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The Council’s draft Code of Conduct has been drawn up after a series of nationwide meetings led by the Zimbabwean Union of Journalists. Many in the profession have committed themselves to ‘self introspection of their conduct and upholding the cardinal rules of the vocation’.
The council will be able to impose sanctions on any journalist found to be deviating from the code, which will also impact on accountability to the public.
The draft code comes from a stipulation in the 2002 Banjul declaration on the Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
The Zimbabwean council hope that the body will ‘strengthen the voice of the media in Zimbabwe, defend media freedom and the right to expression.’ – MISA