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Mashonaland West Bureau

Zimpapers journalists continue to dominate the local media awards scene after its Mashonaland West based scribes won four out of eight categories at the ninth edition of the provincial awards ceremony sponsored by mining giant, Zimplats.

Chinhoyi-based reporter, Conrad Mupesa bagged the Best Sports, Arts, Culture and Entertainment reporter of the Year award.

He also won the Upcoming Environment Reporter of the Year award while Kariba reporter, Walter Nyamukondiwa, scooped the Consistent Environment Reporter of the Year award.

H-Metro correspondent, Paul Pindani was awarded the Environment Reporter of the Year gong.

Guest of honour and Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Kindness Paradza said media practitioners should remain the mouthpiece of the general public and report objectively and fairly towards attainment of Vision 2030 as espoused by President Mnangagwa.

“We need to give voice to the majority who are appreciating the good works done by the Second Republic under the leadership of His Excellency President Mnangagwa.

“In Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa, radio is the most effective means of communication and information dissemination tool. This is why as Government, we took a deliberate decision to establish 14 language-based community radio stations,” said Deputy Minister Paradza.

He challenged journalists to desist from accepting bribes saying various Western-funded social media platforms were misleading communities by peddling false information from the country’ detractors.

“On social media platforms, you can easily be misled to think that the views expressed there are actually the views of the majority yet it is an echo chamber of a handful of digital media activists who are actually on the payroll of our detractors.”

The Second Republic was making sure that media practitioners operated fairly and without harassment.

Allocation of more television and radio station licences and the repealing of tough media laws were some of the positive moves taken by the new administration to ensure that information was gathered and disseminated to all parts of the country.

Kariba-based Zimpapers’ managed radio station, Nyaminyami FM, he said, was set to get a provincial coverage licence moving to Chinhoyi for wider provincial coverage.

“As Government we have covered so much ground for more and diverse voices, radio and television broadcasting. It hasn’t been a rhetorical commitment of the Second Republic to increase plurality and diversity.

“We also issued 10 commercial radio stations licences including Nyaminyami FM here in Mash West which we are going to expand and give provincial coverage licence,” he said.

Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka said for the attainment of Vision 2030, journalists needed to be patriotic and pro-development before discouraging vendetta journalism based on settling differences.

She said the profession was under attack from unethical practitioners who were accepting bribes.

Zimplats’ head of corporate affairs, Busi Chindove said the green metals that the company was producing were used as catalytic converters to clean the environment, production of jewellery, fertiliser, water purification and production of computer hard-drives among other things.