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President Bingu wa Mutharika on Wednesday assured Malawians in the presence of over 100 media practitioners that public broadcasters MBC and TVM will give free access to everybody, particularly to the opposition, during elections.
“If they have something to say MBC and TVM will open up for them. Let them air their views,” said Mutharika during a get-together luncheon with journalists from all media houses in the country held at the New State House in Lilongwe.
Mutharika said the Malawi community needs informed choices especially during elections but that implies that “you have the opportunity to listen to as many views as possible. At the end of it you select one person who convinces you”.
“Otherwise if you only listen to one person what choice is there? There is no choice. So we want to assure you that informed choice will be there. I would like to invite all the political parties, particularly the opposition, if they have something to say to the nation, they are free,” Mutharika said.
But Mutharika, who was accompanied by information minister Ken Lipenga and the first lady Ethel Mutharika among other officials, said he hoped that the other media houses will also open up to government and not only to the opposition.
“Then we will really have a level playing field,” he said.
Lipenga said the media in the country appreciates that TVM and MBC have now opened up according to the President’s advice after his election although he said some people still hide behind nonexistent directives in their respective institutions.
“It’s only fair to say that since we advised MBC and TVM to open up they have opened up. It’s possible, of course, that here and there they may be lagging behind. Old habits, your excellency, die hard,” said Lipenga.
“This is a transition that they are going through and you will notice that from time to time some of them might hide behind nonexistent directives. But I am confident that they are responding very well and they can only get better,” he added.
Chairman of the Media Institute for Southern Africa (Namisa), Lewis Msasa said he hoped that the opening up of the two public institutions will help journalists in these institutions to be more professional when discharging their duties.
Msasa said the media is concerned with the presence of too many officials during presidential press conferences that force journalists to take notes while standing. He said the press conferences are good for free flow of information from the presidency to the media.
“The media would like to see a press conference where only relevant officials should attend,” he said.
Msasa, who was speaking on behalf of all the journalists, also expressed concern over the behaviour of some government officials who are slow and frustrate journalists by hiding information from public offices.
“We find such officials to be a misfit in the frame of transparency in which you have committed your administration,” said Msasa.
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