THE private media should prioritise building Brand Zimbabwe and play an integral part in the attainment of Vision 2030 of an empowered upper-middle income society, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said yesterday.
He made the call after touring privately-owned Alpha Media Holdings in Harare, as part of his familiarisation tour of all media houses in the country.
Dr Muswere commended Alpha Media for the steps it has taken towards modernising its operations and innovation in the media landscape.
“We need to work together with the private sector media for us to be able to build the nation. The most important, fundamental issue related to the growth of the media industry is primarily to promote the brand Zimbabwe, that Zimbabwe principally comes first as a country.
“For us to be able to develop a sustainable media industry, we need principally to have accurate, factual, credible and ethical reportage and we need also to be able to work together with the private sector media to promote vision 2030,” said Dr Muswere.
He emphasised the need for the media to promote the Government led by President Mnangagwa as there has been many success stories related to the transformation and growth of all sectors of the economy.
Dr Muswere highlighted the importance of the media in fostering peace and unity among Zimbabweans.
“The private sector has a role to play in nation building, in terms of ensuring that there is peace and tranquillity and to ensure that there is tolerance.”
“Each and every Zimbabwean has a role to play in terms of building our nation and proving that we are masters of our destiny,” he added.
On the welfare of workers in the media industry, the Minister said discussions around the establishment of a National Employment Council for the media industry were ongoing.
“We are looking at how best we can professionalise and support the journalism profession in terms of ethics, the standard of reportage and also in terms of human capital development,” he said.
“It is also imperative for all journalists to contribute to the new media policy which is being crafted. We need to develop a policy that is futuristic and forward looking, that is also practical and borrows from other media houses with continental, regional and international comparisons in order for us to enrich the policy.”
Alpha Media chief executive Mr Kenias Mafukidze said the group was conscious of the need for all media players to support the Government initiatives to promote the growth of the country.
“Clearly we support Vision 2030 of being an upper middle income economy for Zimbabwe and that takes all of us working together; the Government, the private sector and us as media making sure that we are holding the nation accountable, that we are pointing out great things that are happening,” he said.
Mr Mafukidze said Alpha Media was already working with the Ministry and Government to promote the country in terms of investment, to make sure that issues of stock markets were highlighted.
“So we have no doubt about our commitment to the country and to make sure that Zimbabwe becomes a leading African country in the league of nations. The visit by the Minister was testimony that we are Zimbabweans first and whatever else comes second. We are united in developing this country and making sure that we make a difference and grow our economy,” he said.
Herald
