By Poloko Mokhele
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho Chapter has condemned the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN) for painting the media as an incompetent and unprofessional entity.
This comes after the LCN’s March 02 statement in which it had labeled the media’s reports on the ongoing Transformation Resource Center (TRC) tension between the executive director and employees as inaccurate and tarnishing TRC image.
However, MISA Lesotho on Monday stated that: “this was not only unpalatable but was plainly unbecoming and too much of a far-reaching exploit. This was made worse by the fact that the media houses that reported on the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) issue involving its Executive Director and his staffers are/were known and identifiable.
While it is quite commendable for LCN to show and act in solidarity with fellow affiliates and or partners in the same struggle, it leaves much to be desired for that to be done at the expense of other sectors and in particular to smudge the sacrosanct stance of the media.”
MISA Lesotho indicated that is particularly displeased by the fact that in an attempt to advance its cause, LCN used one brush to paint the media as a sector in its entirety when it felt hard-done not by the sector but by a few known media organizations.
“It is not fair for and on the media to be painted with one brush for actions of individual and independent media houses. MISA Lesotho believes it would have been most appropriate for those (LCN) peeved by reportage by any media house(s) to approach the media house(s) in question and not go out brandishing sabotage meted against the whole sector even if defending one of their own howsoever,” MISA said.
The media rights organisation defender concluded that the media and the civil society have enjoyed consistent cordial relations which have and continue to help both play their role as watchdog over the state for the public. “It is MISA Lesotho’s view that such relations be cherished and not be tarnished by overzealous charges made against the sector regardless of what or who is being defended,” it said.
