By FLAVIOUR CHISHALA –

THE Independence Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has implored media practitioners in the country to be professional when covering elections.
IBA director-general Josephine Mapoma said that irresponsible coverage of elections usually incited members of the public to be violent.
Ms Mapoma said the media did not only help shape or influence public opinion on who people should vote for but also influenced the behavior of the public.
Ms Mapoma was speaking in Lusaka yesterday during an election reporting workshop organised by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia.
Ms Mapoma said even though the coverage of political parties would be on an equal basis, media institutions needed to observe the principle of the right to reply.
She said the media was supposed to have a comprehensive, unbiased and independent news broadcast thereby clearly separating advertisements from other programmed outputs.
The media has a far reaching effect on how peaceful the elections could be conducted, which is why it is imperative to report election issues in an accurate, impartial and tolerant manner.
“I expect the media houses to show respect for human dignity and human rights and freedoms and be tolerant to divergent views. I also expect that broadcasting stations shall have allegiance to the truth and desist from issuing speculative results,” Ms Mapoma said.
MISA Zambia chairperson Helen Mwale urged journalists to critically analyse political issues as they strived to ensure members of the public were given information which would help the electorate make informed choices of candidates.