This year’s elections go beyond the contestations of
political parties and are about restoring international re-engagement and
legitimacy, Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George
Charamba has said.
Addressing a media and election reporting training workshop
here yesterday, Mr Charamba said Government did not view the forthcoming
elections as contests between the ruling Zanu-PF and other parties.
“This election is about restoring international
re-engagement and legitimacy; that is where we are. It must be flawless, it
must be transparent, it must be free, it must be fair, it must meet
international standards, it must be violence free and therefore it must be
universally endorsed because it is an instrument of foreign policy,” said Mr
Charamba. “It’s about re-engagement and legitimacy; we are playing politics at
a higher level.”
Mr Charamba said it was the duty of local media to report
on the coming polls in a manner that respects, upholds the national interests
and not subordinate themselves to influences of foreign media houses. “Your
messaging will be in competition within your own ranks and also the outsider,
which immediately begs a relational issue. What I have found very humiliating
about your industry is how you are made to chase stories and claims that come
from without in respect of a country which you yourself are not only resident,
but do cover; that I have never understood,” said Mr Charamba.
“Why do you deflower a national eye? It’s a brazen
admission that we come second to the outsider.”
Mr Charamba said such acts make one a junior to a person
who could be half as qualified as the local journalist.
He called on the local media to follow the Kenyan example
at the election of President Uhuru Kenyatta, where the country’s media not only
covered politicians, but also the coverage by foreign media and refusing to be
instigated by foreign interests.
He said it was the duty of the media to consider national
interests in the reportage of the polls as journalists do not owe it to any
political party, but the country.
Mr Charamba said a distinctive feature in the 2018 polls
was that political players with a media hyper-consciousness can skilfully
bypass the media in reaching audiences, a phenomenon that will see the media
fighting for relevance. He said it was the duty of the media, therefore, to
report objectively and respect the sanctity of facts.
“All hell breaks loose if you allege murder where life
lives. The facts must be sacred,” said Mr Charamba.
He said it was accepted in politics that where facts are
respected and interpretation differs, the various media houses would be
jockeying for readers.
Mr Charamba reiterated that during the election period,
after proclamation of dates by the President, the reportage by all media houses
on elections would fall under the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).
Mr Charamba commended the skilful way of handling
information in the public sector by the police and Zec.
“For me, what is critical in Zec from a communication point
of view is this unprecedented capacity to react to a story within its news
cycle, which means the response is instantaneous, so you won’t get away with
it,” he said.
Mr Charamba also commended the self-regulation by the media
and its stance against errant media regardless of media house. He said there
was a shift in the attitudes of voluntary media organisations than in olden
times where some of them blindly defended some media houses.
The two-day workshop, which started on Thursday, was
organised by Zec and the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) in collaboration with
the Electoral Institute for Sustaining Democracy in Africa.
In her closing remarks, Zec Commissioner Joyce Kazembe also
highlighted the need for professional and objective reporting by the media in
covering elections. Herald
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