BUJUMBURA February 11th (ABP) -The chairman of the National Media Council (CNC), Mr. Nestor Bankumukunzi, presented in Bujumbura on Wednesday, February 7, 2019 the quarterly report of the activities of the various media outlets for the months of October, November and December 2018.
The report contains success, mistakes and ways out, as the CNC’s mission is to regulate the media in order to ensure the freedom of the press based on respect for the law. The monitoring report on the performances of the audiovisual press and the written press revealed that the editorial lines and the specifications were respected. He lamented, however, that the balance of information is not well respected in some media. In addition, Mr. Bankumukunzi recommended that media managers organize close monitoring within each medium in order to raise the low level of language and drafting techniques.
Concerning malpractice, the report revealed, among other things, an imbalance in terms of geographical coverage, a change of program schedule without notifying the CNC, an imbalance of information, the non-verification of sources of information, misleading statements, the attack on good mores as well as the mistakes of language and spelling.
The CNC Chairman took the opportunity to invite media outlets to cover all sectors, including those that are the lifeblood of Burundian citizens, such as the economic and cultural sectors. He recommended to the media to fight for the general interest of the citizen, to appropriate texts governing the press and the communication and to ensure the respect of the rules of ethics and deontology. The media must also bear in mind their social responsibility, which aims to serve the general interest, to respect the specifications, to ensure the close supervision of the staff, to check the information before the broadcast and to adopt strategies to build the capacity of journalists within each medium and in synergy, and review how to cover national activities throughout Burundi. The CNC chairman emphasized that a job can shame or honor the one who does it. In that way, he invited the journalists to weigh the words they launch each time, reflecting on what can be born as consequences.
According to the media managers, the challenge of media coverage throughout the entire territory is related to the problem of inadequate or outdated equipment and lack of financial means. To that end, they requested that the government should keep its promise, concerning the media support fund. They also pointed out that some information holders refuse to deliver them and that there is also the movement of experienced journalists who migrate from one medium to another.
