Zimbabwe journalism in intensive care

DEAR EDITOR - I hope you will publish this comment regarding some of the so-called political and economic analysts that we are subjected to by our 'independent' media based in the Diaspora.

I am one of those people who truly believe in independence of the press. I also believe in telling the truth so that we can create a progressive and harmonious society.

An issue that I am getting increasingly concerned about is the lack of depth in many of the analyses on Zimbabwe that we are fed daily by so-called radio stations and news publications on Zimbabwe. Our country has some of the most learned people on the African continent and the world over, yet our independent radio stations are recycling 'ignorant' people who lack depth and understanding about the issues confronting Zimbabwe. Some presenters, not only fail to articulate themselves, but lack an understanding of some of the issues they report on.

This problem is exacerbated by the recycling of ignorant political and economic "analysts" putting Zimbabwe journalism into intensive care.

I was listening to a "news broadcast" by one online radio station on Monday and I was shocked to hear some of the attempts at explaining technical (legal and economic) issues on Zimbabwe. There was clear lack of understanding of the issues involved in the Zimbabwe crises. The people who run these stations should understand that they have a lot of influence on people and their skewed analyses are often inadvertently passed onto our unsuspecting communities.

Our people deserve better informed presenters who can articulate issues and dissect problems intelligently. Such recycling of ignorance is detrimental to the the health of our society.

Let us hope many of these stations and publications that spread mindless propaganda and pass it off as news will step up to the plate if they need to be respected; otherwise history will judge them harshly. Presenters should be thoroughly vetted for experience and education and the news scripts should be approved by those who understand and research the issues properly; not those who do it just for the money.

Those stations which broadcast half-baked stories just to have stories for the day should be exposed and shamed. I hope the media regulator in Zimbabwe will not give licenses to some of these "news broadcasters" unless they buckle up and demonstrate that they have the right calibre of presenters - skilled and experienced.

Zimbabweans deserve better.


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Nyarai Chidemo
miss.nyari@yahoo.com