Magufuli didn’t ban all forms of politics...

[Mag3]

Wabunge walisimaishwa kazi, sio kwa sababu ya kuhoji maamuzi ya serikali, bali kwa sababu ya NAMNA walivyohoji maamuzi ya serikali.

Deus J. Kahangwa: Mimi ni RC wa Medulla Obangata zote tayari.
Albert Einstein: The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

Katika mazingira haya vyombo vya dola haviwezi kubaki watazamaji tu. Vitachukua hatua. Hilo ndilo lililo tokea. Tuheshimu ukweli.

Deus J. Kahangwa: Mimi ni RC wa Medulla Obangata zote tayari.
Will Rogers: When ignorance gets started, it knows no bounds.

 

[mndorwe]

Unapokuwa na watu wanafiki na ambao vichwa vyao vinawaza vyeo tu .....maandiko kama haya ni lazima

 

[Deus J. Kahangwa]

Albert Einstein: The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Will Rogers: When ignorance gets started, it knows no bounds.

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Dk. Tulia Ackson: Wabunge wa upinzani walifukuzwa Bungeni kwa sababu ya kuvunja kanuni za Bunge.
Zitto Zuberi Kabwe: Wabunge wa upinzani walifukuzwa Bungeni kwa sababu tulihoji maamuzi ya serikali.
Deus J. Kahangwa: Wabunge wa upinzani walifukuzwa Bungeni, sio kwa sababu ya kuhoji maamuzi ya serikali, bali kwa sababu ya mbinu walizotumia kuhoji maamuzi ya serikali. Kuhujumu mbinu ni kosa kama ilivyo kuhujumu malengo.

 

[Deus J. Kahangwa]

Unapokuwa na watu wanafiki na ambao vichwa vyao vinawaza vyeo tu .....maandiko kama haya ni lazima

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Hujaelewa hoja.

 

[Deus J. Kahangwa]

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Deus, kama kuna busara iliyobaki ni kufuta huu uzi.
Utazame mwenyewe ukiwa chumbani na hoja za wanajamvi na ulivyojibiwa halafu ujiulize, kama ni thesis ungepata hata nafasi ya marekebisho!?

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Nguruvi3, Nimejitahidi kujibu dukuduku zako zote. Sikumbuki swali ulilouliza nikakosa jawabu. Tunaweza kukubaliana kutokubaliana. Lakini nabaki na msimamo huu:

Our political discourse, especially as it manifests itself through our local media, is dancing between univocity and equivocity in such a way that political nouvices may be misled to the point of breeding an uncontrollable political crisis. Unfortunately, some media houses have adopted strategic ambiguity as a part of their editorial policy, and MCT is there watching without taking any remedial steps. On this point, I think that, through his PhD thesis, Dr. Ayoub Rioba was right, when he cast a serious doubt on the effectiveness and efficiency of such media councils.

 

[Mag3]

Deus J. Kahangwa, before I let you go, let me educate you a little...study has shown that to get a distinctive definition of political struggle there are four domains within which one can identify key roles, diverse interests, routine rules of behavior, and stable patterns of interaction. These are;

1. Legislative politics
2. Bureaucratic politics
3. Judicial politics
4. Party politics

In all these domains there will be three principal actors — politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens animated by a distinctive motive and goal.

These goals are a source of constant tension among the three actors…while politicians would like journalists to act as a conveyor belt for their statements and press releases, journalists do not want to be anybody’s handmaiden.

Journalists wish, rather, to make a distinctive journalistic contribution to the news, which they can better accomplish by means of scoops, investigations, and news analyses – all of which politicians detest.

Journalists value journalistic voice at least as much as big audiences. If journalists always reported the news just the way politicians wanted them to, or gave audiences only the political news they really wanted, journalism would be a much less satisfying profession for its practitioners than it presently is.

In fact, it would scarcely be a profession at all.

 

[Deus J. Kahangwa]

Deus J. Kahangwa, before I let you go, let me educate you a little...study has shown that to get a distinctive definition of political struggle there are four domains within which one can identify key roles, diverse interests, routine rules of behavior, and stable patterns of interaction. These are: 1. Legislative politics 2. Bureaucratic politics 3.Judicial politics 4.Party politics. In all these domains there will be three principal actors — politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens animated by a distinctive motive and goal. These goals are a source of constant tension among the three actors. While politicians would like journalists to act as a conveyor belt for their statements and press releases, journalists do not want to be anybody’s handmaiden. Journalists wish, rather, to make a distinctive journalistic contribution to the news, which they can better accomplish by means of scoops, investigations, and news analyses – all of which politicians detest. Journalists value journalistic voice at least as much as big audiences. If journalists always reported the news just the way politicians wanted them to, or gave audiences only the political news they really wanted, journalism would be a much less satisfying profession for its practitioners than it presently is. In fact, it would scarcely be a profession at all.

