John Muyamba
RUNDU - Information minister Peya Mushelenga has encouraged state-owned media to report objectively and timely, saying journalists are important frontliners when it comes to the dissemination of information.
“Be objective, you see when you are a news reporter you are like a magistrate, he or she may have his or her own views on issues but there are legal principles that must be followed and it’s the same thing with news reporters,” he said.
Mushelenga made the remarks on Tuesday during his visit to the Kavango East information ministry regional office in Rundu where he held a meeting with NBC, New Era Publication Corporation and Nampa journalists as well as the ministry staff stationed there.
“You might have your personal views on issues but you must abide by the code of ethics of journalism which are very important to adhere to, report transparently, objectively and truthfully, that is the most important thing,” he continued.
Mushelenga stated that state media should not operate like private media.
“You are not private media, private media sometimes report things that suit the agenda of their institution, you are funded with taxpayers money and what taxpayers want to hear is objective and truthful reporting we don’t want twisted stories,” he said.
“We want to hear nothing but the truth, and we want to encourage you to continue on that note. Yes, if you are not sure don’t report, don’t do guess reporting.”
The ICT minister further emphasised the importance of news.
“When we were young, when playing we were told to keep quiet when it was time for news. So that tells you how people really value news, we all wait to hear what is on the news, we want to hear what is happening all over the country,” he noted.
“Timely reporting is very important, so when you come back from the field, you edit your story and post it for public consumption. Now that we have technology, things should be done on time, we don’t want to listen to old news, we want to keep up with the pace and time.”
– jmuyamba@nepc.com.na