Stakeholders and journalists in Malawi on 10 July 2025 signed a pledge of ethical reporting and promoting the safety of journalists ahead of elections set for September this year.
Through the pledge, which was signed at a conference on the safety and security of journalists, the media practitioners committed to ethical reporting as a means of building trust with their audiences.
Jeremias Langa, the chairperson of the MISA Regional Governing Council, said that at a time when trust in the media was declining, it was essential for journalists to commit to ethical reporting so that they could mend the broken bridges.
Caption: MISA Malawi chairperson Golden Matonga (left) looks on as the MISA Regional chairperson Jeremias Langa signs the pledge on ethical electoral reporting in Lilongwe
He said that when citizens have faith in journalists, they will defend the rights of the media and become advocates for freedom of expression.
This occurs against a backdrop of increasing attacks on journalists worldwide.
“Attacks on journalists have an effect on freedom of expression and access to information as journalists may often choose self-censorship,” Langa said.
“When there is self-censorship, citizens do not have access to varied information that will allow them to make informed decisions about how they are governed, and this affects the quality of democracy.”
He said signing the pledge was key as it showed a commitment to the safety of journalists.
“We first came up with the idea of a pledge in Lesotho and then in Zimbabwe. Following this process, there was a marked reduction in media violations during elections in both those countries,” Langa continued.
“In that regard, we have come to replicate that in Malawi, and hopefully we shall have even better results.”
Through the pledge, the journalists called on their peers to “create a more responsible and safe media environment that reflects our commitment to fairness and accuracy in our news reports. We commit to actively combating disinformation, misinformation and division, and upholding human rights and the tenets of democracy”.
Stakeholders committed to quickly condemning any attacks on journalists and media workers, and prioritising journalists’ safety as a political issue.
They also committed to working to ensure that legal frameworks are in place to protect journalists and punish those who attack them.
Among the stakeholders were representatives of the Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Information and Digitalisation, political parties, the National Commission for UNESCO, civil society organisations, journalists and the police.
MISA Malawi National Governing Council chairperson Golden Matonga said that MISA values collaboration with various stakeholders.
“We know and understand that we cannot work in a vacuum,” he said.
“We want to work together in ensuring that journalists are free from attacks in the run-up to September 16 (election day) and that voters and all those connected to the elections are provided with and receive credible information.”
MISA Malawi will now circulate the pledge to journalists nationwide as it intensifies its advocacy for journalists’ safety across the country.
