Deputy Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services David Phiri has challenged journalists to be accurate when reporting.
Mr Phiri urged reporters to work hard and ensure that they report responsibly by making sure that information in their stories is factual.
The minister further urged journalists to ensure that information collected is verified before writing stories to avoid misleading the nation
Mr.Phiri was speaking in Monze today when he toured Sky F.M radio station.
He called on all community and commercial radio stations in the country to inform people on various developmental issues taking place within their areas of operation.
Mr.Phiri said there was need for people to know about any developments taking place and opportunities that government had been creating for them.
He said that it was a mandate to monitor and regulate community and commercial radio stations that were directly under the ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services.
The minister added that government would ensure that the freedom of information bill goes back to parliament.
He said that government was prepared to take the bill back to parliament as consultations had been carried out widely.
Mr.Phiri said that the bill was dragging because of consultations that were going on at both national and international levels.
He said that the freedom of information bill was not about journalists but citizens and accessing information.
He added that information should never be used at the detriment of developmental programs and important issues of national interest.
The minister was accompanied by Monze District Commissioner and some heads of government departments during the tour of Sky F.M radio station in monze.
Is this tour by the deputy Minister news worthy sure!!! No comment
This is rubbish reporting and not worth writing about. Why didnt he cite examples of inaccurate reporting b4 he could utter such irresponsible talk. Public media is under govts tongue and cant write stories that people want to know about. Those are the issues this man should be talking about….
ain see anything wrong in him talking about the reporters reporting what is at hand. we dont need information which is not correct, I think as responsible citizen of this country we need to respect people who are in leadership stop thilthy setiments
Why should people be informed of development issues taking place in their areas????? They have to SEE these issues not just the same rhetoric govt pronoucements….If they can see them then why inform them?
why don’t they liberalise the airwaves then we will have improved reporting,encourage more zambians to venture into electronic media.the govt are scared little men who want to control the masses skyfm will soon be shut down we are not told what was said to the producers now are we?open your eyes
what a waste of tax payers money..
Too much political masturbation in public pa Zed. I thought this Phiri thing should be looking for financial solutions to uplift the quality of reporting and broadcasting by our national media.
There is nothing to talk about our jounalist. When we have important issues in the country like black outs no journalist goes out to interview people and see how they are coping. They would rather interview people about valetines. What a shame to journalst.