DJ Ollah 07 has divided opinion

The man about town DJ Ollah 07 has divided opinion with his latest podcast on the St Mary's accident which killed 17 people. This soon after his ground-breaking interview with Mai Jeremaya who had claimed rape but the accused were acquitted by the courts. 

In both he was accused of being insensitive to people in distress but also applauded for bringing the news into millions of people's palms instantaneously. He has found both support and opprobrium. 
His supporters say journalist ethics have remained rigid and have to be changed with the times. 

His detractors say ethics are important as they place boundaries on what can be reported and what cannot without some kind of censorship – either self-censorship or censorship by law.

Remember that colourful tape police erect around a crime scene? 

Those who have criticised Ollah are suggesting that some kind of tape should be placed around an accident scene. 

The reasons are valid.

Medical personnel and the police should be allowed to do their work without hindrance from nosy journalists and onlookers. 

Importantly, there should be some central control of the flow of information; it is only the police that should give the numbers. 

There is a good reason why these numbers are given by the police spokesman at HQ, not by any member of the police force. These numbers, when they eventually are released, would have been checked and re-checked. 

Verification is therefore of utmost importance.

Don't underestimate the number of people of a nervous condition; the mere sight of the mangles of metal that constituted the wrecked vehicles is enough to send watchers into unconsciousness and depression, creating another problem for families and medical delivery. 

Let's not even go to relatives seeing their dead or gravely wounded kin on social media for the first time! 

This calls for sensitivity in reporting accidents. 

Think also of those at home, such news is not received uniformly by the audience.

Hospital officials do not ordinarily allow journalists to interview people in wards, again to ensure the suffering of wounded is not worsened emotionally by the questions asked. 

The driver in the hospital was very likely blaming himself for the carnage, naturally. 

The interview, I think, worsened his sense of blameworthiness. He was already cursing himself for causing the death of so many people. 

The interview obviously worsened that. 

If the driver's condition worsens, hospital authorities can be held responsible for this.

Culturally, causing the death of any human is a great issue with the family of the causer, in this case, the driver. 

Now he will be shunned by his clause relatives, who fear avenging spirits. (The Shona belief inngozi is still all pervasive). 

There would have been a way to convey the driver's culpability to his family in a more decent way. This could have been done after the police report of the accident.

So much about the ethics, but let's take a look at the precedence DJ Ollah has set - which is that there are no boundaries. 

Imagine next time there is going to be a similar heart-rending accident: We are going to get dozens of journalists, content creators and all those with smart-phones swarming accident scenes like insects to a lamp -- it's going to be a right mess. 

There will be no central control of information so all sorts of versions of the same incident are going to emerge leading to misinformation of immense proportions. 

The good principle that says, “Better be second and right, than first and wrong”, will bethrown out the window as content creators scramble to be first with the news.

A swarm of reporters (better known as the paparazzi) will not only dish out unverified information but will also distract medical teams and the police from working efficiently. 

So, while we applaud Ollah for his approach we must also consider the consequences for the reportage of future such events.

I am still for regulation and for the codified ethics of the profession namely, accuracy, fairness and balance.

I hope this incident is not going to make it more difficult for mainstream journalists to report serious accidents as the police are likely to become more stringent with access to accident scenes.

My tuppence.