Source: ZMC to open online accreditation platform – herald
Mashonaland East Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) will launch an online accreditation system next month as it upholds its commitment to enhancing the ease of doing business for media practitioners.
This was revealed by the commission’s acting executive secretary, Mrs Nyaradzo Makombe Hazangwi in an interview with Zimpapers on the sidelines of the commission’s engagement with media practitioners from Mashonaland East province recently.
The engagement was held in Marondera, and it afforded journalists the privilege to apply and receive their accreditation cards, saving them time and money for travelling to Harare for the same service.
Mrs Makombe Hazangwi said while the decentralisation plan is on the cards, the commission will first introduce this online service centre for the convenience of the people.
“As ZMC, we are in Marondera and we have the whole plan to be able to try and cover all our provinces, bringing accreditation to media practitioners,” she said.
“We started with Marondera, then Masvingo, followed by Zvishavane and Mutare, and finally we will be in Chipinge for the World Radio Day celebrations.
“We are trying to embrace the ease of doing business for our journalists. It is important that they do their jobs while they are accredited and they have access to the places that they need to cover.
“As a commission, we know that it has not been easy for journalists to access our services. So while we are working on a decentralisation plan where we intend to have offices in every province, by March this year, we will have an online accreditation system that we are working on, which we hope will make it easier for journalists who have not been accredited to do so.”
She added that they already have an office in Mutare, which is yet to be opened, while advanced plans to establish one in Masvingo and the Midlands provinces are underway.
Already, Mrs Makombe Hazangwi said the commission has a functional office in Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, media practitioners from the province thanked the commission for the engagement.
Zimbabwe union of Journalists chairman for Mashonaland East Province Victor Maphosa said the engagement was fruitful.
“We want to commend the commission for engaging all media practitioners from Mashonaland East,” he said.
This is the commission’s first engagement in this province and it was fruitful. The participation from journalists was outstanding. They asked critical and hard questions, which were met by patient and articulate officials from the Commission, who responded clearly and educatively. “There were a lot of grey areas which were unbundled. My appeal to the commission is to continue visiting and engaging the media practitioners in the Province. We learnt a lot.”
More than 50 media practitioners attended the event.
COMMENTS