State house and the Internet

A poorly edited and sensationalist website publishes a report on the President’s health and there is panic in the government so much so that the  President has to be displayed  as  alive and well.

I am not sure what are the journalistic qualities or aspirations of the people at Nyasatimes.  What comes out clearly is that they are not bothered by the niceties of professional ethics and that they operate on a hit or miss principle: Just publish  anything and some of it might be true. And it is clear that their professional aspirations are quite low. The puzzle is why does the government fall for this bet  hook line and sinker?

 My own suspicion is that this reflects a serious misunderstanding of how the internet works and what its reach in Malawi is. It also reflects the fact that the President is ill-served by his press advisors. The habit of responding to every Tom (no pun intended)  and Jerry actually undervalues the Presidency. Some of the press releases emanating from the State house have been embarrassing, to say the least.

One way to counter the presence of the opposition on the net is for the government to have an up-to-date website and so support the media within Malawi (both opposition and official) to have greater presence on the internet.