Media Council takes ombudsman to newsrooms

Media Council of Malawi (MCM) has embarked on a drive to enhance complaints handling at institutional level by courting officers that handle such matters in a new initiative called ‘Ombudspersons Forum’.

Speaking in Salima on Saturday at a gathering of MCM accredited media houses complaints handlers, the council’s board chairperson Wisdom Chimgwede said the initiative is part of the council’s media house capacity building to facilitate its complaints handling system and framework for self-regulation.

He engaged the gathering—which saw presentations on the council’s amended constitution and code of ethics, before drafting terms of references for the ombudspersons—with a call to ensure accountability and responsibility in dealing with consumers of their products.

“Let us appreciate that minus the audiences we serve, we are nothing,” said Chimgwede in his open remarks of the gathering funded by National Endowment for Democracy.

He added that the establishment of the ombudspersons’ forum provides a timely opportunity for moving together in the direction that “we all want to see Malawi media take”.

During the meeting, which drew representatives from both mainstream and community media houses, MCM executive director Moses Kaufa appealed to all media organisations to ensure that they and their journalists are accredited with the council for smooth regulation of the industry.