Harare, (New Ziana) – The government has made huge strides to support the media sector as evidenced by its growth and prevailing safe operating environment for journalists, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said on Wednesday.

Addressing a Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) media indaba, Dr Muswere said the government had ensured the media and journalists operated freely without intimidation or arrests.

“As a Government and in terms of the Constitution we have achieved, and we are not afraid of anything you write about (us) as long as it is the truth,” he said.

“No journalist has been arrested during my term and that’s an achievement. We have licenced a number of media houses as we support growth of the media,” he told the Indaba.

Dr Muswere, however, urged the media to speedily create a National Employment Council, which is expected to go a long way in ensuring that journalists are well remunerated.

“We are committed to that as a government and we want journalists that are paid according to the work that they do. We want journalists that are well paid in order for us to build a robust media industry,” he said.

In an interview, ZUJ president George Maponga said issues to do with remuneration in the media industry topped the media indaba discussions.

“You are quite aware that the industry is grappling with poor salaries, plummeting working conditions. We sought to engage stakeholders so that we come up with a common position on how we can improve the welfare of journalists.

“We also needed to tackle issues to do with the safety and security of journalists, to make sure that journalists are operating in an enabling environment, which is good for the growth and development of the media sector in Zimbabwe,” he said.

New Ziana