….Maunganidze inaugural president
By Decide Nhendo
Journalism educators from Zimbabwe have come together and launched an association, the Zimbabwe Journalism Educators Network (ZIJEN) which they said is aimed at promoting quality journalism through empowering journalists so that they can operate well in the era where citizen journalism is threatening professional journalism.
Speaking during the launch at Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Hebert Chitepo Law School, the inaugural ZIJEN president Golden Maunganidze who is also the Media Institute Of Southern Africa (MISA) regional chairperson said the launch of ZIJEN was a well thought move as it came at a time when the media landscape was uncertain.
Maunganidze said the network was a way to make sure that media educators after discharging duties in the classroom will remain engaged in the broader environment through engagement with other stakeholders to ensure that the journalism ecosystem remains competitive providing excellent information as well as classy journalists.
“I say it’s a momentous and historic occasion we are witnessing here as the network will greatly change the complexion of the media landscape in Zimbabwe and forge new allies with other knowledge workers in consistently breaking new ground, which is required in this age of disruption, complexity, volatility and uncertainty,” Maunganidze said.
He said the network was going to see through important matters that affect media operations and look for better ways and initiatives to add value to the media fraternity in Zimbabwe.
“Our organization will therefore become very critical in areas such as research, standardized curriculum, policy formulations, community service, innovation and industrialization to add value to the media fraternity in Zimbabwe,” said Maunganidze.
Maunganidze said media stakeholders had been asking for an organization that includes journalism instructors so that they can bring to the discussion table ideas and views that will shape the media environment.
“ZIJEN is an organization born out of the growing calls by the media stakeholders to have a voice from journalism educators in the media discourses and process that ultimately shape the media environment for our motherland,” said Maunganidze.
GZU Vice Chancelor Professor Rungano Zvobgo hailed the initiative and implored the network to advocate for policies required in journalism programmes to deliver high quality training.
“I see ZIJEN as a vital resource to continually improve quality of our journalism education. This is a broad field of education encompassing broadcasting and media consultancy as well and ZIJEN will no doubt serve as a guiding light to profer advice and expertise as training institutions educators strive to meet the evolving demands of the profession. I hope ZIJEN will be a bold principled voice that advocates the support of regulation and autonomy that journalism programmes require in order to deliver the highest quality training and prepare students for success.
“A key aspect of such success is to incalcate in our students the value of responsible citizen journalism whose thrust is development and guided by good ethics and intergrity,” said Prof Zvobgo.
The US Embassy Head of Public Affairs Larry Socha lauded formation of the network which he said was crucial in navigating the changing industry and promised to support the initiative through sharing of expertise, networks and resource for the success of the organisation.
“The creation of ZIJEN is a testament of your commitment to a bedrock of democracy, a free and independent media.
Collaboration among journalists and journalism educators is essential to develop skills, adapt new technologies and continue to ask the right questions to move our societies and our communities forward.
Closing the gap between practise and the field is one of the laudible goals of this network, the US Embassy in Zimbabwe join you in this mission. The creation of this platform provides another platform for collaboration. It allows us to join African partners across the continent as well as international friends such as IMS, Swedish Embassy to understand where we can bring American expertise, networks and resources to be of service to the Zimbabwean people and their contributions to the global community.
Today’s media environment is not an easy terrain to navigate, disinformation and the misuse of machine learning which tend to destabilise the information space, financial challenges are all part of a changing environment but our work together must ensure that climate change does not leave the media industry a desert,” said Socha.
Swedish Embassy representative at the event Wonder Jekemu said the launch of the network was timeous as it came during a time when journalism requires a new understanding to meet the needs of the transitions happening around globally.
The network is coming at a time when the media in Zimbabwe and indeed the entire world is going through rapid transformation. The world is going through an era of environmental, social and economic transformation both at local and global level. These challenges demand a new understanding of the role of journalism in society hence the need for the establishment of ZIJEN.
The network launched today will assist in developing a criteria for excellence in journalism and will better address the journalism training needs of today and future generations,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president George Maponga applauded, the move by individuals and organizations to come up with the idea to form ZIJEN and said the move was going to bear fruit since the task was going to include journalism educators from various media entities with varying backgrounds and ideas.
“I commend this association of journalists for its commitment to shaping the future of journalism in the country through journalism training in Zimbabwe for excellence in the field.
“The network is going to empower the next generation of journalists to uphold the highest standard of professionalism and integrity through sharing knowledge, skills, and experience with them,” said Maponga.
Also present at the launch were representatives from the International Media Support (IMS), US Embassy Head of Public Affairs Section, Larry Socha, representatives from Swedish Embassy, Media Alliance in Zimbabwe (MAZ), Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC), Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) among others.
Solidarity messages were also poured in from the African Journalism Educators Network (AJEN) by Professor Franz Kruger.