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------------------------------AN EXTENDED RESPONSE TO MAG3------------------------------

Media Accountability in Tanzania’s Multiparty Democracy: Does self-regulation work or we need government regulation?

Dear Mag3, If I don't respond to your post I won't have done justice to you and other visitors. First, I should declare that I have worked as a journalist, at least in one media house, and as a freelance journalist for more than three newspapers. Also I have worked as a lecturer of technical communication which covers communication ethics as one of the core topics. So, I will respond based on this experience. Specifically, I will focus on your blue text above. If you allow me I should edit it this way, with key changes in red text:

"While politicians would like journalists to act as a conveyor belt for their statements and press releases, journalists SHOULD not want to be anybody’s handmaiden. Journalists SHOULD wish, rather, to make a distinctive journalistic contribution to the news, which they can better accomplish by means of scoops, investigations, and news analyses – MOST of which politicians detest."

This edited text represents, NOT A REAL JOURNALIST but AN IDEAL JOURNALIST. I hope you know this better than me. In reality, many journalists and most media operators in Tanzania are working as "somebody's handmaiden."

For example, Tanzania Daima, MwanaHALISI are UKAWA conveyor belts. This week's MwanaHALISI is typically a handmaiden of ELCT with some features directly crafted by some kaleidoskopic bishops using pen names, "mwandishi maalum," "mwandishi wetu" and other similar by-lines.

Uhuru, HabariLEO, Raia Tanzania, and TAZAMA are CCM conveyor belts. There was a time when Rai was close to the ideal standards mentioned above. But this trend changed as we moved closer to the 2005 general elections.

That is our media industry. Deception by omission and sometimes deception my commission is the culture of the day in most media houses. We are witnessing a war-like propaganda through the media.

May be, I should now state technically what I see as the problem in the media sector.

In business ethics, a professional is someone who knows better what is good for his client than the client himself knows. The client must be protected from exploitation/manipulation in a situation in which he/she is unable to protect himself/herself because he/she lacks the relevant knowledge to do so.

Thus, it is the vulnerability of the client that necessitates the development of ethical codes surrounding the professional-client relationship.

In the present case of media business ethics, the professional-client relationship revolves around the journalist, on one hand, and the reader, listener and viewer, on the other hand. The defining feature of the media industry is the provision of information to diverse audiences. As such, the media contents can be as truthful or deceptive as any other form of communication.

Most criticisms of media industry, however, focuses on the deceptive aspects in the communication cycle. But, how does communication become deceptive, and thus unethical? Let me explain this well.

All communication involves four terms. They are, (a) the message, (b) the author, (c) the medium, and (d) the audience. Ethical problems associated with media industry can be organized around these four elements, as hereunder.

MESSAGE: This is a set of symbols bearing a specific meaning as coded by the originator of the message. The message can be either true or false, and not otherwise. That is, in light of the logical principle of the excluded middle, no message can be both true and false.

AUTHOR: This is the originator of the message. With reference to the author, deception involves three necessary conditions. (a) the author must intend to have the udience believe something false, (b) the author must know it is false, (c) the author must knowingly do something that will lead the audience to believe the falsehood as truth. The author includes a news agent who collects, analyses and relays the original message to the media house. It also includes news editors who paraphrase and endorse the message for mass consumption.

MEDIUM: As active participants in the transmission of a message, newspaper printers and vendors, TV antennas, and radio transmitters also lend their positive cooperation to the success of message transmission. So, they too become morally responsible for its effects. So, they should take steps to ensure that the contents of the message are true and not misleading.

AUDIENCE: This is the receiver who can be an individual or a group. The meaning attributed to a message depends, in part, on the capacities of the person who receives it. A clever and knowledgeable audience, for example, may be capable of correctly interpreting a message that may be misleading to a less knowledgeable or a less educated group.

Consequently, the media industry should take into account the interpretive capacities of the audience when they determine the content of a message. Messages that will reach the ignorant, credulous, immature and unthinking should be designed to avoid misleading those since their judgment capacities are limited.

This is the role of the media Council of Tanzania (MCT). But this role can not be poerformed properly. There are many reasons. From my personal experience, I can just mention a few here.

