Catholic Entity in Zambia Cautions Radio Practitioners against Betraying Audience Trust

He added, “As many people depend on radio for information in many aspects of life, there is a need for radio journalists to build trust in their audience.”  

The CMS official made reference to the theme of the 2022 edition of World Radio Day, “Radio and Trust”, and noted that the theme “comes as a good reminder to radio journalists to take time in researching and sourcing information from credible sources.”

He appealed to radio owners and managers to facilitate their journalists in providing information that can be trusted.   

He found it “regrettable” that some media organizations are not paying their journalists well, a situation he said compromises their credibility in the field.

“Catholic Media Services urges radio proprietors to provide necessities that will make journalists, Presenters and Producers continue offering trustworthy information. Also, radio proprietors must urgently consider remunerating these radio workers well,” Fr. Kunda said, and added, “It is regrettable that some radio stations still pay very little as salaries to their journalists.”

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The CMS Director called upon the Zambian government to collaborate with the media industry by providing financial support to radio stations that are struggling to survive.

“We recommend to the government that a support mechanism, maybe in the form of grants, be given to those radio stations that are struggling financially, especially community-based ones or those in rural areas,” he said.

He added, in reference to the government support of Catholic media in Zambia, “We commend the government, for offering the Catholic Church nine radio broadcast licenses and pray that soon it shall grant us another one so that we may start another radio station in Mpika Diocese.”

“We pray that God rests the souls of all radio Journalists, presenters, producers and other radio workers that died in the past year,” the Catholic Priest said.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.