'Govt will assist all media houses to overcome challenges'

Government will assist media houses, including private ones, to overcome challenges they are encountering in their operations, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Jonathan Moyo has said adding that every media house in the country was having challenges in the importation of newsprint, printing material and equipment and a business approach was needed to address the problems.

He was speaking yesterday after touring the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe facilities in Harare to get an appreciation of the Daily News' operations.

The tour comes in the wake of similar tours the ministry made to Zimpapers, and all stakeholder engagement meetings held in Harare and Bulawayo.

"After touring your printing press, the notion that we have a mainstream media in Zimbabwe is not far-fetched," Prof Moyo said.

"Your printing press is comparable to Zimpapers' new printing press and the challenges which come with it are the same whether talking about newsprint acquisition, maintenance of equipment and ink.

"The issues they raised about the statutory implication of the levy are clearly your issues as well. We cannot solve them for Zimpapers without solving them for ANZ, Alpha Media Holdings or other publishers.

"These are common business, editorial, content issues that confront us as Zimbabweans in our diversity but we have that one thing that binds us all," Prof Moyo said.

Media houses have called on Government to relax duty on the raw materials as well as revive local companies that manufacture newsprint.

Prof Moyo, who was accompanied by his deputy Supa Mandiwanzira, was taken through the tour by Daily News group editor Stanley Gama and group chief operating officer Mrs Sharon Samushonga.

They first toured the Daily News printing press in Southerton before going through the daily paper's various departments at Trust Towers where they interacted and talked with the staff.

Prof Moyo said the conditions of service of media practitioners were a cause for concern and should be addressed from an industrial point of view.

"Our responsibility is to all of you especially to these young men and women. These young men and women have genuine welfare issues," he said.

"These are their careers and many of them are either starting work, some started a few years ago and some are on attachment but in the end they expect a livelihood. Some have young families while others are on the verge of starting families.

"There are genuine issues which are not unique to them which they share with their peers. We want these issues addressed from an industry point of view such that we create health support, create a sensible industry that will make Zimbabwe compete effectively,"

He said Zimbabwean media houses had to speak with one voice if they were to compete effectively with other world countries.

"We should not compete too much against each other but we should try to put together our energies and talents so that we add them to the common national pool and we use that as a comparative advantage to compete against countries like Kenya and South Africa," Prof Moyo said.

He said with the dramatic advances in technology being experienced globally, there was growing demand for fresh and exciting content from media houses.

"As we prepare for global transformation where technology is changing dramatically and we are seeing a rise of all kinds of digital markets there is need for fresh but exciting content.

"I have no doubt that this media house will play a major role as a Zimbabwean institution to generate fresh exciting content not for our consumption alone but the world as a whole."

Prof Moyo said the visit by ministry officials to various media houses would assist in formulating policies from an informed position.

"I thank you for giving us this opportunity to engage in an a constructive manner, opening all the shelves and hiding nothing and we are leaving much richer from the experience with some understanding and this will affect how we relate to you," he said.

"We have been impressed with what we have seen and in every sense you are a modern media house with all the necessary ingredients to produce a great paper comparable to any in the world.

"There are many people that do not have half of what you have. What is pleasing to observe is that you have a total package ' from physical space, equipment and staff."

Stakeholders in the media industry, Prof Moyo said, should work together to preserve national interest.

"Political preferences are a matter of opinions and everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it but our being Zimbabweans is not only because we were born here but we belong to this God given land of our ancestors, we have common ancestry," he said.

Mandiwanzira described the visit to the Daily News as an eye opener.

"Sometimes when you read the Daily News there is a tendency of not taking it seriously but having seen the infrastructure and the men and women behind it, there is a strong reason to take it seriously and engage with people behind it seriously," he said.

"We have responsibility as Government to grow the industry to ensure it is sustainable. The process of engagement is helpful for us to understand what it is that will make you and us better. It is a process of engagement that will see us spending more time together than apart, constructively."

Mrs Samushonga said as an organisation, they felt humbled by the visit and pledged to work with the Government for the development of the country.