The Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information, Communication and Technology say it is deeply concerned with low salaries and poor working conditions among media practitioners.
Media, Information, Communication and Technology Parliamentary Committee Chairperson, Raphael Mabenga, says there is an urgent need address the poor conditions of service journalists work under to bring sanity in the industry.
Mr. Mabenga was speaking in Kabwe when the parliamentary committee paid a courtesy call on Central Province Minister Credo Najuwa.
“Our coming is basically to come and see the challenges that the media is facing on the ground. As you are aware, the media is a very complex institution with a lot of regulations and registrations hence our coming to familiarize ourselves with the challenges in the media,” Mr. Mabenga said.
He said his committee wants to ensure that a conducive environment is created for journalists to do their job professionally and for the media industry to thrive.
Some of the issues the committee would like to be addressed in the media are poor salaries, qualifications, professionalism, transport and equipment among others.
Meanwhile, Central Province Minister, Credo Nanjuwa, said as the media is very important in the development of any nation hence the need for parliament to take keen interest in issues that are affecting the industry.
Mr Nanjuwa said challenges facing the media industry require quick interventions from both government and media owners because if they are left unaddressed, they have the potential to compromise the quality of information churned out to the members of the general public.
“Media is very important, and there are a number of challenges that the media is facing which need to be brought to the floor of the house and the report that your committee will make should bring amends to the challenges facing the media,” Mr. Nanjuwa said.
Unfortunately journalism is the most diluted profession with te advent of internet media. So its gonna be very difficult to identify genuine journalists and reward them accordingly. Any fool can tell a lie put it on the internet and attract a big uncritical audience. So journalists the ball is in your court. Solve this one or RIP
Journalists are employed by media owners who then decide what to pay them. It’s not the role of MPs to decide what journalists ought to be paid or even to inquire into what journalists earn. If they do that where will they draw the line? They might as well look at what nurses earn, what physiotherapists earn, what secretaries earn, what footballers earn, what teachers earn, what engineers earn.