Reduce radio licensing fees, demand Catholics
By Staff Reporter
The Zambia Council of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) has demanded that government reduces radio licensing fees as a way of appreciating the importance of this medium of communication.
In a statement to mark World Radio Day which falls on February 13 every year, ZCCB Director of Communications, Father Winfield Kunda, observed that the government seemed not to have fully appreciated the importance of radio.
“Catholic Media Services (CMS) of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops joins radio broadcasting workers worldwide in celebrating world radio day. Radio has continued and will continue to be useful in communicating messages in many spheres of development.We however note that, though these radio stations help the government in communicating messages of development in many spheres, it seems the government has not appreciated it fully due to the high license fees being charged,” Fr Kunda stated.
“This is a threat to many radio stations especially in rural areas where they have little or no advertising revenue.
We make an earnest appeal to the government to review and adjust downwards the license fees especially for Community radio stations.”
And Fr Kunda has advised radio presenters to research before going on air.
He stated that doing so would help them distinguish lies from truth.
“Meanwhile, we advice Radio station owners to instruct their presenters to always abreast themselves with research and enough information before they go on air,” stated Fr Kunda.
“It is sad to note that some presenters don’t even countercheck facts or even filter facts from falsehood before they could present them. In this age of social media and fake news, its always prudent that radio presenters check facts before presenting them to the public. We further appreciate the 2018 World Radio Day theme: Radio and Sports. This is an important theme especially when sports can be used in peace building. Radio stations should do away with the notion that sports is only football but must go an extra mile in researching and popularising other sports.”
ZCCB further implored radio station owners to pay their workers well.
