Zimpapers Logo

Josey Mahachi and husband Jide

Jonathan Mbiriyamveka TV
January is almost over and yours truly hopes that most people will breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they are done with the worries that come with the beginning of each year. Bills and more bills to pay.

A colleague recently told me that no matter how he plans for the New Year, everything just turns upside down in January and I had a feeling of déjà vu which I believe will be echoed by most people.

That said, this year started off on a rather bad note considering the Paris attack and the subsequent terror attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria. In terms of world news, 2015 looks like a war year filled with threats, violence and upheaval.

Just this past week, international news channels were dominated by anti-Islam demonstrations in Europe and the massacre of thousands of civilians in Nigeria by Boko Haram.

Of interest was how the media covered the two issues.

It goes without saying that in Nigeria where thousands were killed, received the least coverage while the international media was abuzz with the Charlie Hebdo attack in which 12 journalists died.

The subsequent demonstrations with regard to Paris terror attack have become global news such that the debate has been to what extent should freedom of expression be allowed.

This came in the wake of the publication of Prophet Muhammad in Charlie Hebdo “souvenir” issue which was sold out.

CNN went to town debating the issue of freedom of expression where although the majority of the panellists condemned terrorism they seemed to agree that it was wrong to offend others in the name of freedom of expression.

There were serious debates on almost every news channel including Aljazeera, RT, ANN7 and others.

But somehow I enjoyed the Late Night News with comic Loyiso Gola on eNCA news channels which raised valid points.

Obviously, not many people take Loyiso Gola’s show seriously because of its slapstick nature but over the weekend he raised one simple issue that instead of killing those who offend others through freedom of speech, they should just pursue a legal route.

According to Loyiso, there are courts in every country and therefore no need to use terrorism. Interestingly, Loyiso took a dig at those behind the Paris attack and completely forgot about the killings of thousands in Nigeria.

I thought it was easy to talk about the disasters on the continent at least a subject he is familiar with than Europe.

That said, it appears the “anti-Islamisation” of Europe will dominate the news coverage for at least another week since in Africa there is no “news”.

Moving to another subject, I watched “Click Africa” on AfricaMagic World for the first time since it rebranded.

And it was quite interesting to watch Zimbabwe particularly the Victoria Falls being featured on the magazine programme “Click Africa”.

About “Click Africa”, it is produced by a company co-owned by a Zimbabwean Josey Mahachi and a Nigerian Jide Agbeniyi who are husband and wife.

While Josey is an amazing woman and who hosts an amazing show, I think at times she asks the wrong questions. Believe it or not, she has interviewed some of the high profile people on the continent be it politicians, business people or celebs, she has done it all.

So after touring the majestic Victoria Falls she then looked for tourists to ask about their views of the Falls. Never-mind her interviewees were all Americans, but she repeatedly asked the question: “What do you think of Zimbabwe?”

I thought this was an opportunity to market the country to the outside world and there was more to ask than just repeating the same question over and over.

There is no doubt, she is putting Zimbabwe on the map especially when you look at other programmes like Studio 263 that have failed to expose Zimbabwe’s beauty to the outside world, Josey is in the right direction and deserves a pat on the back.

Until next week remember this is television and it is real.

Feedback: [email protected]