Education Ministry Apologises To Journalists
Maputo, 27 Jan (AIM) – The Mozambican Ministry of Education on Thursday apologized to the country’s journalists for the insults uttered four days earlier by the Ministry’s spokesperson, Feliciano Mahalambe.
Mahalambe had called a press conference but, to the surprise of the large number of journalists who attended, he refused to allow them to ask any questions. What had been billed as a press conference thus became nothing more than a statement read out by the Ministry spokesperson.
“The press conference is ours”, said Mahalambe. “We invited you. You should not bring your things here”.
But if journalists cannot bring their “things” to the event, it ceases to be a press conference in any meaningful sense of the word.
Mahalambe called the journalists “anti-ethical” and accused them of asking questions “out of context”.
60 journalists signed a letter protesting at Mahalambe’s attitude, and delivered it to the Education Ministry on Wednesday. The National Union of Journalists (SNJ) regarded the spokesperson’s attitude as “intimidatory”, and as an attempt to interfere in journalists’ work.
The Mozambican chapter of the regional press freedom body, MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa) demanded an explanation from the Ministry for what it regarded as the “threatening” attitude of Mahalambe. Was this an individual aberration of the spokesperson, or did it reflect a change in the position of the Ministry towards the media?
Under this pressure, the Ministry effectively disowned Mahalambe, and in a statement issued on Thursday it publicly apologized to journalists and to the public in general for what had happened.
The statement said the Ministry “reaffirms its posture of a cordial relationship with the mass media and reiterates its willingness to continue working with the media in order to keep society informed about the challenges and achievements of the sector”.
(AIM)
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