TANZANIA: Compassionate in News heals, the government says
The government asked the media professionals to give factual information in news and be more compassionate and humane when it comes to news delivery as this helps in healing.
These sentiments were expressed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Professor Ole Gabriel Elisante during the celebrations of the 59th world Communication Day organized by the Social Communications Department of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC).
“when news comes with compassion and humane, it heals but when it is brutal and ruthless, it wounds more. Therefore, rather than just writing because one has the power of the pen, it is very important to consider the effects of information to all who are concerned,” said Professor Elisante.
The permanent secretary who was the chief guest at the function requested the Church and all stakeholders who have invested in information to accompany their staff as they strive to cope with the pace of technology growth while putting emphasis on the need to set a framework to help protect cultures against the misuse of communication technologies.
He added that the pace at which technological change is happening is very rapid and this threatens the culture and heritage of many people especially the younger generations.
“Control of the misuse of technology is vital in protecting our culture and generation. We are heading to a time when our children will even fail in their exams not because the parent is unable to provide quality education, but because the child has spent all their time on the internet thereby neglecting their studies which should be a priority,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile the Secretary General of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, Rev. Father Raymond Saba noted that communication, and especially the media, has power which if utilized properly, can promote unity and development among the people in a community.
Initially, while delivering the homily, during the Eucharistic celebrations on the same day Fr. Joseph Matumaini explained that the celebration of the 50th world Communications Day provides an opportunity to Catholic Media Practitioners to examine whether they have carried out their mandates in a way that would bring people closer to God.
“The Catholic Media has a responsibility to must bring people closer to God. They must vessels of evangelization through which the goodness of God radiates thereby bringing people closer to him. It is obvious that we will meet various challenges, therefore as Catholic Media Practitioners we must have a vision, mission and strategic plan which will guide us towards that which we want to achieve and also on how to deal with the realities,” he explained.
Tanzania Episcopal Conference marked the 50th World Communications Day on August 6, in a colourful event which was attended by various Catholic Media houses in Tanzania and which provided an opportunity to reflect upon the message of Pope Francis on World Communications 2016. The celebrations were held under the theme “Communication and Mercy: A Fruitful Encounter.’
By Pascal Mwanache, TEC
