Strategies for Internet Technology and Digital Rights Reporting https://zimbabwe.misa.org The responses indicated contradicting attitudes towards the value of informing or educating the public about concepts related to internet and technology, such as digital rights and access to information. Whilst some respondents felt duty-bound to empower their audiences with information relating to digital rights and similar issues, just a few implied that the news consumers might not be interested anyway. Nonetheless, Michael Schudson argues that, through specialised journalism, the press can serve as a stand-in for the public, holding the leaders accountable – not to the public (which is not terribly interested), but to the ideals and rules of the democratic polity itself47. Therefore, even if it were the case that Southern Africa’s citizenry is indifferent to internet and technology issues (including digital rights) the media would still have a duty to inform and to hold governments accountable for digital rights violations. 47Cited in, Ettema, J. S. (2009). New media and new mechanisms of public accountability. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, 10(3), 319–321. doi:10.1177/1464884909102591 20