POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE

POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE

I’VE always argued, in the discussion around reducing the size of Government, for dispensing with a Ministry which I feel has no place in a progressive nation, namely Information and Broadcasting.

They have little to administer and virtually nothing to do and the weighty number of people employed there could easily be deployed to other more essential branches of Government. Be that as it may, we have such a Ministry, and the incumbent Minister, as those before her, is regularly invited to address International Press Freedom Day.WHAT usually follows is a list of media do’s and don’ts.And I often wonder whether this doesn’t indicate severe misconceptions of what the media are all about on the one hand, while on the other adding to the already burdensome list of what the press is expected to do for society, quite apart from its central role of informing.Scanning current Information and Broadcasting Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s speech on Press Freedom Day this week, I noted it was mainly prescriptive rather than thought provoking on what the media’s goals should be.After a litany of such instructions came the “I also plead with the media to never lose sight of their ultimate mission of informing, educating and entertaining the nation”.So, to summarise some of the things we have to do in the opinion of the Minister:* media should inform* media should entertain* media should educate* media should fight corruption* media should fight poverty* media should promote socio-economic development* media should be a watchdog* media should promote good governance* media should promote ethics* media should enhance professionalism in its ranks* media should have media council* media should unite* media should promote nation-building* media should be responsible* media should be accountable* media should not insult national leaders, heroes* media should not incite* media must strengthen institutions responsible for development* media should be fair, objective and factualWith or without the orders from the Minister, generally the media in this country in fact do much to promote many of the abovementioned goals, and consider their role in society a broader one than is characteristically the case in other parts of the world, for developmental reasons.If credit is properly dispensed, the Minister may find in fact that the media often make up for severe deficiencies in other areas of society, including and especially Government! She had two commendations for media in general: the fact that many practitioners lost their lives in the struggle to promote truth, and that Namibian media had taken the battle against corruption forward by exposing wrongdoing.Some of the things she said I openly disagree with, such as her statement that the media should not be used to “insult” national leaders and heroes.Come on! If we have to make a positive contribution to fighting corruption and lack of good governance, criticism of some of abovementioned is inevitable.The concept of ‘heroes’ we still have not managed to define in the Namibian context, and, sorry to say it, many of our real heroes are buried outside the Heroes’ Acre! Since the Minister was asked to speak at Press Freedom Day, she could have taken this occasion to positively reflect on the many achievements of the media, not only in Namibia, but the world over.Attacks on the media are prerogatives exercised by Government on an almost daily basis that Nandi-Ndaitwah, among others, regularly makes use of.To give her credit, perhaps she tried to do so, but unfortunately has become accustomed over time to taking a position of antipathy towards media.On International Workers’ Day, you don’t use the occasion to attack the workers.On International Press Freedom Day, the same should apply.Be that as it may, we have such a Ministry, and the incumbent Minister, as those before her, is regularly invited to address International Press Freedom Day.WHAT usually follows is a list of media do’s and don’ts.And I often wonder whether this doesn’t indicate severe misconceptions of what the media are all about on the one hand, while on the other adding to the already burdensome list of what the press is expected to do for society, quite apart from its central role of informing.Scanning current Information and Broadcasting Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah’s speech on Press Freedom Day this week, I noted it was mainly prescriptive rather than thought provoking on what the media’s goals should be.After a litany of such instructions came the “I also plead with the media to never lose sight of their ultimate mission of informing, educating and entertaining the nation”.So, to summarise some of the things we have to do in the opinion of the Minister: * media should inform * media should entertain* media should educate * media should fight corruption * media should fight poverty * media should promote socio-economic development * media should be a watchdog * media should promote good governance * media should promote ethics * media should enhance professionalism in its ranks * media should have media council * media should unite * media should promote nation-building * media should be responsible * media should be accountable * media should not insult national leaders, heroes * media should not incite * media must strengthen institutions responsible for development * media should be fair, objective and factual With or without the orders from the Minister, generally the media in this country in fact do much to promote many of the abovementioned goals, and consider their role in society a broader one than is characteristically the case in other parts of the world, for developmental reasons.If credit is properly dispensed, the Minister may find in fact that the media often make up for severe deficiencies in other areas of society, including and especially Government! She had two commendations for media in general: the fact that many practitioners lost their lives in the struggle to promote truth, and that Namibian media had taken the battle against corruption forward by exposing wrongdoing.Some of the things she said I openly disagree with, such as her statement that the media should not be used to “insult” national leaders and heroes.Come on! If we have to make a positive contribution to fighting corruption and lack of good governance, criticism of some of abovementioned is inevitable.The concept of ‘heroes’ we still have not managed to define in the Namibian context, and, sorry to say it, many of our real heroes are buried outside the Heroes’ Acre! Since the Minister was asked to speak at Press Freedom Day, she could have taken this occasion to positively reflect on the many achievements of the media, not only in Namibia, but the world over.Attacks on the media are prerogatives exercised by Government on an almost daily basis that Nandi-Ndaitwah, among others, regularly makes use of.To give her credit, perhaps she tried to do so, but unfortunately has become accustomed over time to taking a position of antipathy towards media.On International Workers’ Day, you don’t use the occasion to attack the workers.On International Press Freedom Day, the same should apply.

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