The Sunday News
Lawson Mabhena News Editor
ZIMBABWEANS will by June witness a major transformation in broadcasting when television transmission migrates from analogue to digital and all national radio stations become accessible in all parts of the country.And the work towards the migration to digital broadcasting, as per the 17 June International Telecommunication Union deadline, will create a lot of jobs across various sectors.
Addressing the Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum annual general meeting in Harare on Friday, where he was guest of honour, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo said Zimbabweans should “expect a dramatic change in our communication infrastructure”, a development that is “going to create huge opportunities for media practitioners”.
Among opportunities that will be created by the revolutionary change in television broadcasting, Prof Moyo said, will be the need for the production of content by local filmmakers and musicians. He said work towards the digitilisation programme which is expected to commence this week or the next, will also see a number of jobs being created in construction, information technology and engineering.
“The official launch of the digitilisation programme will take place within the next week or so. A lot of work has been done quietly and the money has been found.
“There will be a major announcement and it will start creating opportunities right away, even for some people who are non-media workers. Media houses will have to do a lot of work to see what opportunities will emerge, while teaching institutions will have to rearrange their curriculum and take advantage of this opportunity,” Prof Moyo said.
“Although this programme is for television, we are taking advantage to cater for radio. All national radio stations should be accessible across the country.”
Once launched, work will begin on 26 transformation sites with initial work being done on border areas which have traditionally been failing to receive television and radio transmission.
Prof Moyo advised print journalists to also take advantage of the situation and train in the field of broadcasting as “some media houses and journalists face extinction” if they do not implement convergence programmes.
He said by being one of the last countries to digitalise, Zimbabwe is set to be the best as the country has the advantage of learning from the mistakes of other countries.
The digital transition in broadcasting is a global process involving the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting signals.
Because the process of the digital transition in broadcasting involves re-allocating frequencies, it is an agreement reached by the International Telecommunication Union’s Regional Telecommunication Conference.
There is a worldwide transition to digital broadcasting because it is a more efficient way of transmitting sound and pictures and offers a number of potential benefits.
