Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) has commended government efforts to license 14 community radio stations as part of the drive to complete the three-tier broadcasting system.
In its World Press Freedom Day statement, ZACRAS hailed community radio stations for the role they played during the Covid-19 era which saw some partnering government in communicating accurate and relevant information on the pandemic.
“As the country is battling the Covid-19 pandemic, ZACRAS remains cognizant of the fact that there are communities that are not regularly accessing relevant information needed to make critical decisions. It remains ZACRAS’ conviction that the existence of community radios in Zimbabwe will greatly assist in the local and timely dissemination of information on Covid-19 as has been witnessed in other countries such as India and Ethiopia amongst others,” the organisation said.
ZACRAS urged the government to promote the rights of community radio journalists by ensuring their safety, especially during the election period, and fully respect editorial and programming independence of community radio stations.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament of Mbizo constituency, Settlement Chikwinya said the future of the journalism profession was bleak due to viability challenges.
“This means that professional journalism as a source of income continues to face viability challenges and Media Practice as a profession has its future bleak. With Citizen journalism pregnant with misinformation and fake news, factual reportage from established news outlets has made them remain afloat despite the increasing threat to existence,” he said.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
