29 April 2008
Luanda — Journalists with various media organs Tuesday in Luanda highlighted the importance of the seminar on "media and elections in Angola" that started Tuesday morning here at the Journalists Training Centre (Cefojor).
To Radio Nacional de Angola (RNA) journalist, Amilcar Xavier, the event will contribute to upgrade the professionals of the sector in terms of electoral coverage.
Amilcar Xavier said there is need for journalists to become familiar with the strategies the media organs will adopt in terms of human and material resources, thus enabling them to analyse the issue of ethics and professional deontology and social responsibility in the mediation of the various powers that gravitate in the public space, and other aspects.
He said as he is convinced that there will be no full democracy unless the media play a mediating role, prove to be serious, exempt and responsible, particularly at a time the public has become more critical.
The journalist stated that in 1992 when the first multiparty elections were held in the country, there was a more news-oriented journalism, in contrast with the present's opinion-oriented reporting, thanks to a more mature and evolved Angolan public opinion which does not rely solely on orality.
For this reason, Amílcar Xavier said journalists should stand at the level of the quality of the public opinion that exists in Angola, adding that only a responsible journalism can effect a serious mediation.
In his turn, Televisão Pública de Angola (TPA) journalist, João Pinto, spoke of the importance of members of the journalistic class to remain in permanent contact among themselves, mainly because the citizens and the society in general have their eyes turned to the press, expecting to see how the process will be conducted.
To the CIC journalist, Luís Costa Ribas, the event will enable an exchange of knowledge among the various professionals, some of whom with years of activity and others who were still very young when the country held the first multiparty elections in 1992.
About 150 journalists from State and privately run media organs are attending the two-day seminar that is being lectured by National Electoral Commission (CNE) jurists, sociologists, politicians, local and foreign journalists from Portugal, Brazil, USA, Britain and South Africa.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Angola Press Agency. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
