Sweden to continue building robust, independent media
Ms Charlotta-Ozaki Macias, the Swedish envoy to Tanzania, is inspecting the performance of press clubs her government has been supporting for over a decade.
TUESDAY August 6, 2024
By The Tranquility News Reporter, Tanzania
Sweden does not regret investing in Tanzania’s media following noble returns the industry promises, the Swedish envoy, Ms Charlotta-Ozaki Macias, said on Tuesday August 6, 2024.
Ms Macias, who is in a working tour of press clubs north of the country, learnt that the Sweden’s 10-year-long investment in the clubs through the umbrella organisation of the industry, the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC), was worthwhile.
“Building independent systems, including a robust media industry like the one Sweden has, takes years,” Ms Macias told a dozen of journalists and the UTPC leaders gathered at the Arusha Press Club (APC) office in Arusha city business district to receive her.
Reminding the journalists of their big role to play ahead of the forthcoming civic polls and General Election, the Swedish envoy wondered how the industry could strike a balance between good rapport with the government and its watchdog’s role.
Ms Macias paid a courtesy visit to the Regional Commissioner’s Office before arriving at the APC office.
The Assistant Regional Administrative Secretary (Administration and Human Recourse) assured the Swedish envoy that the regional secretariat was closely and harmoniously working with APC and the media fraternity at large.
“The government is actually attempting to resolve challenges facing the industry, including the failure among employers to enter into contracts with journalists,” Mr Lyamongi said.
In fact, a committee tasked with assessing economic status of the Tanzanian media recently reported major challenges facing the industry, including low pay, inadequate investments and those compounded by technology.
The committee comprising 10 industry players led by Mr Tido Mhando, the former Azam Media chief executive officer, shows 77 per cent of journalists in Tanzania are paid hardly $192 a month each, with some earning less than a US dollar from a story.
Fifty-six per cent of the journalists have been operating without employment contracts for up to six years, with 38 per cent of available contracts missing the essential health insurance component.
Thanks to years of crackdown on the media fraternity, the industry is now inclined towards entertainment, sports, and comedy more than investigative and critique reporting.
The report blames the nosediving economic status of the media industry on declining income from advertisers, unfriendly taxation policies, exclusion of foreign investors, business management incompetency among media owners, and inept journalists in the advent of emerging technology.
The Swedish Embassy Programme Officer responsible for civil society organisations, Mr Steven Chimalo, concurred with Mr Lyamongi, saying lack of reliable income among journalists could compromise their freedom to report objectively.
“Despite the Media Services Act carrying out a number of reforms, the legal framework is still posing challenges to the media fraternity,” observed Mr Chimalo, stressing that press freedom was the Swedish Embassy’s key concern.
Established in 1992, APC is the media industry’s first regional lobbying and advocacy outfit in Tanzania that saw at least 27 other clubs mushrooming countrywide.
“Even the UTPC, the APC brainchild founded four years later, was nurtured in Arusha before it was transferred to Mwanza and then to the Dodoma Capital City,” the APC Chairman, Mr Claud Gwandu, recalled when briefing the Swedish envoy.
Mr Gwandu said the club, which boasted hooking over 60 members, over 20 of them recently, would change its management structure next year when an executive board would run it instead of the Executive Committee in placeΩ
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The Tranquility News Reporter/Sub Editor, Tanzania
Patty Magubira is an experienced environmental and business editor whose career started at the Tanzania's state-owned newspaper - The Daily News. He is a man of perfection. Aided by his extensive training as a community forestry expert before joining Tanzania School of Journalism. Magubira had successfully held various key posts in newsrooms, giving him an unmatched connections in media fraternity. Having worked as a bureau chief in Arusha and Mwanza, he managed to build a team work, boosting sales to the highest level ever. He was then promoted to a sub-editor after completing a training in Nairobi, Kenya. His incredible experience, critical thinking and exposure are critical to the quality of any media outlet.
