Malvern Mkudu
The emergence of ethics on social media platforms was a subject of debate at the Voluntary media Commission of Zimbabwe organised event
at the Ambassador Hotel last week. The panel comprising of journalists and citizen journalists discussed a number of issues affecting ethics in the profession.
Social media has given a voice to citizen journalism and there was concern on whether citizen journalists were adhering to recognised journalistic standards in their activities.
While acknowledging that there were a number of credible online bloggers and websites, Kelvin Jakachira, Head of News at ZiFM was critical of the conduct of some of the bloggers online. His sentiments were echoed by the Financial Gazette News Editor Maggie Mzumara who pointed out that the internet had brought with it journalistic plagiarism, copyright
infringement and invasion of privacy among other professional ills.
It was noted that citizen journalists had become notorious for rumor mongering and peddling false hoods which had created misinformation and problems in society. At times citizen journalists publish pictures which are not ethical. Digital platforms have re-arranged the rules of the game and it is difficult to know who is and who is not a journalist. Other news houses have made space for citizen journalists in their papers as these are good at breaking news.
Alpha media, online editor John Mokwetsi also criticised citizen journalists who reported on issues without verifying. He however conceded that citizen journalism was not competition for main stream media but the two were meant to complement each other.
Prominent social media entrepreneur, Nigel Mugamu said social media news organisations had emerged and thrived because they were
satisfying a need in the market.’People want engagement and this is what we offer them ‘he said.
He lambasted mainstream media organisations that he accused of plagiarising content and using content without crediting sources.
The platform exposed deteriorating ethical standards within the media that panelists and participants agreed needed to be addressed .
But with digital already an integral part of modern journalism policy makers need to create a policy framework that allows citizen journalism and mainstream journalism to co-exist without conflict or harm to society.
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