NEED we presume that the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ slogan being used by ZNBC as a preamble to the news is meant to unite the country after the divisive January 20 elections voting patterns?
If that is the case, the initiative of healing the nation is welcome, especially coming from ZNBC which has a nationwide footprint.
However, the slogan alone may not be enough. The slogan might have to be unbundled into jingles to be played before the news and slotted into routine programming throughout the day.
For example, the jingles depicting co-existence and unity could be done in all the country’s major languages and played throughout the day.
Another avenue that could be used to unite the country is through drama plays with a strong message that there is no need for a brother to rise against brother because they voted in a certain pattern during the last elections.
The media, both print and electronic, has a massive role to play in uniting the country beyond just a slogan before the news.
The country goes to the polls in slightly over a year’s time. The way major stakeholders handle the post-election divisions will have a telling effect on the 2016 general elections.
Actually the sensitisation exercise by the media will go some way in ending regionalism fueds as well as the massive voter apathy.
The way issues of political violence are being covered in the media will also matter. The media need to be sure beyond any reasonable doubt that someone has been attacked because of their political affiliation instead of speculating.
Political party leaders have already condemned political violence but why is the message not being driven across the party structures on the ground?
Once upon a time ZNBC used a UNIP slogan before the main news bulletins. The newscaster would go ‘UNIP is the pillar of the nation’ but it never helped raise the stock of the former ruling party.
For now though, ZNBC has to be commended for taking the first step in restoring the battered unity of the country.
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There is a Cricket World Cup currently going on in Australia and New Zealand and the tournament seemingly been conveniently ignored by local stations!
Worldwide, the ICC Cricket World Cup has the second largest television audience from the FIFA soccer World Cup yet locally there is not even a mention is made.
It can be argued that cricket is not followed that much in Zambia but obviously with television coverage that could change.
Admittedly, the sports policy on our local television houses falls far short of satisfying the audiences even for sports disciplines like soccer that command the largest following.
Last time I brought up an argument that while the television rights are exorbitant, the stations could start with coverage of only major tournaments.
Tennis has the five Grand Slams, Cricket has the World Cup and the Twenty Twenty, Soccer has the World Cup, the UEFA Champions league, boxing has major fights like the Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio bout which could be exploited.
If that is unreachable, why not go for the local leagues in cricket, table tennis, netball and other unheralded sport disciplines?
I am pretty sure newly appointed Sports Minister Vincent Mwale will use his means to give equal attention to minor sports disciplines which have been downtrodden for far to long, not just in terms of coverage but also funding.
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From the mailbag, I pulled this email from an anonymous sender.
Xavier,
Last week you talked about the new look Muvi TV programmes. As a keen follower of Muvi TV, I like the routine innovations by the station of choice.
I have a problem with the way they always leave us in suspense sometimes by discontinuing some shows unannounced. A case in point is Constable which they no longer show but they haven’t told us if they are reloading or it has ended.
One of the Zedbuster movies being shown on Muvi TV has some advertorial clip showing a woman advising the other that no matter what sex position a woman consents her man, men are unappreciative!
I feel that is a bit offiside considering the clip runs during prime viewing time when children are also glued to television. Otherwise kudos to Muvi TV.
For more comments manchishi@gmail.com