Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Freeman Razemba and Farirai Machivenyika
Palestinian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Tamer Almassri has challenged the delegation of media trainers from the Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA) to help Zimbabwe by publishing stories in their country calling for the removal of the illegal economic sanctions imposed on the nation by the West.
The delegation yesterday started a two-day training workshop and are providing technical capacity building to local journalists as the nation seeks to foster professionalism and responsible reporting ahead of the polls.
“I am sure that we will learn from our comrades from Zimbabwe, because the media here is very important and by the way I will speak about them. They have freedom of speech that they can compete within Africa. And they have the trade or the trademark of journalism that is connected with the international and big news houses.
“I want to say that we are not here just for training but we are also here to learn, share experiences, which is very important. It’s very important for us to concentrate on our principles,” Ambassador Almassri said.
Zimpapers CEO Mr Pikirayi Deketeke (second from right) speaks to Palestine Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Tamer Almassri and Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA) delegation during the High Media Capacitation workshop at Herald House in Harare yesterday. — Pictures: Edward Zvemisha.
He was sure that journalists would learn a lot in Zimbabwe and go back to Palestine to speak about their comrades and their experience here.
“Maybe I am not a specialist like you, but I can speak politically. This is our second home and this is our struggle and the next election is very important not only for Zimbabwe, but also for Palestine. As they support us in the media against the Israeli apartheid occupation, I think our duty now, is to increase our coverage in Palestine.
“I will not say to show them or to publish about the sanctions but to increase, because we already publish about it. So increase it, about the sanctions here and about the successful story of Zimbabwe to not only our Palestinian audience, but to the Arab audience because Palestine is very well followed by the Arab people,” he said.
Zimpapers chief executive officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke said the Zimbabwe Newspaper Group was the oldest media company in Zimbabwe.
“Our history is such that when we were created, we were created as a newspaper which was meant to serve colonial interest in 1891, when the colonial settlers were moving into the then Rhodesia. So, it was meant to serve interests of the settler colonial community but in 1980, the Zimbabwean Government then decided to buy majority shareholding in the media group so that it could give the newly liberated independent Zimbabwean people a voice and an opportunity to tell their story.
He told the delegation that Zimpapers has 11 newspaper titles, four radio stations and one television station, including a combined social media presence that reaches over 7 million Zimbabweans.
“This training is coming at an appropriate time. This is why we are thrilled that you are here to share experiences with us and also some new insights.
“When I was looking at the plethora of expertise that is coming, are really in the new areas that we ourselves are exploring. As new media, how do we make our designs for our publications more appealing to our readers? As you will know very well that there is serious migration from print to digital platforms but our print publications also have to look just as good to attract not only with its content but also with the look and theme of our newspapers,” he said.
Speaking during the training, Mr Kayed Ma’ani said Zimbabwe journalists had a responsibility to report during the forthcoming elections, in a manner that promotes the image of the country.
“The main issue that Zimbabwe is seeking from this election is to promote the reputation and image of the country in the face of the world,” he said.
He also warned journalists against simplifying issues around the elections because nothing happens without a purpose and urged them to verify their sources of information.
Engineer Abd Alfatah Najjar echoed similar sentiments saying: “The social media and digital media we are living with now makes everyone a journalist but not everything written there is right.’’
He said journalist had a role to inform citizens and ensure accountability and transparency from elected officials.
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