Beverly Bizeki
Journalists in Masvingo have been urged to start considering solutions journalism in their work as they increase reportage on organised torture and violence.
Speaking at a press club organized by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) with support from Research And Advocacy Unit (RAU) in Masvingo, Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) media lecturer and Campus Radio Director Golden Maunganidze said it was important for journalists to start considering solutions journalism in an environment where there is organised violence and torture.
“It is not popular yet but these days people are talking about solutions journalism, how do journalists come in where there are conflicts, human rights can be violated where people can fight for resources, power among other things but we can also have case studies from elsewhere we may not be writing hard news stories but we can write feature stories and bring solutions on the table.
“Solutions journalism is about how we balance stories, how the media gets to bring warring people on the table where they also discover there is no need to fight each other, and see the need to talk. It’s how the media educates the people on the good and bad,” said Maunganidze.
Maunganidze who is also Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) national and regional chairperson said it was crucial for members of the media to research and read widely to proffer solutions in their work.
“It is also incumbent upon ourselves to simplify what the constitution says for the ordinary persons so we have a huge role but we cannot do that if we do not research and read beyond the things that we learnt in schools so there is need to continuously read and draw examples from elsewhere,” said Maunganidze.
Solutions journalism is an approach to news writing that focuses on response, outcome, evidence and insights.
Another presenter, Yolanda Chandata who is a legal practitioner members of the press to improve reportage on organized violence and torture saying they should do that without fear or favor but making sure that they report accurately.
