Ground-breaking Zambian journalist makes history

Hellen Mwale, a Zambian Journalist and past Chairperson for MISA Region shares her industry-changing moments and how she continues to fight for media freedom in Africa.  AWiM News hears all about her new organisation – the Media Initiative for Women in Zambia (MIWoZ).

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When Hellen Mwale, was growing up in the 1980s, her dad would watch every news hour whether it was on the TV or the radio.

Hellen was surrounded by news.

While some daughters at four to six years old, which was her age bracket at the time, would have pleaded to watch the children’s channel, Hellen enjoyed the news.

As she sat there, next to her dad, watching the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, Hellen would anticipate the appearance of her favourite news presenter – Maureen Nkandu, a veteran journalist who used to work for BBC Radio Africa.

“I didn’t know anything about journalism then since I was just a young girl,” she tells us, “but the way Maureen would cast news really impressed me.”

“She would memorise the whole story, then come on TV and just read it as if she was reading from a teleprompter and those days, we didn’t even have those,” The news lover adds.

After watching the Zambian media trailblazer, Hellen saw herself in her and felt inspired that one day she could be in the same place, reporting the news.

When Hellen was in grade five her Dad sadly passed away. Their time shared watching the news together and listening to the radio was now her way of connecting with him. This grew her interest in media even more.

By the time she reached secondary school, she joined the press club and impressed the teacher with her knowledge of the country’s current affairs: “I remember when I had a commerce class and our teacher was teaching us about insurance,” the journalist recalls, “We didn’t have TVs, Laptops or phones in class so I started speaking from the top of my head what I heard on the news.”

Her teacher was intrigued by the news she shared, even gaining new insight into Zambia’s current affairs.

“He started asking about leadership from the president to the ministers and I answered all of the questions,” she says, “He was so shocked by my knowledge that he asked me if they were my relatives, but I told him no Sir, I listen to the news, that’s what I do.”

Everyone around Hellen could see she had a hunger for stories. Her mother even knew she had to buy batteries for the radio set or pay for power so her daughter wouldn’t miss out on daily news reports.

“My dream really was to read news like Maureen Nkandu but little did I know that journalism was going to be more than that to me, it is my calling,” the determined Zambian tells us.

Hellen could never have imagined the career she was going to have.

From having her first attachment at a local newspaper and a TV station where she produced business programmes, wrote news stories and worked as a news editor, the journalist felt there was a gap for an alternative voice when the Patriotic Front came into power. So she found herself at the then newly established Daily Nation newspaper.

Whilst I was at Daily Nation, I realised that I needed to do more for media,” Hellen expresses, “Online media was rising back then and so journalists and bloggers started to use it to share the news with the public, unfortunately, politicians at the time started to threaten us in the media.”

Press freedom in Zambia is not yet at a level where journalists feel safe to do their jobs.

In 2017, a survey by Afrobarometer discovered that many Zambians believed freedom of speech is eroding in the country. 72 per cent of the participants said they are careful what they say about politics and only three Zambians felt comfortable criticizing the president in power.

“I could see how things were getting worse and an opportunity actually came up for the MISA Vice Chairperson position,” the Zambian shares.

When Hellen went to contest for the role, it was in 2013. She believed online media was going to be essential for journalists to do their jobs and reach the public and so she fought for it.

“It was a very tight competition since I was advocating for a gap in the industry and competing against giants who had been there for years but I think people were seeking fresh minds, they wanted change,” she says.

Hellen went for the role with full force, believing she could make an impact and she won.

“We are now online which is the start we needed to make even more change,” the media advocate expresses.

One of the areas that needed solutions and still do is the safety of women journalists: “Being a young female journalist in a man’s world wasn’t easy at all, I had political Cabinets, the party sympathizers harassing me for speaking out against them,”

She continues: “They even wrote bad stories about me and other journalists saying outlandish things like she is a prostitute.”

The online and verbal abuse Hellen received reached the ears of her family members who grew concerned for her.

“At one point I almost resigned because my mother and my brothers had read all the stories about me and asked me why I was still going, why I didn’t just leave the job?”

The journalist prayed about it and spoke with her mother afterwards who told her: “If the job comes from God then you will develop the thick skin you need to win.”

Slowly Hellen started developing crocodile skin, she became even more confident, fired up and unwilling to drop her fight for press freedom against the ruling party.

“I said let them talk, they can talk till they get tired.”

With her courage to never give up, the Zambian started to build a good rapport with politicians who realised it was better to fight with her than against her.

“I remember when Former President Michael Sata was still alive and in power, he said to me why are you doing journalism, you are brilliant, come join us in politics,” Hellen laughs remembering his words.

After working alongside the former president with her legal team to lobby against politicians who were going against the law, she started to see a response from the leaders. They were starting to support the media’s role in fulfilling a democratic society.

For the MISA Vice-chairperson’s hard work, she flourished into a new role that made history: “In 2015 I became the first female MISA Zambia Chairperson whilst serving as regional vice-chairperson,” she exclaims.

The fight was not yet over as new presidents came into power she had to challenge for the sake of justice and equality to be achieved.

In 2021, after years of serving as a journalist and becoming MISA Regional Chairperson in 2018, Hellen wanted to spread her wings.

Now the founder of  Media Initiative for Women in Zambia (MIWoZ), the media advocate wants to continue transforming the media industry for women.

“There is a lot of work that has been done for women’s rights as we are seeing more women in leadership positions,” Hellen explains, “But, we had a female politician who was speaking in power but after leaving her post, her voice seemed like it disappeared,”

She continues: “I started to think where does that leave us, female counsellors, female politicians, female ministers, female journalists,  where does that leave Hellen Mwale when she leaves MISA, where is our voice going to be…Nowhere?”

As a firm believer in women’s voices having the power to change the status quo, the founder wants to use her organisation to strengthen and amplify the voices of women and girls.

“Considering that the media is a key platform for engagement and participation in democratic and governance process space, I realised that the limited voices of women and girls being captured in the media has impacted their ability.”

She goes on to say: “If we had more voices of women, I truly believe women would be free, empowered and able to grow.”

MIWoZ plans to empower women and girls in Zambia with training that will enhance their safety online and how to use online platforms to advocate for policy implementation that will make their lives better.

“We are also going to be training journalists, not only women on gender reporting to equip them in telling inclusive but gender-focused stories,” Hellen announces.

There is plenty more that MIWoZ wants to achieve for women and girls in the country but to ensure all actions are met more funding is required.

As the journalist continues to find ways to impact journalists and teach and collaborate with other organisations she tells us this is just the beginning: “I will never stop advocating for what’s right and I believe that’s what journalism is all about too,”

“Journalism is about telling it as it is, you don’t add and you don’t remove anything.”

There have been numerous great moments in Hellen’s career but she never forgets where it all began: “The most important memory of my career is when I became a journalist and sat in front of a computer writing my first story,” she expresses, “That’s when I felt the vision I saw through Maureen Nkandu was now my reality and I want every other female to have that moment too.”

Hellen Mwale represents what strength, courage and faith look like in the media industry. The pathway for more women trailblazers is in motion.

This article is part of the African Women in Media (AWIM) Graduate Trainee Programme in collaboration with Fojo Media Institute