MISA-Swaziland e-Forum article
By e-Forum contributor Portia Magagula
November 15, 2013
MBABANE — Swaziland’s Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Swaziland) hosted a meeting of editors and civil society leaders at the City Court lodge yesterday morning. The gathering was sponsored by the US Embassy in Swaziland.
MISA advocacy officer, Phakama Shili, who organised the event, said the meeting aimed to create common ground between senior editors and civil society groups.
Chairman of MISA-Swaziland Alec Lushaba, who is also an editor at the Swazi Observer, said the media and civil society need to work together, as both play important roles in society.
Lomcebo Dlamini from Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) was amongst the 29 people who attended.
Media and civil society should help each other, says Lomcebo Dlamini
“Media deals with a lot of sensitivity. I do see the possibility for the two sectors through society to strengthen each other as they engage. We do need each other and we should have the concern for the development of this country,” she said.
Also at the meeting were US Embassy staff, Times of Swaziland Managing Editor Martin Dlamini — who was representing the Swaziland Editors Forum — and the media Ombudsman Jabu Matsebula. In his remarks Matsebula said the “media must be able to reflect all that is happening in society, but the right of society must be defended”.