Some of the overseers of the media sector through MCT are income/profit/salary earners through the same media houses they have to monitor. Indeed some have an overt hatred against the state. Sometimes I do wonder how they can do justice when they are exercising their official powers under MCT.

CONCLUSION

In my general opinion, I think that, this is why Dr Ayub Rioba (2012), in his Academic Dissertation presented to the School of Communication, Media and Theatre of the University of Tampere, entitled, “Media Accountability in Tanzania’s Multiparty Democracy: Does self-regulation work?,” provided a qualified answer to this question on pages 222-223, which I wish to quote verbatim as follows:


----------A QUOTE FROM DR. AYUB RIOBA’S DISSERTATION----------


"13.3 Recommendations


Recommendations regarding MCT’s self-regulation

"These recommendations are largely drawn from the respondents’ views and are augmented by my understanding of theoretical issues in media and democracy, particularly the role of media in democratization.

"Considering wanton violation of ethics among media practitioners; the limitations emanating from negative influences of media ownership, and MCT’s inability to enforce its decisions, respondents were generally of the view that something had to be done. ‘Self-regulation, yes; but not the way it is.’

"The following broad suggestions emerged from the findings:

• MCT’s powers to enforce its decisions be enhanced, possibly through legislation if need be provided it does not subject it to influence by government or other forces;
• Promote support of MCT by key stakeholders, media owners, editors, journalists and the public in ways that enhance its legitimacy;
• Enhance sustainability capacity of MCT so it does not have to depend on foreign donors for its annual budget;
• MCT’s capacity for proactive monitoring and publication of leading defaulters of ethics be enhanced and sustained;
• MCT should enhance public education programmes about good journalism and how citizens can demand media accountability;
• MCT should help enhance newsroom accountability systems, particularly through enforcement of codes of ethics and regular in-house training ;
• Enhance MCT’s capacity to strengthen and coordinate other journalism associations such as Editors Forum, trade unions, MISA, TAMWA, etc in promoting media accountability;
• Review codes of ethics with stakeholders to see how they can respond to values and needs of society in which they are implemented. Also promote ethics audit seminars and public events to offer opportunity for media practitioners to familiarize themselves with their own codes of ethics and to discuss the depth of ethical challenges as well as possible remedies;

Recommendations outside MCT’s self-regulation


"The government has a role to play in regulating any monopolistic behavior or cross ownership of media which has a tendency to lead to misuse by owners or interests other than the promotion of public good in general. Main recommendations are the following:

• Campaign for establishment of genuine and independent public service broadcasting as well as other media including community media. The aim is to develop public media to set benchmarks for good and responsible journalism that responds to, and promotes, the values, needs and aspirations of Tanzanians;
• Enhance establishment of media outlets that are aligned with, and supported by, citizens through civil society or public ownership in order to promote civic role of media in promoting and sustaining democracy;
• Establish means through which citizens can audit media performance and demand accountability;
• Lastly, establish a separate Media for Democracy institution to be charged with: specialized training courses on the role of media in democracy; research on media and democratization; in-service training in ethics and accountability, developing training material, media monitoring, publishing reviews of media performance, carrying out public surveys of media use and citizens’ views about media performance, engage public in demanding media accountability, work closely with MCT, media houses, civil society and establish mutual relations with government as well as international partners committed to promoting media freedom and accountability.

((Source: Dr Ayub Rioba, “Media Accountability in Tanzania’s Multiparty Democracy: Does self-regulation work?” (School of Communication, Media and Theatre of the University of Tampere: Academic Dissertation, 2002) pp. 222-223).

 

[kirengased]

Yesi zea yuu aa,inidiidi no bonjik bongali ze président izi oooolwrait definetli

 

[RUSTEM PASHA]

Njoo umtete tena mfalme ambaye ana mamlka yakuchagua nani afanye siasa.

 

[Noncommited]

Safi sana. Mtu akiandika kitu kizuri lazima kitumike hata kufundishia watoto wetu vyuoni

Use English please! All comments must be in English because the topic released by English. You must observe this please otherwise keep silence

 

[Rtbkazoba]

Sasa kama ni hivyo mwenye uwezo wa kusema fulani hana [political] locus standi ni mahakama sasa mbona anaesema hio hoja si mahakama....

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Serikali imesema hivo, asiyeridhika anakwenda mahakamani as per sectio 30(3)-(5) of the constitution. Then tutapata jawabu huko.