By More Matshediso
Nelspruit - Communications Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says community media should not deviate from being the voices of people on the ground.
She said this on Friday in a meeting with stakeholders and entities that fall under her department’s umbrella, at Enhlazeni District Municipality.
She urged the community media, which she referred to as brand ambassadors of the country, not to divide the country in their attempt to tell stories.
“The concept of community media was established especially to create a platform for voices of communities to be heard,” the Deputy Minister said during an Imbizo event.
“Community media must tell stories from their communities, you [community media] should also include the community in formulating programmes for radio stations and television. Otherwise your content will not be relevant,” she added.
She was speaking to community media, the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), Proudly SA, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), among others.
She said making information accessible to all South Africans will help government reach its goal of creating a better life for all citizens.
Deputy Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams said it is important to acknowledge that although SA has a good story to tell, “…we [citizens and government] also have some challenges.”
She urged all communicators, from both government and the private sector, to assist her department in disseminating information to the public.
“Distributing relevant information to the public is the only way we can keep the public informed about government programmes and other issues. We have the responsibility to also allow the public to give feedback, otherwise we are failing to do our jobs,” she said.
She said she will return to Mpumalanga to get more input from stakeholders on how to work together effectively and improve services in the province.
Members of community media said they needed support from government to sustain their businesses.
“We are struggling to survive because we are not getting adverts from government departments. We fail to pay our staff members and sustain our projects because we do not have money. And if we could get adverts and support from government, we will be able to create more jobs,” said one of the community media members during the meeting.
The Deputy Minister said government was aware of the role played by community media, and will give it the necessary support. - SAnews.gov.za
