THEORIES surrounding the almost mysterious disappearance of the Air Malaysia flight MH370 two weeks ago have dominated television screens on international channels.
Conspiracy theorists have tried to calm the situation by suggesting that the plane could be holed up somewhere in a possible hijack attack since the Malaysian prime minister added a school of thought that the plane was deliberately diverted off its course.
In recent days there have been conflicting statements about the whereabouts of the plane as the world grapples with what is turning out to be the biggest aviation mystery of the modern era.
On Thursday Al Jazeera broke out a story that the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, speaking in Parliament, said the country’s navy had seen traces of what could be objects from the missing plane but so did Thai and Chinese authorities at some point.
It beats me how such a big thing like the Malaysian plane could disappear from the face of earth without trace. How the Malaysian radar lost it and how radars in Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese radars also could not pick it when the plane entered their airspaces remains a mystery.
It goes without saying that even advanced technology has its limits.
But the furtive of the disappearance of such a huge thing ought to be resolved earlier than the two weeks it has taken. The search should take Malaysian authorities more than a pair of binoculars.
There are three sets of people that come to mind each time I am watching the turns and twists to this unfolding story; the aviation industry, the relatives of the 239 people aboard the ill-fated aircraft and not least the Zambian television audiences that are hungry for international news.
For the aviation industry, this whole episode will take time for them to massage their bruised ego, especially in this high-tech age when we all thought flying was the safest mode of transport in terms of being tracked from take-off to lading.
I feel for the relatives of the passengers and crew aboard the MH370 more so that despite the idea to gather them in some hotel for any breaks to the story, the leads have either been misleading or a hoax which does little to sooth them from the imminent loss.
You have got to fully understand their disillusionment on Wednesday, as shown by BBC, when they almost disrupted the daily briefing by Malaysian authorities because of the scanty or lack of new leads to the investigation on the missing flight.
Zambian television audiences, on their part, are being denied all this unfolding news. I totally disagree with the argument that giving audiences local news is enough for the TV licence fees they pay.
Zambia is part of international community so international news is just as important as home news.
There is a joke doing the rounds that some guy lied to the wife that he was boarding flight MH370 as a cover to visit his girlfriend but is now struggling to return home. The local media should keep highlighting that there is no Zambia aboard the missing plane to avert such lies!
Not even the graphic evidence being adduced in the Oscar Pistorious case or Russia’s decision to declare the independence of Crimea and the consequent heated debate the United Nations about the Ukriane crisis has been covered locally.
In the end you ask yourself how well-informed can one be if they solely depend on ZNBC or Muvi TV for news around the world?
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Last week, I briefly discussed the need to increase sports content and boy did ZNBC respond with a bang! Last Saturday, the national broadcaster televised the first league game of the season between Green Buffaloes and Konkopla Mine Police, then The English Premier League match involving Everton and Cardiff City.
Then came the Oriental Boxing promotions bill which saw Catherine Phiri beat Pai Mazalenik in three rounds before Charles Manyuchi knocked out Patrick Alloteyi in rather controversial circumstances.
It was an action-packed weekend blemished only by the misdemeanor that the captions during the boxing had the chauvinistic touch for Catherine’s fight which made it look like women was part of the World Boxing Council (WBC) beat. It was enough to say WBC since we all know what gender Catherine and her opponent are.
During the Manyuchi fight, the caption said walter weight instead of welter weight.
It was, however, a misnomer that everyone might not have paid attention to due to the controversy that was in the ring.
As if the bumper sports content was not enough on Saturday, ZNBC also televissed Zambia’s 0-2 loss to Italy in the Under-17 FIFA World Cup in Costa Rica, although it came at an unholy hour of 01:00 hours.
Prior to the World Cup U-17, coach Albert Kachinga spoke a lot about how his girls were going to do well at the tournament in Costa Rica but was quick to blame stage fright, among other reasons, for the loss to Italy.
Now I am left wondering if the stage fright was about participating in the World tournament itself or playing in a huge, albeit near empty Stadio de Nacional.
I am not, by any means, trying to bullock the girls but for me qualifying for a tournament of such magnitude, which was a punch way above their weight already, should have psyched them about what level of the game such a feat had put them.
Unless the girls and their technical team say they actually thought they were going to Costa Rica to play at the equivalent of the bumpy and unkempt Zamsure sports complex pitch, there was no stage to be frightened about.
For crying out loud, that is the FIFA World Cup and they should have anticipated big venues, hostile crowds and sometimes unfriendly weather.  All in all, well done girls, your journey does not end here, you are headed for leaps and bounds.
I enjoy the match analysis and build up to matches on Muvi TV by Tim Zulu but the fact that it is done to matches that will not be showed live negates the good rave reviews. Muvi TV is doing well with Champions League soccer.
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