Government has bemoaned the lack of specialization among journalists in the country.
Speaking when he officially opened a media workshop organized by Zambia National Commission for UNESCO information permanent secretary Bet Mushala said the trend of having ” jacks of all trades and masters of none” is worrying as it is affecting the quality of reporting by journalists.
Mr Mushala said because of the lack of specialization journalists tend to report half truths as they do not understand the issues they are reporting on.
“What we see in many of our news rooms, is that at 10:00hrs a reporter is covering a UNESCO workshop, at 12:00hrs the same reporter is sent at Bank of Zambia and at 15:00hrs the same reporter is at Sunset stadium. No specialization”.
“In so doing, Journalists end up reporting the smoke and not the actual fire”. He said.
He further said the trend has led to journalists becoming experts in coping and pasting statements and speeches adding that reporters are not trying to examine and exhume the truth behind the nicely worded presentation.
“The end result of this is that people are fed on shallow and half baked information leading to an ill-informed and misinformed public”. Mr Mushala added.
The permanent secretary said this in a speech read on his behalf by ministry of information director of press and media development Isaac Chipampe in Lusaka today.
Strictly speaking, this was not said by the PS. It was written by someone else and read by another. The writer is the one who is concerned and not the PS.
YOU ARE SPOT ON. THE MINISTER OR WHOEVER, DOESN’T EVEN GIVE A SHIIIIT. THATS WHY HE DID NOT EVEN PRESENT IT HIMSELF.
@Peter and St. Jude; I am not sure that the issue should be on who says what but what is said. Is what was said a true reflection of what happens on the ground? I think that there is some truth in what was said or read on this matter – of course it does not apply to all journalists. We have good examples, like Mr Kasama who reports on Court matters and that is what we want because the reporter is able to interpret the court jargon into a language understood by all. Unfortunately and for some reasons, we have some journalists who just read questions, no follow-up questions after unclear answer but just goes onto another question, etc. At times you see an interviewee correcting the interviewer – PLEASE! Please media houses start training your staff to be correspondences in particular fields.
especially innocent kalaluka…..sports, dj, producer, news caster, camera man, boom operator..graphic designer, editor, the man is everything…..
THAT’S WHY THE QUALITY AND STANDARD OF REPORTING IN ALL AREAS WITH ALL NEWSPAPERS OR ANY OTHER MEDIA HAS GONE BELOW SHIIIIIT IN ZAMBIA AND NO ONE SEEMS TO BE CONCERNED. JUST GONE TO TIMES OF ZAMBIA WEBSITE WHEN YOU ARE IN A HURRY TO GO AND JUST READ THE HEADLINES. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINT TO FIND THAT SOME CHAT JUST FELT LAZY TO COMPLETE THE ALL HEADLINE SENTENCES. SO IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO QUICKLY HAVE A SUMMARY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD. CAN’T TIMES OF ZAMBIA EDITOR IN CHIEF REASON PROPERLY TO KNOW THAT IT’S NOT ALL THE TIMES THAT ONE WANTS TO READ THE DETAILED ARTICLES BUT JUST HEADLINES?
Spot on Bwana P.S. Its the more reason we cant find journalist who will break down some of these statement for a lay man. Governments talks about revocation of the .S.I…the journalist takes the same statement. what happened to journalist who would first explain what those S.I means, subsidy in simpler terms. I find it difficult to sometimes understand statements from the lawyers coz they are not explained….
THERE ARE JUST SO MANY THINGS OUR NEWSPAPERS ARE INCAPABLE OF DOING. PICK UP ANY NEWSPAPER (HARD OR ELECTRONIC). THE FIRST THING YOU SEE IS A MISTAKE ON OBVIOUS STUFF. PICK UP A Zambia Daily Mail. ALL IMAGES WILL HAVE NO ANNOTATION IF YOU JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE PICTURE. MOST OF THE NEWS ARTICLES (applies to all papers) WILL NOT BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH IMAGES (in these day and age of technology) TO AVOID UNNECESSARY GUESS WORK ABOUT THE SITUATION. 101% OCCURRENCE IN ALL NEWSPAPERS WILL BE THAT THERE WILL BE NO NEWS ARTICLE ON THE REMOTE PART OF ZAMBIA. BUT YOU WILL BE GUARANTEED WITH OPPOSITION PARTY NEWS. WE WANT RURAL DEVELOPMENT NEWS NOT TOO MUCH POLITICKING.
