By 
By Abel Mavura
The Media are vital for the creation and development of a peaceful and democratic culture in any nation. It is the sword arm of democracy as it works as the watchdog to protect public interest against malpractice and creates public awareness. Media promotes peacebuilding and coexistence through balanced and non-partisan reportage to foster democracy. Both the public and private media should be instrumental in uniting all people from all walks of life despite their political affiliation to ensure sustainable peace.
The Zimbabwe online Content Creators (ZOCC) and Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation held a training workshop with more than 25 journalists and content creators from various media organizations on what constitutes conflict-sensitive reporting and how it is relevant to debunk myths around Covid-19 infections and vaccination.
Speaking at the training workshop event organized with support from UNESCO and European Union ZOCC Chairman, Tonderai Rutsito said, “The first step is honing your sense of when a given piece of content is too good (or bad) to be true. Once you start looking, you’ll notice specific subtypes of this content — like Fake news is designed to get traffic from people’s anger, hyperpartisan appeals that twist the facts, or outright scams. The techniques are relatively common across different types of story, and they’re not hard to recognize.”
Journalists were encouraged to always consider the impact of their reporting. They should not gratuitously make things worse for the people whose stories they report on, or for the general public. Journalism requires care in the use of words and the launch of terminology and not to publish stories and images that exacerbate the crisis.
According to Steven Youngblood, Director of Centre for Global Peace Journalism, accuracy is paramount in reporting. First rumors can be dramatic and exaggerated. Dangers can be under-reported or downplayed. Facts can be slippery in mid-crisis. Inaccurately quoting a victim can be traumatic; inaccurately quoting an expert can be deadly.
It is important to check, double-check, triple-check facts with experts (virologists, epidemiologists). He adds that politicians are not experts and don’t assume things, that may end up misrepresenting an event, exacerbate an already dire situation, and re-victimize those who have been traumatized. And don’t assume all medical doctors are experts on viruses of this sort, or on public health responses.
If peace and democracy are to work properly, society needs access to news and information; analysis of the status quo, debate, practical information and exchange as well as entertainment are needed and provided by the media. The definition of conflict and defining conflict areas is not easy and no two places are alike.
A thriving community is where access to information is a universal human right and the new Zimbabwe Freedom of Information Act provides for the constitutional rights of expression, and freedom of the media and individuals to access to information held by entities in the interest of public accountability.
