The Electoral Commission of Zambia has called on the media to adapt to change and shift its approach from vices that have potential to propel hate speech in society.
Solwezi District Electoral Officer Bornwell Luanga said the media has the duty to counter disinformation, misinformation and mal-information which has been brought about by the emergence of online media and citizen journalism.
He said the media needs to fairly and accurately report electoral campaign activities of all political players in order to help the electorate make informed decisions.
“We need to adapt to change and shift our approach in order to meet the needs of the public and counter falsehood, misinformation and mal-information which are vices that have propelled hate speech in our society,” Eng. Luanga said.
Eng. Luanga said the media should focus on pertinent issues in the various party manifestoes, candidates and political parties as well as election regulations and processes.
Eng. Luanga who is also Solwezi Town Clerk was speaking in Solwezi today when he opened a three day media training workshop organized by the Electoral Commission of Zambia in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program Democracy strengthening in Zambia project.
He said the media must be reliable, truthful and trusted when reporting on election activities as it is the only means through which the public get to know about an election and political players.
“For citizens to be well informed during this election, there must be a free media. But whilst the media must be free and able to form independent and diverse views, it must be reliable, truthful and therefore trusted,” Eng. Luanga said.
He urged the media to uphold and champion media ethics as this will help improve media reporting on the country’s electoral process.
ECZ knows fcuckall about run-off elections. They can’t organize the looming 2 horse race after August 12.
They can eliminate hate speech campaigns but looks like they can’t do fcuckall
ECZ allows PF government to get away with murder, and contravene all their own instructions. And now it’s the media’s fault? Give me a break! ECZ and the police disallowed campaigning, but Edgar China Lungu can go to Mtendere and Bauleni markets and nobody says anything! CORRUPTION at every level!
Hate speech is a crime in Zambia. Where are the police?
It is not the media to diffuse hate speech ,it is the law enforcement and security agencies. There are enough laws to deal with this. If the media do not expose hate speech we shall not know about it and will not know the perpetrators like Kambwili and others. The media are playing their part. Other players ,including political parties that sponsor hate speech, have to do theirs.
Diffuse means to spread.
Defuse means to remove the fuse, to disarm.