‘Fake news’ was the topic of Malesela Maubane’s keynote address in Zambia
President of Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), Malesela Maubane gave a keynote address at the The Zambia Public Relations Association (ZAPRA) Annual Conference.
POLOKWANE – Under the theme “Communication for Development in the era of fake news”, the conference, gala awards dinner and general meeting took place in Livingstone, Zambia from 27 February to 1 March.
In his address, Maubane observed the potential that the fake news phenomenon has to undermine developmental objectives of the Public Relations (PR) and communication efforts. He said in his presentation that there’s no contention that digital media and the emergence of community journalism had to some extent resulted in PR and media losing control over content production and distribution.
Zambia Public Relations Association (ZAPRA) Awards Gala Dinner. ZAPRA President @mwambasiame welcoming guests to the gala night. #FakeNews #DevelopmentCommunication @1PRISA @PowerFMZambia @phoenixfmzambia @mediaupdate @PolokwaneReview @PolokwaneObserv @SundayWorldZA pic.twitter.com/YacbT3VNG4
— Malesela Maubane 🇧🇼🇿🇦 (@MaleselaB) February 28, 2019
“It is only up to public relations and communication management to redeem itself, through showing value and clearly defining its role as a profession or trade, Maubane said. He further highlighted how public relations and communication management were facing more questions than ever before in terms of its value in organisations and in society. He further expressed the hope that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) PR conference will one day become a reality, through collaborative efforts of Prisa and ZAPRA. Collaboration between the two bodies can perhaps be a catalyst towards active participation and making an impact in the continental PR body, African Public Relations Association (APRA),” he said.
Zambia’s Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations and Press Association of Zambia (PAZA)’s vice president Amos Chanda said in his presentation that fake news is a phenomenon that was hazardous to national development. Chanda said the best way to counter fake news especially on social media was to provide facts speedily on the same platform. “Fake news undermines trust in our society. The profession of Journalism and other allied disciplines like the Public Relations industry face an unprecedented trust crisis,” he said.
#ZAPRA2019AGM #Conference #FakeNews #DevelopmentCommunication @mwambasiame #PanelDiscussion: Understanding development communication. @1PRISA @GCISMedia @phoenixfmzambia @PowerFMZambia @mediaupdate @PolokwaneReview @PolokwaneObserv @CapricornFMNews pic.twitter.com/HDXnBRA20i
— Malesela Maubane 🇧🇼🇿🇦 (@MaleselaB) February 28, 2019
Zambia’s Information and Broadcasting Services Minister and Chief Government Spokesperson, Dora Siliya called for the protection of the Public Relations profession from people who were masquerading as PR professionals.
“There was need to have a self-regulation mechanism backed by law which would compel PR practitioners to adhere to ethics and standards so that they practice your craft with pride,” she said.
Emmanuel Mwamba, Zambia’s High Commissioner to South Africa called for the elevation of PR practitioners and other communication specialists into management to ensure effective and efficient management of information within and outside their organisations. “Organisations would have a better public image and reputation if PR practitioners were in decision-making positions such as being a director as opposed to being junior officers and managers. Management is about getting things done within and outside an organisation to achieve the objectives of a given entity hence it was important that communicators were part of decision-making,” he said. He noted that PR officers are not taken serious because they are viewed merely as Personal Assistants (PAs). At the Annual General Meeting (AGM), ZAPRA retained Mwamba Siame as president while Justin Mukosa was elected as new vice president for the next two years.
