from foreign content.
“We are tired of hearing about Zimbabwean issues from the perspective of foreign radio stations. It is high time that we received local content from the local perspective as other citizens of this country do.
“The only news that is readily available to us is foreign news. Information is detrimental to the development of a community and if some are sidelined from receiving it then it means they are being sidelined from the development process,” Mr Ndlovu said.
Villagers pointed out that media content written in English only served a section of their community, which called for a newspaper to be published in their local language.
Another councillor, Elias Dube of Huwana area said a number of people especially youths could benefit greatly if information was readily available to them.
“Sometimes we access old newspapers but that will be stale news. There is some critical information that could benefit youths such as job and learning opportunities. Our children will always remain behind if they are the last to know,” he said.
Some issues that were raised include the need to capacitate journalists to cover remote parts of rural communities.
The media was also urged to desist from trivialising issues and portraying women as victims all the time. Participants also said a clear line had to be drawn between the kind of stories covered by tabloid and broadsheet newspapers.
A number of people from Bulilima wanted to know how to access news online but they discovered they could not because of poor network reception in their areas.
The deputy chairperson of IMPI, Ms Thembelihle Khumalo, said they were holding public meetings nationwide with the hope of enhancing access to information.
“We are moving across provinces and districts gathering information on how people in various communities including Bulilima and Mangwe are placed in terms of accessing media. We hope to have completed this exercise by July where we will compile a report and submit it to the Minister.
“We have panels moving across the whole country,” she said.
Online Reporter