Grasp electoral laws fully, scribed urged

JOURNALISTS must acquaint themselves with electoral issues in order to cover the elections professionally, Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga has said.

Mr Malupanga challenged the media to turn the weaknesses highlighted in the voters’ pre-election monitoring report on the electoral activities to positives.

He was speaking during the launch of the first out of four voters’ pre-election monitoring report at the Taj Pamodzi in Lusaka.

Mr Malupenga said the weaknesses in the report could have been caused by lack of knowledge by the media on electoral matters.

“The challenges highlighted in the report may be traced to the media’s lack of familiarity with electoral issues such as the electoral code of conduct, electoral laws and rules and the constitution,”he said.

Mr Malupenga said the media was expected to be more knowledgeable than the public in order for to report adequately and accurately.

He added that the media shoulder a heavy responsibility to ensure that the public was well informed at all times.

At the same function, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia National Chairperson

Helen Mwale urged journalists to read the monitoring report exhaustively as it has highlighted the strengthens and weaknesses in the Zambian media.

She said journalists should not see this as an attack on the media but rather a yardstick of professional reporting.

“Once the report has fully been understood, it will go a long way to help journalists cover elections professionally,” she said.

The election monitoring report was launched under the theme “strengthening the media to deliver quality content that promotes transparency.”