By Phillip Pasula
MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-The Media Council of Malawi (MCM) has said there is need for media institutions in the country to have ombudspersons so that the public is served with professionalism by the institutions and their practitioners.
The council made the stand on Wednesday at Voice of Livingstonia (VOL) Radio premises in Mzuzu where it also emphasised the importance of accreditation of media institutions and individual journalists by the council.
Executive Director for Media Council of Malawi, Moses Kaufa, said the council has the mandate to visit media institutions, appreciate how they are working and address challenges together to make sure that Malawians are served professionally.
“We wanted to appreciate the working environment and professionalism at Voice of Livingstonia but also to highlight a number of areas and expectations we have from media institutions as they serve their respective audiences.
“We are saying media institutions should have ombudspersons who are officers appointed within a specific media house to address complaints that come from the public about the conduct of journalists working in that particular media house.
“We are emphasising on having an ombudsperson because it helps to strengthen the relationship between the media and the public that they serve,” says Kaufa.
Commenting on the issue of accreditation for media practitioners and media institutions, Kaufa said accreditation helps in the check of conduct by practitioners.
Said Kaufa: ”By being accredited to the council, the journalist is committing themselves to professionalism but also attaching their work to a professional body which keeps them in check in the conduct of their duties.
“At the same time, the council is committing to handle every complaint or every anomaly that this practitioner undergoes and so we are identifying this media practitioner as our own and that every problem or any mistake that they make will be our responsibility.”
During the visit, it was noted that Voice of Livingstonia was not accredited by the Media Council of Malawi and that only one practitioner at the institution was individually accredited.
Speaking after the visit, Station Manager for VOL, Reverend Ken Nyirongo, said the visit by the council was a special learning point.
“We’ve learnt quite a lot from the officials from the Media Council of Malawi. We will take Media Council as our parent. They have highlighted the accreditation issue which we have not been doing.
“We are saying from now, we need to walk with them for us to progress. All our journalists must be accredited. With that, I believe they will be conducting themselves professionally,” said Reverend Nyirongo.
[…] By Philip Pansula-MZUZU-(MaraviPost)–The Media Council of Malawi (MCM) has said there is a need for media institutions in the country to have ombudspersons so that the public is served with professionalism by the institutions and their practitioners. […]