Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo holding tries his hand in mbira playing at the Mbira Centre in Harare yesterday. Picture By Ruvimbo Chakanyuka
Herald Reporter
Exposure of corruption by the media is in pursuit of not only the national interest, but is also a Constitutional imperative, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo has said.
He said the scourge of corruption was against both the national interest and the law.
Prof Moyo said this in Harare yesterday while addressing the Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum.
“Everyone who knows how cancerous corruption is and how destructive it is, but also how difficult it is to deal with, will tell you that the first line of attack against corruption is by exposing it. There is no way you can fight corruption behind the scenes and any attempt to do so is corruption,” Prof Moyo said.
Exposing corruption, he said, created the possibility for the State to act in terms of due process.
“Unless there is a media that is committed to pursue the national interest and understand that corruption is public enemy number one, it harms everyone and the same media willing to expose it.
“Therefore exposing corruption is actually in pursuit of national interest and I think evidence so far showed that on this issue the media have pursued this issue with common interest and with a common purpose,” he said.
Prof Moyo went on: “We can confidently say the mainstream media across the divide played an important role in exposing corruption so far.
“And this is very good.
“The beneficiaries are the collective community body politic of Zimbabwe. It is in the national interest.”
Prof Moyo castigated media houses that had stooped low and alleged political conspiracies premised on perceived factions as being behind
the crusade to expose corruption.
“Are you interested in the source or in the information and is the veracity of the information able to withstand the scrutiny of objective verification and even the courts?” he queried.
Prof Moyo also criticised ZNEF for failing to give its views on how it understood the national interest.
Turning to ZBC, Prof Moyo said he could not understand how the national broadcaster could request a Government grant despite enjoying a monopoly on collecting listeners’ and viewers’ license fees.
ZBC acting chief executive, Mr Allan Chiweshe, told a visiting parliamentary portfolio committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting Services last week that there was need to restore a Government grant to augment its budget.