MBABANE: Earl Miller,the United States(US) Ambassador toured eSwatini’s oldest newspaper,the Times on Thursday.
The Ambassador expressed support for media freedom,free expression and the importance of training and capacitating journalists.
According to the Embassy’s online report,the Ambassador shared a few words with journalists.
“Yesterday(Thursday)Charge d’Affaires Earl Miller got the chance to put faces with the bylines when he visited Eswatini’s oldest media house Times of Eswatini. Managing Editor Martin Dlamini and Editors Cassandra Shaw and Thobeka Manyathela made it a worthwhile visit by taking him through the different sections and production process. He shared a few words with the journalists as he moved around the newsroom.He said; “Journalists and an unfettered press help us learn the truth, sometimes unpleasant and disagreeable, about our countries, our governments and ourselves. That makes our societies better. It makes us stronger. A free press gives voice to the voiceless, exposes injustice, and holds leaders accountable.The United States supports freedom of the press and the right of free expression as fundamental to democracy. Our support for the media in Eswatini incudes journalist exchanges and training, advocacy for access to information, and monitoring press freedom in our annual congressionally mandated Human Rights Report,” reads the US Embassy’s online report published on Friday.
US Ambassador Earl Miller tours Times of eSwatini, expresses support for media freedom(pic: US Embassy).