*titus Mbuya
3 July 2009
I read Keineetse "KK" Keineetse's riposte to my article in last Friday's Mmegi with detached amusement. In a rather long-winded way KK highlights legitimate concerns about certain things which are happening in our society which need to be interrogated. I am all for that.
I am as concerned as he is about the spate of "extra judicial killings" that are taking place in our country. And I agree with him that the media has the right to ask the authorities sharp and pointed questions about the macabre killing of John Kalafatis.
However, I am disappointed that instead of KK taking on the issues that I raised in my article, blow by blow, he went on and on about what he thinks is wrong about our society without proffering solutions to those problems. In my view we need to raise the level of the debate by coming up with alternatives instead of being poetic about the problems.
I have been a practicing journalist for the last 22 years. I have fought for journalists' rights both here at home and in the region. My soul bears the scars of persecution by rulers and their allies in business who have tried everything in the book to try and gag the newspapers that I publish.
KK and I have fought for the press freedom that journalists are enjoying in Botswana today. We were not alone in this. There were such stalwarts as Patrick van Rensburg, Kgosinkwe Moesi, Rampholo Molefhe, Methaetsile Leepile, Douglas Tsiako and such fallen scribes as Linchwe Kgaswe and Augustine Mathumo, all of whom fought tirelessly for media freedom. We cut our teeth into this craft when it was dangerous to be a journalist due to the total onslaught policy of the apartheid government in South Africa during whose tentacles spread throughout the southern African region.
I take it that my generation has a duty and responsibility to defend this freedom from abuse otherwise our profession will lose credibility. I am afraid that already the profession is losing respect. Needless to say that respect is earned. It is incumbent upon all members of the fraternity to work hard to restore this respect. We owe it not only to ourselves, but to the nation to do that.
In my interaction with various members of the society the feedback that I get, consistently, is that local journalists are bitter. These people say one only has to look at newspaper headlines and the language used in stories to appreciate this bitterness and anger.
Others say that going through the headlines of local newspapers one would think that this country is in flames because of the negativity of the news coverage. The local media, they say, does not seem to see any thing positive happening in this country.
There is an element of truth in this assertion. I have always been at pains to explain to these people that it cannot be possible that a whole cadre of professionals can share a common feeling of bitterness. Editors are the people who make decisions as to what goes into their newspapers. Are the editors bitter? I don't think so. Some of them might be overzealous and at times gullible.
Regarding negativity, it has to be understood that "news" is about oddity, unforeseen occurrence or something out of the ordinary. For example, aircraft take-off all the time, and no newspaper reports that because it is routine. But if an aircraft crashes, while it takes-off, that becomes news. As they say in the profession "bad news is good news"!But there are also positive stories that our newspapers cover on a regular basis. Of course they can do more.
Perhaps the apparent bitterness and anger that come throughthe writings of our journalists say something about our society itself. May be the bitterness is pervasive across the entire populace of Botswana! Journalists are not insulated from the national psyche. And their sources are embedded among the general public.
Having said that,the observation that there is a sense in which local journalists are bitter, is an indictment on the profession and it cannot be brushed aside. Journalists, through their professional associations need to agree on a set of values that can guide them in their work. If there is that shared perspective among themselves then anyone who offends that ethos must be taken to task. This is what the concept of self-regulation is all about.
The media is a potent force. Like education the media works on one's cognitive capacity, the mind. And, hence, the media must be used responsibly. Of course, one may argue that the adverb"responsibly" is a relative term and that it is in the mind of the beholder.
This is why it is important for the profession to agree on a set of values that are enforceable.
Others are always quick to say if one is aggrieved by a newspaper article they have recourse to the courts. That is true, but issues of ethics and morality are not legal matters and the courts are not the best place to deal with such matters. Press councils and press ombudsmen are there to fulfill that role.
* Titus Mbuya is the Managing Editor of Mmegi and Monitor newspapers.
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