Nestor Bankumukunzi, chairman of the national media regulator-CNC has recommended the media especially the private ones to work in compliance with the law and in the general interest of the nation and to be more professional. It was on Friday, May 17, in Bujumbura when presenting the report of the monitoring of the press organs during the last three months.
Nestor Bankumukunzi: “We find that professional misconduct persists»
He accuses them of disseminating unbalanced information. “We find that professional misconduct persists and we have described one of them as endemic. This is the fact of delivering unbalanced information,” he said, adding that journalists invent “a pretext or justification” for reluctance of some sources. Nestor Bankumukunzi warns them against possible sanctions.
Abbas Mbazumutima, deputy editor of Iwacu newspaper says he was particularly upset and dismayed over the accusations of CNC chairman.
“In Iwacu, for example, journalists spare no effort to balance information before publishing them,” he says, deploring the fact that many sources are reluctant to express themselves freely due to fear. He asked the CNC to be more involved in facilitating access to information especially official sources for journalists.
The CNC intends to make available to the Burundians a WhatsApp number through which they will express their appreciations vis-à-vis the media contents. Some say they fear a “disguised form of further muzzling the press.”
Reporters without Borders (RSF) ranked Burundi 159th in the world ranking out of 180 countries on the freedom of the press in 2018. RSF says most independent radio stations remain closed while dozens of journalists are still forced into exile.
IWACU Open Data
