Media Personnel Urged to Act Proficiently to Reduce Destructive Reporting

Addis Ababa May 04/2019  Ethiopian media professionals need to work proficiently in view of the ongoing reforms and share information carefully to reduce the ever-increasing destructive reporting, a Swedish media institute manager and participant of the World Press Freedom Day observed.

Fojo Media Institute International Program Manager in Sweden, Marika Griehsel told ENA that all Ethiopian media professionals need to work very professionally and think carefully about the responsibilities when sharing information.

“As a media we are not to take sides in conflicts, quarrels or debates. Many news broadcasters have their own editorial policies and news should be factual information and correct,” she noted.

Griehsel, nonetheless, elaborated that the spread of false information nowadays via social media is very fast, not often by the journalists.   It is rather by other people who are publishing on social media and who do not have code of ethics.

Media professionalism requires code of ethics, strong journalist associations, independent editors’ forum that stand free from government influence or other matters; it could be religious influence or it could be criminal influence or business influence, she stated.

Griehsel pointed out that “the digitalization of the media scene is a global challenge today. We have to be better journalists than may be 20 years ago before social media came in.”

Praising the recent moves by the Government of Ethiopia to reform the media, she said “I am really convinced that there is an enormous willingness in this country to move into this interesting and exciting time for media in Ethiopia, and to do the good work that is required.”

However, Griehsel stressed that “we should create not just strong media or journalist associations within nations but also work globally together and support one another.”

Institutional Relations Head at European Broadcasting Union, Giacomo Mazzone said there are some fundamental correlations between freedom of expression and the situation in democratic and economic development, apart from a very few cases.

According to him, the public media such as the national television and the national radio are paid by the citizens directly and their main role is to ask the government to do the right thing for citizens. The transparency of decision-making process is absolutely crucial.

“Ethiopia’s media case is different,” he stated, adding that “you are in a relative openness recently. So your case is not as in previous cases. You need to have regulations; you need to have rules that prevent the misuse of the social media,” he stressed.

Norwegian Permanent Representative to the African Union, Ambassador Morten von Hanno Aasland said “we have been seeing in many countries that when media are free and allowed to exercise their job, then this will often promote and help economic and social development.

Open and free media will allow the public, the civil society and everybody basically to know about what is going on in the country; and it is so useful to fight against corruption and other bad practices, the ambassador elaborated.

Aasland noted that “many people are impressed by what has happened in Ethiopia over the last year or so; and it is very promising with regard to open discussion about the challenges, the way forward and the important role that the media have to play in that.”