By Abel MAVURA
Reliable, Accurate and Objective Media key in Preventing & Resolving Conflicts, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Minister Monica Mutsvangwa was speaking at the Inaugural launch of the Rotary/Makerere University Peace Journalism Training Programme yesterday.
“Media is a powerful instrument in social construction or deconstruction is an incontrovertible fact. That it can be lent to the service of good or ill is verity. Only through responsible journalism can we, therefore, expect social tensions to be moderated.”
“More importantly, it is through responsible journalism that the nation can maintain the peace that we have experienced since independence. It is always sad to read stories from other countries where the media has been found to act irresponsibly resulting in serious conflict, some of which leads to loss of life.” She said.
To date, a few journalists have been trained in the area of peace journalism and are not well equipped to report on issues that have consequences for societal peace. The training of journalists in conflict-sensitive reporting is imperative, because journalists covering sensitive social issues, such as elections, are inescapably involved in the events and processes they are reporting on – whether they like it or not.
“This training programme has also come at a time Southern Africa is reeling from the conflict situation in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, social unrests in South Africa, and some simmering tensions in Swaziland. These conflicts or threats of violence have undermined regional efforts at Peacebuilding. How the media handles such issues will bring lasting peace to the region.”
She also congratulated Patience Rusare one of the pioneers of the Rotary Peace Centre training programme for being appointed the lead person in rolling out the programme in Southern Africa.
Peace Journalism Training in Southern Africa Coordinator, Rusare said, “The primary objective of the programme is to equip practicing journalists and students of the Fourth Estate with the right aptitude to report on peace on the continent.”
Rusare is an international multi-award-winning journalist with 11 years experience reporting on the Zimbabwean story, both locally and abroad.
