By Lerato Lebakae
Veteran journalist, Dr Clifford Molefe, has challenged MISA Lesotho to establish a journalism hub for digital capacity building of the country’s practising journalists, “because we are lagging behind on digital journalism.”
Dr Molefe was speaking as a contributor during a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) focus group discussion session organised by MISA Lesotho for journalists at American Corner, State Library, in Maseru on Monday this week.
According to Dr Molefe, who has vast experience serving as a media practitioner and a public relations officer since 1990s, media practitioners in Lesotho face a serious challenge of lagging behind in terms of using the latest advances in digital technology to enhance their practice.
“We are lagging behind in terms of taking advantage of the latest advancements in digital technology…. I, for one, do not use my smartphone optimally to generate news content that is relevant to today’s demands in the digital space. I often find myself seeking assistance from young people who are able to navigate thorough the apps on my phone more than I do,” said Dr Molefe.
Dr Molefe has since challenged MISA Lesotho to conceptualise establishment of a digital journalism hub, “where practising journalists would often visit to improve their skills in digital technology, as well as how we could leverage on social media and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve our work.”
Investigative journalist, Mr Billy Ntaote, of the MNN Center for Investigative Journalism swiftly backed up Dr Molefe:
“The proposed digital journalism hub would work wonders for the journalists in Lesotho. It would even improve our investigative and research skills. MISA Lesotho should expedite the development of the hub, lest the spirit of core journalism in Lesotho dies,” Mr Ntaote said.
The issue on basic journalism skills, new media (socials) and the advent of AI sparked a debate among the journalists in the room, with more contributors including veteran radio broadcaster, Ms Pinki Moletsane, Informative newspaper editor, Ms ’Malisema Mahloane and radio personality, Mr Thabo Noosi.
The participants shared similar sentiments, expressing a deep concern over slow adaptation by Lesotho’s media industry to using the latest technological advancements like AI to improve journalism in Lesotho.
Dr Molefe argues that “preaching without practice will take us nowhere”. These digital advancements, according to him, cannot be taught in a conventional classroom manner, “we need a digital journalism hub where we can practise these developments hands on.”
Meanwhile, the MISA Lesotho’s National Director, Mr Lekhetho Makhanya Ntsukunyane, was in swift response to indicate that the idea of establishing the journalism hub was already on the cards.
He said MISA Lesotho had already developed a concept note and approached possible financiers for partnership, including the Lesotho Communications Authority (LCA).
According to Mr Ntsukunyane, the media centre, if successfully established, will serve as a platform for promoting learning, networking and information sharing within the media sector in Lesotho.
“MISA-Lesotho is in the process of establishing a Media Centre, which is envisaged to be a platform for training of local journalists and media practitioners on journalism ethics and other desired areas of training. A series of training courses will be organised to respond to the capacity needs of journalists, media practitioners and editors as of that time,” said Mr Ntsukunyane.
The training and capacity-building category of the Media Centre, Mr Ntsukunyane added, seeks to close the gap left by local media training institutes and centres.
“The hub will design training courses in various areas for short courses addressing short-term deficiencies of journalists, issuing short-course certificates, medium-term courses for, say three to six months, and long-term courses for, say one year to three years. last category of course will be conducted in collaboration with reputable journalism and media training institutes and universities,” said Mr Ntsukunyane.
MISA Lesotho continues to hold focus group discussions with different identified shades of society under the Media and Literacy (MIL) programme. The project is sponsored by UNESCO Regional Office of Southern Africa (ROSA) in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The discussions, among others, are being held as part of MISA Lesotho’s initiative to build media capacity, ensuring that the media sector in Lesotho carries out their work of information dissemination in a professional and competent manner. Given their crucial role in shaping public opinion, the media is entrusted with providing accurate and reliable information to the public.
The MIL, as a programme, is a strategic initiative designed primarily by UNESCO to impart knowledge, skills and techniques for citizens to access the huge inflows of information coming from various sources – legacy media, social media and other digital platforms. The objective of MIL is to create a society that can interpret, analyse and make informed choices on the type of information they need to consume.
MISA Lesotho is being funded to the tune of USD13,990 by UNESCO-ROSA to lead this project in Lesotho, in six months.
