DEFENDING FRANK MUTUBILA….Norma Kapata Siame says attack on Frank Mutubila,  Unfair and Unjustified

DEFENDING FRANK MUTUBILA

….Norma Kapata Siame says attack on Frank Mutubila,  Unfair and Unjustified.

Degrees, Chongololo Accents and Definitions: A Response to Dr Ruwe

Dr Field Ruwe sets out to prove that Frank Mutubila is neither a broadcaster nor a journalist but only a “presenter.” In local lingo, maybe what one might call a glorified Chola-boy of the media industry.

The argument is neat, academic, and confidently delivered. It is also unnecessarily rigid.

The piece hinges on one central idea: without a degree in broadcasting, one cannot properly be called a broadcaster. By that logic, half of Africa’s pioneering media figures would need their titles revoked retroactively. Broadcasting did not begin in lecture halls. It began in studios.

Ironically, the example of Larry King complicates the argument. King had no degree in broadcasting either, yet history comfortably refers to him as a legendary broadcaster. If decades behind a microphone, interviewing presidents and shaping public discourse do not qualify one as a broadcaster, what exactly does? a framed certificate?

The distinction between presenter and broadcaster may be correct in theory, but in practice, the media world is gloriously untidy. Presenters often research, script, interview, moderate, and influence national conversation.

For Me, as a two-ngwee journalist from Evelyn Hone College, that sounds like broadcasting.

The critique also strays into commentary about accents and personality. But since when did vocal style determine professional classification? If adopting a British tone disqualifies one from broadcasting, then half the Commonwealth is in trouble.

Experience matters. Fifty plus years on radio and television is not a hobby. It is a career. Titles in media are earned as much by impact and longevity as by academic qualification.

In the end, this feels less like a clarification of terms and more like a gatekeeping exercise. Broadcasting is a craft before it is a credential.

And if surviving five decades on air does not make one a veteran broadcaster, then perhaps we need a new dictionary and not a new degree.

SOURCE: EMV