THREE weeks ago, I touched on the importance of captions on television, albeit in passing, as the only way to enable the viewers to know the person in the picture.

It should not be taken for granted that the person in the picture is a well-known public figure. It is, therefore, the duty of each television station to continually identify people quoted in news bulletins, on talk-shows, even names of artistes in music videos.

Today I will not dwell so much on the importance of the caption per se, but the need to caption a picture with a correct perspective or, if you like, the need to contextualise the captions so that the person is identified with the topic under discussion.

Last Thursday I watched a programme dubbed Let’s Talk on ZNBC anchored by Mary Magambo discussing a well-thought-out topic of Reconciliation and Forgiveness: Lessons from Mandela.

What caught my eye was the topic of discussion and the way one of the

discussants went on eulogising Mandela and I watched on until his name came on the screen identifying him as Reverend Mpundu Mutala with a title ‘Marriage Counsellor’.

From his title, I almost thought Rev Mutala was discussing Mandela’s marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and later Graca Machel but it turned out all he was articulating was forgiveness and reconciliation as espoused by Madiba and how he personally remembered the former South African President.

Maybe then he should have been identified differently since on the programme in question the man of God was not offering marriage counselling, notwithstanding that reconciliation and forgiveness are also two key pillars of successful marriages.

It is important to get the context of the programme before choosing which title would best suit the speakers. Imagine if President Michael Sata was swearing in a minister at State House then the caption says staunch Catholic has sworn in a minister!

As much as it is true that the President is a staunch Catholic, during swearing-in ceremony that detail becomes inconsequential, if not immaterial. It is the same with Chief Government spokesperson Mwansa Kapeya, you always have to put his title in the context of what he is saying.

If Mr Kapeya is talking about how the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has been utilised in his constituency, you drop the Chief Government Spokesperson and Information Minister tags replacing them with that of Mpika MP.

Similarly, if he is discussing capitalisation of the public media you cannot say Mpika MP Mwansa Kapeya has said blah blah.

On the same ZNBC, I also watched Press Club live on Wednesday afternoon featuring an acquaintance of mine Patson Phiri and Nkonkomalimba Kafunda, both of whom were discussing how the media covers national events.

I sufficiently identified Patson on my own but when his caption appeared on the screen it read Patson Phiri, Press Association of Zambia while Nkonkomalimba’s said online journalist. Not every viewer knows the position Patson holds in PAZA.

The programme producers should go the full distance and sufficiently identify the person by name, including what position they hold in a particular institution.

On the same programme, Patson brought out a salient point that journalism standards in the country were waning because media training institutions had not upgraded their syllabuses in a long time.

My personal thought is that there is also no link between the learning institutions and the mainstream media, which is why journalism students are being prepared more to pass an examination and not churn out the actual journalism in the field.

Journalism students should learn in a newsroom set-up. Journalism is an art that can be cultivated but if one does not have it then they are in a wrong career.

I liked how the programme discussed the flaws in the coverage of national events like the UNWTO conference and COSAFA Castle Cup which Nkonkomalimba rightly attributed, largely, to a lack of preparation and specialisation in most newsrooms.

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The initiative by Muvi TV to introduce the Bemba channel for Ndola and other surrounding towns on the Copperbelt viewers is an excellent one.

I have always said on this platform and elsewhere that the ‘Channel of Choice’ is going leaps and bounds.

I have noticed that Muvi TV crews that go in the field always find themselves getting news clips in English and later ask the same sources to face the camera for the Bemba version of the same story, which can be cumbersome but very good for the viewers.

From what I have seen and heard, the Copperbelt channel has been well received but the station must not go an extra mile by getting the Bemba version of the same adverts that run on the main channel in English.

This is by no means an insinuation that the Copperbelt viewers cannot understand English but since the channel is Bemba, let it be Bemba all the way.

All those products advertised during the popular local comedy Mwine Mushi and others would sound better to be in Bemba also so that us Copperbelt viewers can identify with the Ndola channel.

Talking about local soaps, I watched snippets of Not My Family on Muvi TV featuring popular actor/comedian Lee Nonde. I may not be a movie critic of acclaim but I noticed that some of the sound effects in the production were misplaced.

The part where the cast is depicting a serious moment that is when the sound effect of a laughing audience is played the something laughable happens, the tense instrumental sound effect which we grew up calling ‘ma danger’ comes on.

Overall, Not My Family is a good local production and from the bit I watched, the story line is representative of what happens in most homes when a man marries a wife almost the age of his own children which brings about instant rejection.

Entertainment, comedy, sport and telenovas are the things people look out for on television, not the usual boring stuff. Little wonder people are still calling for the reintroduction of the same old programmes like Play Circle of the Sauzande and Maximo fame.

Comedy particularly never gets old. I am still one of the culprits of putting auto reminders on BBC Entertainment to catch my all-time favourite actor Mr Bean.

When I am not watching soccer, its comedy and Mr Bean particularly makes my day, so does Two and Half Men.

I can bet you my Pierre Cardin size nine pair of shoes that with improved programming, nobody can object to paying the TV levy, much less doubling the amount.

For comments manchishi@gmail.com