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Credibility war
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2003-36
Monday September 7th - Sunday September 14th 2003

Although the government initially gave the impression that it can do without the international community, recent events on the ground have shown otherwise. It is making concerted efforts to get the country back into the international fold by painting a picture of normalcy in the country.

This week government and the media it controls used the visit by the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) delegation and the world acclaimed tourist attraction the Victoria Falls, as their launch pads for this campaign. In its report on the visit, ZBC (ZTV, 10/09, 8pm) stated that ACP legislators, who were reportedly on a fact-finding mission ahead of the ACP/EU summit scheduled for Rome next month, were "impressed with their discussion with the political leadership of this country across the political divide," adding that "they solidly stand beside Zimbabwe in the quest to see a fruitful relationship with the European counterparts." However, the station did not elaborate on what exactly they had discussed with the leadership. Neither did it clarify who had invited the delegation.

This was also not fully explained by The Herald and SW Radio Africa (11/09) reports on the delegation’s visit. The two quoted some members of the delegation as saying there was democracy in the country, basing their argument on the fact that the MDC was represented in the parliamentary committees.
The Sunday News (14/09) then latched onto this naïve analysis of the democratic processes and concluded that the delegation has "the capacity to change the negative image of Zimbabwe held by the European Union".

Notably, the private Press largely ignored the visit. Nonetheless, they carried other related developments that belied government-controlled media’s sanitized reports on the situation in the country. For example, The Daily News (8/9) carried the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (ZHRF) report which revealed that 59 cases on the curtailment of basic freedoms were recorded in the month of July alone. Studio 7 (09/09) carried a similar report. In its comment, in the same issue, the paper called for the setting up of a commission of inquiry into the activities of the National Youth Service recruits and graduates saying allegations against the programme "have become too numerous and too loud for the nation to ignore." This followed a report on the gruesome activities of the youths produced the by Solidarity Peace Trust, chaired by Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube and Anglican Bishop Rubin Philip of South Africa.

The Herald (9/9) ignored the report yet it vilified Ncube saying he was "an opposition activist with access to a pulpit, is an avowed anti-government and anti-Zimbabwe stooge." However, this did not deter the private media from exposing the erosion of democratic principles in the country. Throughout the week, SW Radio Africa reported on the on-going political violence in the Midlands Province where ZANU PF youths were allegedly harassing MDC supporters.

To further highlight the deteriorating situation, The Daily News (11/9) reported that ZHRF had told diplomats from 23 Commonwealth countries meeting in London ahead of the Commonwealth summit scheduled for Nigeria at the end of the year that, "there has been continued disregard for the rule of law and manipulation of the judiciary that has compromised equal access to justice".

Despite such reports, the government-controlled media would not relent. This was reflected in the way they unquestioningly peddled government’s attempts to revive tourism by marketing Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls as a peaceful destination in the region.

Instead of giving a holistic picture on why the tourism industry was declining, ZBC (ZTV, 10/09, 8pm.) narrowly attributed the waning of the industry to "bad publicity that Zimbabwe has been receiving abroad" and the "marketing strategy that has been used". The broadcaster conveniently ignored that the prevailing political situation has a bearing on the number of tourists that the country is currently attracting.To give credence that the new marketing strategy, which saw stakeholders in the tourism industry travel to South Africa to promote Zimbabwe, was working, ZBC (Radio Zimbabwe and ZTV, 14/09, 8pm) carried South African Tourism Minister Mohammed Moosa as having pledged to support Zimbabwe’s tourism sector.

The Herald (8/9) also expressed optimism on the success of the campaign saying personal appreciation of Ruvhuvhuto sisters’ song Come to Victoria Falls Down in Zimbabwe, which is being used to sell the falls would do the trick. Said the paper, "Judging by the soothing voices and harmony of vocals the music is expected to sell to the world the beautiful scenery that Zimbabwe has".

It is this slavish campaign for government policies that has blinded the government-controlled media even on cases where officials are falsifying information. For instance, ZTV (14/09, 8pm) allowed Tourism Minister Francis Nhema’s claims in South Africa that the fuel situation in the country had normalised. He was quoted saying (ZTV, 14/09/2003, 6pm), "At last I can stand here and say we do have petrol. You will be assured. You drive up to Zimbabwe and (we) will refill your tank." He got away with such gross misrepresentation of facts.

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