|
Back to Index
Zimbabwe: Letter to a young african who wants to be a journalist
Guthrie
Munyuki
December
01, 2005
http://www.rsf.org/IMG/pdf/Zimbabwe_-_Guthrie_Munyuki_Eng._.pdf
My young friend,
When I was growing
up, I had many dreams of what I wanted to be in life after completion
of my studies. At that time - between 1980 and 1990 - the time that
I was in my primary and secondary school, it was quite common among
children of my age to think like that.
But making those
dreams come true was not important at that time. What was important
was to keep thinking of what the future held for me in as far as
my dreams were concerned.
I dreamt of
being a lawyer in a large office and having multitudes of paralegals
and partners. My dreams always extended to journalism and football
where I saw myself as the next Mike Munyati (late television journalist
on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation) and Michel Platini,
the former mercurial French footballer.
But God decided
to give me the art of writing and comprehending issues around me
and endowed me with the skill of gathering and writing news. Today,
I am a journalist whose road to the newsroom can be traced to the
arduous journey that I have travelled - both as a young man and
a mature scribe whose aspirations in life have been partly derailed
because of political instability and repression. I will come back
to that part.
I am glad to
say that God had for long seen something in me and I also had a
premonition of what was likely to come, but dismissed becoming a
journalist when the time I thought I would be in the newsroom lapsed.
I started my
journey into journalism on a bad note because the influential man
in my life, my father died, and for sometime it was diffuclt to
sojourn in a no man's land without his words of wisdom. But I persevered
and wrote my first article in the now defunct Zimbabwe Football,
a monthly football magazine edited by a journalist, Jethro Goko,
the man whom I owe everything I have achieved in journalism.
I tried to break
into mainstream journalism but doors were shut at me and words sworn
! I did not give up !
Jethro Goko
decided to pay for my enrolment at a Journalism College, The Christian
College of Southern Africa (CCOSA) and with that the road to a new
life had been opened. I had the hunger to succeed and the passion
to reach what I dreamt of when I was growing up. After two years
of massive learning (1996
and 1997) I graduated and got my first job at the Zimbabwe Mirror
in December 1997.
I later moved
to The Daily News where new horizons were opened. At the
time of The Daily News banishment, I was The Arts Editor
for both The Daily News and The Daily News On Sunday.
Today I gladly
declare that journalism has made me feel an important part in the
development of my society and country although the political situation
has remained bad. As a senior journalist, I have seen evil, good
and met the worst of people whose hatred f! or anything good, has
spurred me on in this profession where journalists learn new things
everyday.
As a journalist
I have walked through paths I never thought one day I would walk.
Being central to a political discourse and heavily involved in the
debate for a new direction in societal and political dispensation,
through writing, has been the highlight of my career.
Limbs have been
broken, lives lost, people harrassed, tortured and myself and colleagues
heavily assaulted because of the desire of wanting to let the world
know of our situation. But to any journalist, these are the hallmarks
of true journalism where bravado and consistency separate men from
boys. A night in a Police cell or any assault on me; whether physical
or emotional, no longer trouble me - I have been in it and grown
in faith professionally.
Journalism has
brought me awards and respect in my country because of the way I
have exhibited those journalistic skills. I believe a harsh environment
breeds a different crop of journalism and in our case, this has
been true.
Everyone who
worked on The Daily News has earned his or her stripes. No
day passes without comments on the professionalism that accompanied
our reporting at The Daily News. And the founding editor
of the paper, Geoffrey Nyarota, will always be on the lips of many
Zimbabweans who witnessed his
courage in face
of adversity. He twice escaped assasination attempts but continued
as if his life was not in danger and everyone in the newsroom was
galvanised by his courage.
This is why
I say journalism has steeled me, built me and modelled me along
the lines of a true soldier, a soldier responsible for information.
While I acknowledge that there is still media repression and press
freedom is a pipe dream in Zimbabwe, I believe the darkest hour
is before dawn.
The Daily
News will some day bounce back and would continue with our unparalleled
journalism.
A word of advice
though for those wanting to become journalists, the profession is
not for the FAINT-HEARTED. The faint-hearted in journalism do not
last long. Some of us have gotten used to strong arm and knee-jerk
tactics. But these have failed to disillusion us forever.
As I earlier
mentioned, my journalism has been derailed temporarily because of
the banishment of The Daily News and its sister paper, The
Daily News On Sunday.
The two titles
were shutdown by the government and security agents on September
12 2003 for having not complied with the provisions of the draconian
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which
demands registration of media houses and journalists. Although we
later complied with the law (AIPPA) the papers have remained banned
despite a Supreme Court ruling directing the Media and Information
Commission (MIC) to reconsider our licence application. And all
our production and newsroom equipment is still confiscated by the
security agents and kept at a maximum prison - Chikurubi Maximum
Prison. The matter between The Daily News and the MIC is
before the Administrative Court and the High Court.
But all this
has not dampened my spirits. I strongly believe we will soon be
publishing.
Friendly yours,
Guthrie Munyuki
Arts Editor,
The Daily News
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
