Harare, August 12, 2015: United States Ambassador Bruce Wharton has called for public support to efforts at voluntary regulation of the media which he says promotes sustainability of the media industry and encourages professionalism and media literacy all of which are a cornerstone of freedom of expression guaranteed in international statues and Zimbabwe’s constitution.
By Bathabile Dlamini
“A strong media is something that is very important for every country and it is of vital importance to Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Wharton speaking at an outreach event by the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) targeted at athletes at the Harare Professionals Soccer League. “The media deserves to be protected from business people, diplomats, governments; religious groups and other special interest groups and there is need for a dispute resolution mechanism that can assist everybody.”
VMCZ provided the Obama Boys Football Club, 2014 Harare Professionals Soccer League (HPSL) champions, branded t-shirts promoting the voluntary resolution of media disputes ahead of the team’s double header clash with Zim Lawyers and Rainbow Towers at the Harare International School last Saturday.
The HPSL brings together 20 commercial and non governmental organizations in Harare. All of them play regular competitive football to earn points by which teams are ranked.
“I always read your log standings in H-Metro every week and I see you have been top in the last few weeks. What if the newspaper decided to publish a league table reflecting that Obama Boys are at the bottom of the standings?” asked the American diplomat who is also the patron of the team. “Instead of asking (Obama Boys manager Sizani) Weza to go and beat up the editor or reporter of H Metro, you can approach VMCZ and they can assist resolve the issue instantly without any fights nor any costs associated with going to court. That is what self regulation means,” he said.
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VMCZ executive director, Loughty Dube, challenged Obama Boys to spread the message to colleagues in the elite social league and help promote a strong, vibrant media industry.
“Our complaints resolution processes are credible, free of charge and the system is swift and allows media to publish a correction of the wrong story or give the complainant a right of reply without pursuing the usually costly route through the courts,” said Dube.
VMCZ was formerly established in 2007 by media stake holders to ensure the highest ethical and professional standards in the journalism and media profession in Zimbabwe.
Through adjudication of complaints against the media, the organization has demonstrated the possibility that media is capable of regulating its professional conduct without resort to criminal charges against members of the media profession by public or government.
Nearly all mainstream media in Zimbabwe support the process
