‘BRANDED Sunday’ is the best description befitting ZNBC’s duo Sunday main news casting of Masuzyo Ndhlovu and Collins Muyenga, whose pre-casting sessions on dress code has proved professional and interesting!
They did not wear clashing colours that hurt your eye but created comforting and matching colours in their attire.
This should surely be recommended, especially that Masuzyo is at the helm of corporate affairs at the national broadcaster uplifting the corporate image of the institution.
On Tuesday, I saw Herbert Mutabi and Inutu Himanje in professional unvarying dress code which was again pleasing to see although I am sure Inutu influenced that having seen her and Namakau Kaphiya casting in a similar style.
I say so because on Thursday night just a day later, I saw the same Herbert and Samuel Manchishi in contrasting attires, meaning there was no pre-casting session on the colour code.
This now leaves this platform to wonder why Masuzyo has seemingly failed to inculcate this professional trend in his members of the news casting team for the sake of the corporate uplift.
I have seen some female newscasters not only on ZNBC but other private-owned television stations dressed like Christmas trees with more than five colors on their body.
According to international broadcasting standards, a newscaster should have not more than three colours on him or her.
But there are situations where a newscaster will come dressed in more than five bright colours!
Before getting into another chapter, let me thank ZNBC TV2 for inviting me on their Morning live show to discuss and appreciate TV critique and why Zambian Movie industry is still in its infancy except for few good productions.
Your invitation is highly appreciated by this platform considering that this column is religiously followed and contributes positively to the growth of the television industry in Zambia.
Now, Thursday night, just before the kickoff of the 19:00 main news ZNBC transmission froze with an advert of D&S that lasted for close to 10 minutes!
This technical problem beyond ZNBC’s control as Herbert put it in his apology was indeed a blessing in disguise for the water pump company.
This platform wonders what could have really gone wrong during the news transmission which was not checked in good time to avoid such flaws as was the case.
Last week, I bitterly complained of having missed the entire first half of Zambia Sudan game first leg due to the infamous load shedding.
It was even trickier because the game was not on the national
broadcaster but on Super Sport.
However ,for the return leg after being assured that the national broadcaster would televise the match live, I made no mistake but went to my sister’s home where I knew power would not be interrupted and if she was not paid up on her DStv account I was still going to catch it on ZNBC.
I was delighted to watch the match live without any interruption with Innocent Kalaluka and Matimba Nkonje taking charge of the commentary.
It was a beautiful blessed Sunday with Chipolopolo shooting down Sudan!
The previous day (Saturday) my colleague Jack Mwewa took keen interest to monitor one interesting programme the Mid Morning Show.
He has sent the following observation to my mail box:
“Hi Sam, Last week’s show took a spotlight on Alcohol abuse.
Appearing for the second time, on the “Health Slot”, Dr Mannasseh Phiri, a health practitioner told the hosts of the show (Ben Kangwa, Doreen Mukanzo and Kunda Mando) that drinking too much on a single occasion or overtime can cause serious damage to an individual’s health.
“Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways and can affect the way the brain looks and works.
These disruptions can change mood and behaviour and make it harder for one to clearly think and move with coordination,” he said.
Further into the discussion, he talked about damages to the heart, liver and how alcohol can lead to pancreatis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Jokingly he said, “You are all looking at me like you have seen a ghost…..yes, alcohol can result in reporting or missing work or neglecting family responsibilities. In the long run you also suffer from cancer of the mouth, anemia and malnutrition.
Drinkers also run the risk of suffering hallucination, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure” he added.
After painting a gloomy picture on alcohol abuse, Dr. Phiri then went on to offer treatment solutions for alcohol abuse.
He advised that treatment for alcohol abuse can begin only when the alcoholic accepts that the problem exists, is curable and agrees to stop drinking.
He noted that the treatment has three stages namely detoxification, rehabilitation and maintenance of sobriety.
Now away from the local front, we turn to the international media CNN and BBC on how they have covered and followed up on the attacks in Paris France that left more that 129 people dead in a shooting.
It’s been more than a week since the ugly incidence happened but each passing day these two international channels have kept the world informed of any development.
This takes me back to the local front were the developing stories on this shooting is not given even the slightest of space.
Understandably yes, one could say this is the local channel but, it’s one-dimensional to think that you might not be planning to get to Paris anytime soon.
This is a world problem that affects Zambia somehow which our national broadcaster should at least follow keenly as new developments unfold.
There are French Nationals lining in Zambia who surely will be interested to follow what is happening even if it were a monitored news item.
I have not seen much on this story on ZNBC but thanks to BBC world and CNN who are still treating the one week plus story as breaking news.
Let us end here for today. Email comments to samphiri77@gmail.com 0962215687