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takondwa kaliwo - My Blog
takondwa kaliwo - My Blog


th media and development
Related to country: Malawi

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i was listening to the state broadcaster last night and i think politicians are abusing the role of the media in development. the state broadcaster has the role to be independent and inform the rural masses out there who depend entirely on the radio for all their news. most illiterate people will believe all that is said on radio as the gospel truth because they can not compare the news from newspapers or other mediums because they don't have access to them. and if all we inform them is pro-government whether it is right or wrong i think we are abusing their right to correct information. and maybe the broadcasters will argue that their budget comes from the government and they cant possibly be anti government. my suggestion would be why don't we do the pro government programmes. but present the news as honest as possible so that those who entirely depend on state broadcasters for news has a dose of true news? why don't we have reporters trained and skilled to know when to do propaganda programmes and when not to? honestly am not against pro government programmes on state radio. but its disturbing when everything is pro-government and the truth is not told anymore! a big up to journalist who are dedicated to presenting news in a fair and true manner despite their political affiliations! people out there depend on u for professional journalism!

May 16, 2008 | 4:17 AM Comments  1 comments

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sanje Karl Iron Msiska
May 16, 2008 | 5:09 AM
The media and development
Takondwa, for those of us who are in the media industry your observation makes the most important of such but obviously one that will change nothing. All problems associated with abuse of state-controlled media come from the Communications Act, 1998.

The Communications Act was drafted in such a manner that completely makes these media feeble. It was designed in a manner that these media give no coverage to the opposition or a related ideology; while being mouthpieces for the government. In brief we say that if it is the opposition, then it is negative and not positive. And for government, it is always positive and nothing negative.

Unfortunately, all politicians including the dominat opposition are not ready to rework the Act. The fear is that the Act would empower the broadcasters to cover the opposition once they are go in government and government to opposition.

However, we can still yield something and educate the masses accordingly if most of the developmental programmes were channelled through Zodiak. I think you will agree with me that Zodiak is steadfastly stealing listenership from the dominant MBC. Go to the village and find out. People are realising that what they get from MBC is propaganda and real issues are tackled by stations like Zodiak.

Nevertheless, your observation should go a long way in shaping the mindset of those of us in the media. I don't work for the state-run media though!
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