06 Jan Accreditation of journalists and media practitioners for the year 2021
The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) is advising all stakeholders, journalists and other media practitioners that the Commission has not yet started issuing accreditation cards for the year 2021. The Commission is still awaiting the gazetting of the 2021 fees which have already been sent to the line Ministry.
The Commission expects these fees to be gazetted any time soon. Once the fees have been gazetted the ZMC will advise all journalists and media practitioners on the commencement of the accreditation process.
The Commission had hoped that the fees would have been gazetted well before the end of 2020. Normally the Commission starts the accreditation process well before the start of the year. The ZMC is alive to the concerns and challenges of journalists going about their duties without being duly accredited for the year.
As a temporary measure to allow journalists and other media practitioners carry on with their duties during this phase of the National Lockdown, the ZMC hereby expects law enforcement officers and other stakeholders to accept accreditation cards for the years 2019 and 2020. This is so as the Commission failed to undertake its national accreditation outreach programme to other centres in 2020 owing to the Covid19 pandemic. This left many journalists operating from outside Harare using 2019 accreditation cards.
It is in this regard that the ZMC is appealing to all stakeholders to treat 2019 and 2020 accreditation cards as valid till the gazetting of the new fees and the resumption of accreditation.
The Commission calls upon all stakeholders and security forces manning checkpoints to assist journalists and other media practitioners to carry out their duties without harm or harassment.
The role of the media in the fight against Covid19 cannot be overemphasised and the Commission calls upon the media to diligently fulfil its duty by “not leaving anyone and any place behind”.
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