Journalists display skills in retreat
Journalists from different media houses in the country on Friday had time to show off their artistic skills during a media retreat organised by MultiChoice Malawi at Hapuwani Lodge in Mulanje.
The media retreat which this year was dubbed Meet Your Stars, saw journalists showcasing their skills in theatre, designing and music.
MultiChoice Malawi decided to bring some of the renowned artists in the fields and they were singer and guitarist Patience Namadingo, fashion designer Cathy Dixon and actress Flora Suya.
The three artists worked with the team of journalists in the three fields which at the end saw Suya and her team stitching a play using DStv’s popular Zee World channel titled The Charming Prince while Namadingo who launched his latest album titled Lero recently and team came up with a live performance.
Cathy Dixon, who recently also was decorated with an award during the Vukani Fashion Awards in South Africa, came up with different designs with her team.
After working on their assignments, the teams later showcased their works which saw Cathy Dixon and her team triumphing.
Despite working with their various teams, the three artists were also the judges.
Namadingo commended MultiChoice Malawi for giving them the opportunity to interact with journalists.
“In most cases we do not have enough time as artists to interact with journalists but this platform gave us that much time. Again journalists were able to appreciate the different talents and the platform also offered them a chance to show their skills,” said the singer and musician.
The ‘Msati Mseke,’ hit maker said the platform also gave them a chance as artists to learn and critic their works.
“As artists we were also given time to interact, for instance I got to learn from my fellow artists Flora Suya and Cathy Dixon what is involved in fashion designing and theatre. And we hope this is just the beginning,” said Namadingo.
He said by bringing in such an initiative, MultiChoice Malawi showed that it values art and also respects journalists.
MultiChoice Malawi Sales and Marketing Manager Chimwemwe Nyirenda said they have always been holding media retreats but this time they decided to run it under the theme Meet Your Stars.
“We wanted journalists to be the stars in such fields like music, theatre and designing and this is why we brought in some of the artists in these fields. We wanted them to appreciate how music, fashion designing and theatre are done so that they have that insight,” said Nyirenda.
During the event Nyirenda also highlighted their operations in the year 2015 where he said their DStv and Go TV businesses have been affected by blackouts.
“Business was slow due to blackouts as some people felt they were losing out despite subscribing as they could not enjoy the services. But with all that said there have been a lot of positives,” said Nyirenda.
He said people enjoyed different programmes on DStv citing among others the introduction of the Zambezi Magic which is a platform showcasing content from Southern Africa.
With the country still struggling to have its content on DStv, Nyirenda said Zambezi Magic has offered the platform which so far has managed to screen Shemu Joyah’s movies Seasons of a Life and The Last Fishing Boat.
The channel is also currently screening the country’s soap known as Choices.
He said as MultiChoice Malawi they want to make sure that more content from Malawi is shown on the channel and he further said Malawians should expect more goodies on DStv and GOtv next year.
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