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Scribes lament poor work environment


BY FRIDAY SIMBAYA
26th February 2016
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MCT Executive Secretary Kajubi Mukajanga
 Six years after the former Tanga Regional Commissioner (RC) Said Kalembo challenged media owners and editors to support upcountry reporters with facilities to enable them report objectively and enhance professionalism, the difference remains the same.
 
RC Kalembo issued the advice in his opening remarks at a meeting organised by the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) on how different media in the country reported investigative stories in the 2010 general election.
 
He said some regional reporters were blamed for writing unbalanced stories, but said most problems were largely being contributed by poor working conditions they face in the course of executing their duties.
However, a survey conducted by this paper in two regions of Iringa and Mbeya has revealed that the problems still persists. Journalists in the two regions still lament on the poor working conditions they face in their day to day activities.
 
Some of the reporters interviewed by this paper said that they work in unfriendly conditions most of the times and that factor alone makes them fail to maintain objectivity in their reporting.
 
They said they were poorly paid and sometimes not paid at all and that they have not been given sufficient working tools.
 
They went on to blame media owners for failing to lay down proper procedures to make them tick.
 
In Mbeya Region, this paper  talked to District Attorney Prosper Msivala who blamed the journalists for inconsistency in their reporting and cited as an example one Swahili daily newspaper (name withheld) which had misquoted him.
 
Msivala said that the newspaper’s reporter had one day attended a Full Council Meeting and misquoted him during the session by reporting that he had told the meeting that lawyers’ garbs cost 500,000/- a month instead of yearly.
 
He said the report was totally wrong and said it might be due to the poor working conditions they face, especially those working upcountry. He said he plans to sue the reporter for misinterpretation and tarnishing the image of his department.
 
“Media owners and editors should provide upcountry reporters with facilities to enable them to report objectively and enhance professionalism,” he said.
 
Rewind six years back, RC Kalembo appreciated the work done by the media in the 2010 general election and reminded the Tanzania Information Services Department (Maelezo) to support journalists working upcountry.
 
“Imagine of a situation where the Regional Commissioner pays for reporters’ meal allowances and accommodation. Will the same reporters dare challenge him or her even if he or she errs?” He queried. MCT Executive Secretary Kajubi Mukajanga said the meeting was aimed at evaluating how the media covered investigative stories in 2010, saying the council under United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had earlier trained reporters on effective election reporting.
 
He noted that the meeting provided participants with the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience.
 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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