30 October 2009
THE Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has prodded the media to play its advocacy role in the utilisation of minerals and other natural resources in Africa so that benefits can trickle down to the people.
CCZ policy and advocacy advisor, Evans Rubara said in Lusaka yesterday that the media should always highlight the need for the local communities to benefit from the exploitation of natural resources like minerals.
Mr Rubara said this during the CCZ interaction meeting with news editors and chief reporters held at Lusaka Hotel in Lusaka yesterday.
"The media has, for instance, a responsibility to highlight the plight of residents in mining areas and their benefits from the mining activities," he said.
He said the investors in mining and other sectors should take their social responsibility seriously so that they could plough the dividends of their investments back into the community as opposed to externalising profits.
"Extractive industry in Zambia as in many other African countries, rich in mineral resources have evidenced that exploitation of the natural resources in country has not transformed rural economies into viable development interventions that benefit the rural people," Mr Rubara said.
He said the CCZ had embarked on a programme to tackle social economic justice issues with focus on natural resource management to widen awareness through a rights-based approach.
Mr Rubara said the media should partner with the Government, civil society organisations and other stakeholders in addressing poverty and other social ills in the country.
He said the media should, however, not allow itself to be used by anyone as a tool, which could easily be discarded whenever not needed.
In her presentation, Carole Phiri from University of Zambia School of Mass Communication challenged journalists to get involved in investigative journalism to expose various environmental ills.
Ms Phiri said the media should be consistent in their reporting of issues to ensure people were well informed on matters affecting them.
She said, although important, the media should not concentrate on reporting political issues at the expense of environmental reporting and called for specialisation.
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