Leave politics to politicians, scribes told
ACTING Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Simon Khaya Moyo has challenged journalists to leave politics to politicians and focus on their key role of informing, educating and entertaining the nation.
Speaking during celebrations to mark World Press Freedom Day at Harare Polytechnic College yesterday, Minister Khaya Moyo also urged journalists to refrain from publishing gossip as facts.
“Let us steer clear from the old snail of media polarisation which seeks to entrap our media into joining partisan politics. Let us leave politics to the political parties and we have over 104 parties in the country and more may emerge to contest the forthcoming harmonised elections,” he said.
“Let us be professional journalists and demonstrate not only to the outside world but to ourselves in the run-up to and during elections that we are not partisan. Journalism is a noble profession based on ethics . The old adage is that the pen is mightier than the sword but please do not use it like a sword.
“Journalism is meant to educate, entertain, to inform. That is what the pen all about is. Press Freedom in Zimbabwe is guaranteed by the Constitution as of 2013 something that was a thorny issue prior to that date when the supreme law of the land then was silent on the subject.”
Ambassador Khaya Moyo said Government, under the administration of President Mnangagwa, was committed to ensuring the well-being of the Fourth Estate.
“I have no doubt in my mind that for as long as our journalists adhere to the journalism ethics, they will continue to win the support of both Government and the communities they serve. This year we are celebrating press freedom in Zimbabwe following historic events of last year which ushered in the new dispensation our country enjoys today,” he said.
“I am aware that they could still be a residual perception among some of our people that political change has been cosmetic while underneath nothing has really changed. Of course, this is not true. Anyone subscribing to this line of thinking is still tied to the past which is now behind us. Let bygones be bygones, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on his inauguration.”