MEDIA OWNERS MUST JUST OWN UP AND AGREE THAT IT IS TIME TO PAY THEIR JOURNALISTS WELL AND RAISE THE STANDARDS

YOU CAN’T PRACTICE LAW WITHOUT A CERTIFICATE, YOU CANNOT TREAT PEOPLE IN A LAB WITHOUT A CERTIFICATE AND YET ANYONE WITH A PHONE IS A JOURNALIST: MEDIA OWNERS MUST JUST OWN UP AND AGREE THAT IT IS TIME TO PAY THEIR JOURNALISTS WELL AND RAISE THE STANDARDS

By Koswe Editors

If this is what Journalists want to be implemented, then it is very good. This country has too many quacks or masquerades and that is unhealthy.

Because Journalists are not certified, those employing them, have been taking advantage of them by paying them peanuts and toasting them around.

One case is that of Fred M’membe the now Vaseline Movement KINGPIN who for years made Journalists toil for him without taking into account their pension and when PF decided to close the defunct Post Newspaper, the Journalists walked away with nothing because M’membe was never remitting taxes for them and upto now, those Journalists are destitutes.

So, why would a qualified Journalist object a move that compels his or her employer to pay a specific minimum wage, put them on pension?

We don’t think there is any sane person who would object such but yes, those owning the companies as opposed to this because they know that once effected, they will be forced to pay their Journalists not less than K5, 000. It benefits the media owners because for them it makes business sense to pay Journalists peanuts.

In Journalism, there is what is called media ownership. So, he or she who owns the media has the power to decide what an employee should be paid and what story to put on the front page or indeed to lead on tv, radio or online and if one is corrupt, politically aligned or indeed extremely dull, they would never support media reforms in order to curb quacks and masquerades.

If we had our way, we would encourage qualified Journalists to support this as it compels their employers to pay better salaries and not ma K1, 500 salaries and also it would lead to the profession being respected as a noble career just like Lawyers and others certified before practising are respected.

And for certification, Journalists must set standards for themselves. Not just because someone can own an android phone, then they are qualified. You spent years in college or university and paid money to be trained but you don’t want your field to be certified and when you see ba Simon Mwewa Lane with his phone doing what you learnt for 5 years, you start complaining and yet bloggers and Vloggers themselves are also coming up with their own standards. How can society respect you like that?

Just as well, there is AI and soon some fields if not protected by laws will die. Engineer Chirwa recently showed on his Facebook how a robot delivered food to his hotel room and one still thinks that in 5 to 10 years from now, there will still be people shouting at doors of hotel that room service?

Anyway Koswe Editors have have spoken and by the way, Koswe was there during PF times, is here now, will be there until this country is sanitised to the fullest.