By A Correspondent
In one of Zambia’s languages, there is a saying that on the day an elephant dies it is what everybody in the village talks about. The death of Michael Jackson, the iconic musician who redefined pop music on June 25, 2009 has not been different.
People of shades have had one thing or two to say about the musician whose stardom is traced to the 1960 with his brothers when they formed the Jackson Five, to his Thriller which catapulted him to higher heights, to accusations of paedophilia for which he appeared in court and surgery to change his skin.
But something that shocked me was the fact that the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) an organisation that is supposed to be the cultural fountain of the nation and an outlet for cultural trends of the rest of the world does not have videos of Michael Jackson.
This really borders on criminality when TV stations around the world are dedicating hours and hours on end showing videos of Michael Jackson with his brothers in the Jackson Five to a few days ago.
The problem with ZNBC is simply that it views itself as a news outlet rather than anything else. This is an institution that should harness its resources, like other broadcasting houses such as the BBC, to concentrate on cultural promotion not only from local sources but from the rest of the world.
Tags: Michael Jackson, ZNBC