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From Thupeyo Muleya in Nyanga
THE media should refocus its attention on reporting on labour-related issues as they are central to the country’s economic development strategy, a Government official has said. Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Deputy Minister Supa Mandiwanzira said it was also important for the Tripartite Negotiating Forum to engage the media in all their deliberations as they played a critical role in informing the public on such critical matters.

Cde Mandiwanzira made the remarks while addressing media practitioners, among them editors and senior reporters at an International Labour Organisation capacity enhancement project for journalists in Nyanga yesterday.

“We are very much seized with issues of labour in the media sector,” he said. “We have an ongoing programme where we are engaging media houses with the view of addressing the teething challenges.”

The ministry, he said, has recognised that workers’ welfare, terms and conditions were very critical to make any meaningful progress as a country.

“From what we have been getting so far, the media houses are facing similar operational issues,” said Cde Mandiwanzira.
He called on journalists to apply the knowledge they had acquired at the workshop on doing more research and to be thorough when reporting on labour-related issues. He said the issues of labour and human resources development had a great market as compared to political stories.

Cde Mandiwanzira said now that the elections were over the media should concentrate more on nation building. “A lot of companies are closing down because of various reasons and at the same time we have the responsibility of creating employment as a Government,” he said.