The same journalists who have been subjected to one press conference by the finance minister since PF tookover, what full truths do you expect.
NEWSPAPERS HAVE SUBJECTED THEMSELVES AS THEY HAVE A CHOICE TO LEAVE ALWAYS REPORTING ON POLITICS AND GO TO RURAL AREAS TO CONFLICT ON THE DEVELOPMENT THE GOVERNMENT IS TALKING ABOUT IN RURAL AREAS. THEY HAVE A CHOICE BUT THEY CHOOSE TO SUBJECT THEMSELVES TO RHETORIC. IN SHORT JOURNALISM IN ZAMBIA DOES NOT AID DEVELOPMENT BUT INSTEAD HINDER AND DISCOURAGE AS THEY DON’T POSITIVELY AND OBJECTIVELY REPORT ON IT.
Well Observed,
50 years since independence and we still don’t have specialization in Journalism?
What a Shame. No wonder when CNN,BBC or SABC reports on Zambia, its a hot cake for most of us than listening to the same copy and paste type of news.
It would be nice to approach other Professionals in the different sectors with an interest in Journalism, to assist with factual reporting. they just need a little bit of training. For the time being.
The solution is simple. Make Journalism a post graduate qualification the way it is in America or the UK. First it is important that a reporter is well vested in the subject he is reporting on. For example If you want to be an Economics reporter….you must usually have a degree or diploma in Economics or business/Finance field plus a post graduate qualification in Journalism….this can be a certificate/diploma or Masters degree.
YOU ARE SPOT ON. NOTHING YOU HAVE SAID CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. DON’T THEY KNOW OR LEARN THESE THINGS- OUR JOURNALISTS?
Professionalization and specialization will add value to media activities in the country. With respect to accountability, then members of the public (non specialists included) must be free to interrogate and question or reflect on issues of public concern freely and openly.
OUR MEDIA CAN EVEN USE SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO GATHER IFORMATION IN VERY REMOTE RURAL AREAS THESE INSTITUTIONS HAVE DIFFERENT SPECIALISED STAFF. THEY WOULD BE HAPPY TO EARN EXTRA MONEY ONCE CONTRACTED TO WRITE STORIES FOR THEM. FOR INSTANCE IN SCHOOLS WE HAVE AGRICULTURE SCIENCE TEACHERS WHO CAN REPORT ON AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES IN REMOTE ZAMBIA. WE ALSO HAVE QUALIFIED ECONOMICS TEACHERS WHO ALSO CAN REPORT ON THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE IN RURAL AREAS, ETC. ALL THE MEDIA NEEDS TO DO IS TO TRAIN THEM ON REPORTING AND LIGHTLY EQUIP THEM WITH CAMERAS, STATIONARY, ETC.
WORSE FOR NEWS READERS! I JUST DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO SAY HERE. YOU HEAR SOMEONE READING THE 06:00 HRS NEWS HEADLINES SAYING; “THIS SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL SAID THIS AND THAT WHEN HE/SHE OFFICIALLY OPENED A WORKSHOP TODAY”, KNOWING VERY WELL THAT, THAT CANNOT HAPPEN BECAUSE IT IS 06:00HRS AND THE EVENT MUST HAVE HAPPENED THE PREVIOUS DAY, BUT HE/SHE GOES AHEAD TO READ THAT AND EVEN SAYS. “GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME TO THE BREAKFAST SHOW”! SIC REALLY!
Headlines should be:
Zambians concerned with the lack of specialization by President