2.6.8.Be responsible, court tells media (Daily Mail 11.06.15) Kitwe chief resident magistrate Penjani Lamba has urged the media to exercise utmost care and responsibility in their reportage of court matters. Magistrate Lamba’s caution came in the wake of a complaint by lawyers representing former Cabinet Office permanent secretary in charge of administration Annie Mwewa regarding the manner ZNBC reported proceeding of the last sitting. When the case came up for continuation of trial, one of Mwewa’s lawyers, Noel Simwanza told the court that the defence was disappointed with subjective and opinionated reporting of the matter by the national broadcaster. “We are praying to this honourable court to caution our friends in the media on the dangers of careless and unfactual reporting of matters that happen in court and commenting on matters that are sub-judice in a manner that is unbalanced,” he said. Magistrate Lamba said if in doubt, it is wise in the interest of justice for journalists to seek clarification from court records which are available under supervision. She said it is always important to report court proceedings in an accurate and factual manner because media reports have a bearing on public perception of court cases. 2.6.9 Bwalya exposes more of his intrusion into public media (Post Newspaper 11.06.15) Frank Bwalya said there is nothing unusual about the letter he wrote to Zambia Daily Mail management questioning the newspaper over some content it publishes because he has done the same before to ZNBC. He wrote a letter to the newspapers management questioning their motive in publishing a picture of Zambian Voice executive director Chilufya Tayali after he was acquitted of a rape charge. He said the newspaper was wrong to carry a picture of Tayali because he had been criticizing President Edgar Lungu and those associated with the presidency like former chief justice Mathew Ngulube and State House aides. The Press freedom Committee of The Post told Bwalya to keep his hands off the Daily Mail, while the Media Liason Committee wondered what role he was playing at the newspaper. In response, Bwalya said that there was nothing unusual about the letter he wrote as he had written similar letters in the past, the most recent one being to the director general of ZNBC when they reported that Chitimukulu Henry Kanyanta Sosala had endorsed Hakainde Hichilema. “I wrote a letter to ZNBC to say that it was a lie and I demanded that they retract the story and apologise. They did that and they did a good job by bringing Chitimukulu on the screen and he said that it was a lie that he endorsed Hakainde Hichilema. So there is nothing strange with that letter to Zambia Daily Mail.” 24