Mass
media must cover the problems of chewing khat and national
development
By
ZamZam
Ahmed Hassan -- Somaliland
Chewing khat is a continuing
problem that the mass media do not adequately cover.
Even educated men chew khat. I
don’t know why? Khat has caused financial problems, family
problems and even mental disorder. Men spend a lot of money and
time and they get nothing except becoming idle, selfish, lazy,
mad, etc.
Therefore, the mass media should
cover treatment of this disaster. The mass media can write a
series of Before and After stories. Here, they can use
pictures to show a young man who was hard working before chewing
khat – that he had a good physical appearance and was mentally
fit. The mass media can also show the same young man after he
started to chew khat –moody, idle, mentally sick, lazy, etc.
Hopefully this will make many people change their minds about
chewing khat.
The mass media should also
cover many other issues such as entertainment, education and
information based on what people are interested in. According to
journalists most citizens of Somaliland are interested in
politics. This why 70 percent of magazines coverage is on
political issues.
However there is no proof
that most of the people of Somaliland are interested in
political news. Young generations are interested in other topics
like sports, music, social affairs and love stories. But the
problem is that most young generations can’t afford to buy the
daily news due to unemployment crisis. But politicians and
public officials read or buy the magazines because they are
mostly interest in politics. This is why magazines cover so
many political issues and young generations are obliged to talk
about what the mass media cover.
Most Somaliland society is
interested to hear news about international recognition. They
ask each other what the president and other officials say
about the issue; and whether recognition is coming soon because
they believe if they get recognition they have good chances of
employment and prosperity. In this case we can’t say they are
interested in political issues but in chances of employment,
better life and prosperity.
The mass media should cover more
development issues because Somaliland was destroyed and civil
wars caused a lot of financial problems, homelessness,
displacement and collapsed most basic institutions such
education and health. But now the situation is improving
gradually.