Zambian journalists have a very peculiar way of writing. If this blog entry would be a newspaper article in a Zambian daily, it would probably look like this:
Well, I love reading newspapers. And it is great that the main official language in Zambia is English. Also, these newspapers are beautiful, especially the Daily Nation: Colours of pictures overlap strangely to create impressionistic pictures that are most of the time totally unrelated to the articles around them. And the paper of the Daily Nation almost has the feel of that strong brown packaging paper for parcels. Finally, they are sold on the street by street vendors that go along waiting cars with their stash of papers in hand (and start running along the minibus, if you have given them a large bill and they are struggling to find enough change whule the lights have already turned green again).
I have posted the links to the four main newspapers in Zambia in the list of links to the right. Check what's going on in Zambia! And cross-check my statements on the writing style - I am only thirty, you know, and I am not a government official. Maybe I am lying.
The Post has long been THE oppositional newspaper, highly critical of the government. But in 2011, when the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) lost their first national election after 20 years in power and the Patriotic Front took over, the Post has clearly lost its "independent" viewpoint - that was probably never really independent and neutral to begin with, but rather influenced by Patriotic Front politicians. Daily Mail and the Times are government owned. Allegedly, when the Patriotic Front took over, senior journalists from the Post took over senior positions in the government newspapers. Strangely enough, many people seem to read them on a daily basis. That leaves you with the Daily Nation, if you want to read anything critical of the government's policies. The Daily Nation, however, is openly partisan (or maybe they think they're quite subtle in doing this), i.e. definitely very inclined to very favourably report on the mischievous ways of the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the United National Independence Party (UNIP) in the opposition. Happy reading!
There are allegedly four main newspapers in Zambia - the Post, the Times, the Daily Nation and the Daily Mail. According to the minister of information, the best ones are the governmentally owned newspapers. They are bound to telling the truth as the government takes every care to protect the freedom of expression. The minister of information said that this is evident.
"The best newspapers are the governmentally owned newspapers. They are bound to telling the truth as the government takes every care to protect the freedom of expression. This is self-evident," he stated.If you read a Zambian newspaper you have the feeling their journalists write for dummies: Better repeat everything all over again several times. Probably somebody didn't get it the first, second or third time you have made your point. Plus oral sources of information seem to be the only ones that are accessed by journalists. Cross-checking statements? Pah, who would doubt that a senior government official knows what he is saying? Maybe that's the oral culture mixed with a huge respect for the elderly? I don't know. But it is hugely funny at times.
Well, I love reading newspapers. And it is great that the main official language in Zambia is English. Also, these newspapers are beautiful, especially the Daily Nation: Colours of pictures overlap strangely to create impressionistic pictures that are most of the time totally unrelated to the articles around them. And the paper of the Daily Nation almost has the feel of that strong brown packaging paper for parcels. Finally, they are sold on the street by street vendors that go along waiting cars with their stash of papers in hand (and start running along the minibus, if you have given them a large bill and they are struggling to find enough change whule the lights have already turned green again).
I have posted the links to the four main newspapers in Zambia in the list of links to the right. Check what's going on in Zambia! And cross-check my statements on the writing style - I am only thirty, you know, and I am not a government official. Maybe I am lying.
The Post has long been THE oppositional newspaper, highly critical of the government. But in 2011, when the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) lost their first national election after 20 years in power and the Patriotic Front took over, the Post has clearly lost its "independent" viewpoint - that was probably never really independent and neutral to begin with, but rather influenced by Patriotic Front politicians. Daily Mail and the Times are government owned. Allegedly, when the Patriotic Front took over, senior journalists from the Post took over senior positions in the government newspapers. Strangely enough, many people seem to read them on a daily basis. That leaves you with the Daily Nation, if you want to read anything critical of the government's policies. The Daily Nation, however, is openly partisan (or maybe they think they're quite subtle in doing this), i.e. definitely very inclined to very favourably report on the mischievous ways of the United Party for National Development (UPND) and the United National Independence Party (UNIP) in the opposition. Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment