B-METRO COMMENT: Journalists are not toys for business people to mess with

A lot has been said about journalists and most of it not palatable. The most insulting accusation that has been levelled against reporters is that they are corrupt and agreeable to bribes because they earn peanuts.

This unchallenged perception has seen people with economic power approaching journalists with disdain, offering them alcohol, groceries, money and even property for a damaging story to be watered down or discarded completely.

Yes, it is true that there are some among us who are corrupt and are quick to pocket the change they are given by shameless business people who think their money protects them from exposure.

But a few rotten apples do not mean that the whole fraternity is unethical. The majority of us earn a decent living and some even run successful businesses.

We do not need handouts or a bribe to put food on the table for our families. Our silence will not be bought with a few pieces of silver. We did not go to university and attain degrees in journalism to be managed by a few individuals who think all journalists are impoverished and would eagerly welcome a few Benjamins to kill a story or to publish a story.

Whispers about journalists being prostitutes who sell their soul to the highest bidder need to be dismissed with the contempt they deserve. These undertones leave a bitter taste in the mouth. It is deeply rooted in the minds of people with deep pockets that the media in Zimbabwe is corrupt. Such people have always believed that money power wins and mind power loses in the race. Shame!

At B-Metro we say no to corruption. The quality of our paper will not be compromised to please men and women whose misdeeds deserve to be in print. If such people are not exposed they will continue in their destructive paths.

They will even brag to their friends and relatives that they own the media in town. And they will sing on rooftops that journalists are corrupt. We say to them, yes not only those who receive bribes are corrupt, but also those who pay bribes.

Corruption breeds corruption that is an undeniable fact. The quality of our media products will be eroded if we worship at the feet of Mormon. Any system that is rife with bribery and corruption will ruin the nation.

Paulo Freire, in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, says that “Our advanced technological society is rapidly making objects of us and subtly programming us into conformity to the logic of its system to the degree that this happens, we are also becoming submerged in a new ‘Culture of Silence’.”

To protect our image and to give the reader value for money, we refuse to be submerged into a culture of silence.

We are B-Metro. Offer us a bribe at your own risk.

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