By Fabrice Djimadoum, IMAP Zambia Vice Coordinator
The media mainstream of Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Zambia Chapter’s project, the International Media Association for Peace (IMAP) Zambia Chapter held a one-day seminar for the journalists from different media houses within Lusaka. A total of over 50 Journalists from the print and electronic media attended the seminar.
The seminar whose theme was “The Role of the Media in Moral Education in Our Country,” saw many journalists acknowledged the need to educate the community on morals and that journalists should be at the centre stage building blocks as peace builders.
The seminar started with welcoming remarks from the Master of Ceremony Mr. Master Chimbala, a seasoned media personality and IMAP Trustee.
In his welcoming remarks Mr. Chimbala recognize some of the Zambian media gurus in the seminar and asked the participants to participate effectively, to be open minded and live up to their duties even as they were participating.
After the welcoming remarks, the session got into introduction of IMAP via video presentation. The video depicted how the founders Dr. Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon has been passionately championing freedom of media and that journalist should be responsible transmitters of information as well as peace builders.
Immediately after the video presentation the MC ushered in IMAP Zambia Chapter President Mr. Peter Chikwampu to give his opening remarks.
In his welcoming remarks Mr. Chikwampu welcomed the guest of honour, guest speaker and the journalists who were the participants at the workshop under the theme “The role of the media in moral education in the country”.
The president said the citizens believe what they read and hear from media reports, hence it is the role of the media, to report the truth but also be conscious about the content of the stories and their consequences on the nation and the lives of the people.
He further said the participants must share views on how the media should help and shape in the moral education in relation to peace building and also to grow the association which seeks to attract membership from professional media bodies.
He also said the association has noted with concern on the low reporting levels on peace by the local media. He said, the media plays an important role in the prevention of conflicts at all levels of society, hence the media need to take interest in matters that have to do with peace promotion.
He also urged IMAP members to be proactive in reporting about Peace building and coming up with ideas that would help IMAP accomplish the planned projects with less stress.
The IMAP President concluded his speech by encouraging his fellow journalists to participate effectively during the sessions of the workshop so that at the end they could start pitching stories and talk shows that promote peace.
According to protocol the event was to be followed by the guest of honour’s speech. However, due to national duties She was not available at the appointed time. Therefore, when the guest of honour turned up later towards the end seminar, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Mr Kennedy Kalunga delivered the speech on her behalf.
The Minister of Information and Media who is also Chief Government Spokesperson Honourable Chushi Kasanda through her Permanent Secretary apologised for not gracing the occasion in person due to other commitments.
Mr. Kalunga said the IMAP’s one-day workshop had come when the world was commemorating Worlds Radio Day whose theme was almost similar to IMAP’s. He said the workshop provided another platform to further amplify the important role of the media in peace building within and among nations in order to make the world a better place to live in. He said the media should be advocates of peace and denouncing an act or behaviour ha has potential to disrupt peace.
Mr. Kalunga advised the media to shun sources that want to sow seeds of division and disunity for their selfish motives. He said the media should rather boldly lead the way in promoting morality, peace and unity in the society.
The Permanent Secretary commended the Universal Peace Federation Zambia Chapter for its investment in promotion of the media as Peace Ambassadors and other initiatives.
The seminar had three (3) presentations. The main presentation was led by the Guest Speaker Professor Lungwagwa. Professor Lungwagwa served for many years as lecturer at the University of Zambia (UNZA). He also severed in a number of ministerial positions in the past governments. He is one of the longest serving member of UPF and Professor’s World Peace Academy (PWPA).
In his speech the professor said from yesteryear’s traditional media to the present technology of Internet, mobile smartphones and social media, the media helps to shape the society. However, he expressed some concerns with the current dissemination of information especially with the social media platforms.
He said while the traditional media is able to be checked and regulated, the social media has remained unchecked and regulated remaining a tool of discontentment. This has made the moral compass of the society to go haywire.
He also cautioned the traditional media to do away with sensational reporting as that kind of reporting shall not bring peace but breed confusion and conflicts.
The second present was UPF Secretary General Rev. Rudolf Faerber who said Universal Peace Federation is an advocate of peace and therefore in its pursuance to attain it, has engaged many stakeholders from different avenues of life to be involved in creating peace. He said UPF has created different organisations to provide platforms to talk peace and engage them to provide leadership.
He said one such UPF project is IMAP which will engage journalists from the media houses. He therefore asked the journalist to get involved, plan and participate in peace building and also to write stories that will instil good moral standards in Our Community and the nation as a whole.
The third presentation was presented by Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) Zambia President Rev. David Isaac Phiri who represented FFWPU Regional Vice President Mrs. Mica Amanlaman. Rev Phiri said that a journalist is someone who needs to know and understand a lot more about other professionals. She said that journalist need to know a lot more about the other to inform the masses and not to misinform them.
Therefore, journalists need to do a lot more research about a topic beyond what even an expert in that profession for accuracy purposes.
After Rev. Phiri’ s presentation the seminar in a question and answer session. The journalist expressed some concerns with the church leaders who spend all their time going to mountains for prayers living national issues unattended to. They said there are times the church need to address national issues that affects their own flocks. They said there are issues that do not need prayers but other interventions.
Some said in as much as they would like to write on issues concerning moral standards in the society and peace building, the media houses have their own house policy they want their reporters to about.
It was resolved that there is need to involved the editors and proprietors of the media institutions as they are the ones to change the policy of the newsroom to go in that direction.
Vote of thanks was delivered by Ms. Nakiwa Simfukwe. She thanked the presenters for their insights on how the journalist can play vital roles in contributing toward educating the Community on moral standards in not only in the country but the world at large. She also thanked the presenters for reminding the journalists on the importance of peace building and that they are very key to peace building.
At the end of the event, many participants filled in IMAP membership forms and others collected them to fill in later. The participants expressed their appreciation for the workshop and looking forward to be part of IMAP.