Fear not, scribes told

THE Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) has advised journalists to report about real issues on the ground without having the fear of being harassed.

PAZA president Andrew Sakala said harassment against journalists led to compromised kind of reporting as most of them feared being followed.

Mr Sakala observed that most journalists reported on issued that certain people wanted to hear or read about themselves and ended up threatening the journalists.

He was speaking in

Kitwe ahead of the World Press Freedom Day, which falls next Monday.

"The media is one of the key stakeholders that needed to provide fair and balanced reporting of campaigns, policies, meetings, rallies and press conferences of all registered political parties and candidates during the campaign period," he said.

Mr Sakala said it was important that media organisations undertook capacity building of media personnel.

He said media personnel needed to be trained and encouraged to separate propagan

da from the factual reporting of the news.

He said media houses needed to fulfill the role of facilitating access to information and being a civic forum for debate to help citizens make informed choices.

Mr Sakala added that the media should by all means avoid biased reportage and taking sides nomatter the situation they are placed in.

"Journalists are expected to remain professional and adhere to the simple ethics of truth, objectivity, balance and fairness.

"Journalists are only conveyors of the message who are only doing their job to keep the public informed at all times," Mr Sakala said.