Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth, is a law of propaganda. Among psychologists this is known as the “illusion of truth” effect.
By Mpandashalo Mwewa | Chief Editor.
Lusaka, Feb. 15 – A foreign private jet arrives at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport [KKIA] ladden with weapons, million of dollars and some gold from some earlier transactions. Its landing, prompts airport authorities to switch off security cameras and black out the entire airport! The criminal transaction, however, goes wrong and Law Enforcement Agencies [LEAs] get involved. But after it turns out that the ones pulling the strings are senior State House officials, the suspects are only made to forfeit their jet and their contraband and get off scout-free.
Also Read: Oswald Diangamo too close to President Hichilema to face justice, set free!
Are you not interested in what truly happened? This kind of truth can never be found in public media. Equally, isn’t it shocking to learn that instead of asking LEAs to investigate Hon. Mweetwa who publicly confessed to be an accomplice to a crime that Hon. Kambwili has been convicted for, the ruling party wants KBN TV to be reprimanded for exposing Hon. Mweetwa?
Also Read: KBN TV did the right thing by recording and exposing Hon. Mweetwa! By Charles Chisala.
As private media, we see it as our job to seek the truth and put constant pressure on our leaders until we get answers. We ought to agree on this fundamental principle that the point of journalism is to hold people in positions of power accountable not to write what they want to read as the case is with public media in Zambia.
When we shared political analyses prior to the 2021 general elections demanding answers from Mr. Hichilema on how he would reduce the price of mealie meal to K50 per 25Kg bag while at the same time promising farmers a higher maize floor price, God! weren’t we labelled enemies of progress? We did not mind because, we don’t go into journalism to become rich or popular. Our job is to seek the truth and share it with the general public to help it make informed decisions.
Today, we have been vindicated on many issues beyond reducing commodity prices. And we are not surprised that the same people who believed in Mr. Hichilema’s miraculous fixes are the same ones complaining the most because they shun reading objective articles. In politics, they are comfortable taking up the role of useful idiots.
Most of these politicians, unfortunately, are nothing but job seekers who don’t care about the plight of an ordinary child in rural Zambia. But because they need your vote, they are ready to bribe you with not only material incentives but with equally words that you want to hear! Let’s learn from this, going forward, and prioritize patriotism, which is standing by the needs of our country, before those of any political party or public figure.
Patriotism does not mean to stand by the President or any other public figure. It is patriotic to support the President in as far as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent he fails in his duty to stand by the country.
Should we be praising public figures who do the opposite of what they promised to do? Would that not make us not only unpatriotic but also a special kind of intelligent people?
Also Read: Patriotism demands that we condemn Hichilema for presiding over 600 preventable Cholera deaths!
Someone may not appreciate professional journalism being practiced by media houses such as Zambian Whistleblower, KBN TV, Daily Nation, The Mast, to name a few, but journalism without a moral position is impossible. It’s our belief that every professional journalist is a moralist. Journalism is what maintains democracy because it’s often the voice for the voiceless. And we see it as a great tool for progressive social change!
Despite the public media propaganda about Mr. Hichilema’s fight against corruption, the KKIA gold scam scandal is yet another reminder that the current corruption fight is nothing but an illusion of truth because it does not make sense to see State House being in the forefront of ensuring that the general public does not have access to court proceedings, rendering the entire exercise academic.
Also Read: Koswe struggles to explain gold scam suspect’s link to State House.
Repetition makes a fact seem more true, regardless of whether it is or not. “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda. Among psychologists this is known as the “illusion of truth” effect. This is what government is doing with public media.
Let’s shout out to everyone transcending this propaganda mindset, mentality or political belief that no longer serves the interests of an ordinary child in rural Zambia.
If Mr. Hichilema’s corruption fight were a genuine crusade, he would by now have distanced himself from questionable acts by some of his government officials much in the manner people remember the late President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa.
About Our Advocacy: Woodpecker’s Digest is an online portal for news analyses and commentaries on topical issues of national interest and for articles on personal development and health! Journalism maintains democracy. It is a great tool for progressive social change!
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