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Anonymous
media sources
Media
Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Extracted
from Weekly Media Update 2004-46
Monday November 15th – Sunday November 21st
2004
MMPZ notes with
concern the widespread abuse by the media of using unattributed
sources to corroborate their stories. It is a fact that the hostile
political climate and prevalent lack of accountability at all levels
of government has given rise to a climate of secrecy, fear and anxiety
throughout Zimbabwean society.
As a result,
the media have often been obliged to rely on unnamed sources to
bring important stories to their audiences. But the government-controlled
media particularly, have exploited this situation to such an extent
that they now habitually foist their opinion on their audiences
by hiding behind the fig leaf of unnamed sources in their news coverage,
even, on occasion, resorting to "government sources" in
stories about official government activities.
The private
media are also known to be guilty of what would, in a normal society,
be considered to be a dereliction of journalistic duty, but have
generally attempted to limit resorting to anonymous sources in "sensitive"
reports where "whistle-blowers" provide information on
the strict understanding that they remain anonymous. This happens
anywhere in the world, but in Zimbabwe it is far more prevalent
because people no longer have faith in the ideal that justice will
be done and that offenders will be brought to account.
But the government
media have exacerbated this gross lack of transparency by adopting
the trend even in apparently harmless cases, which do not warrant
masking the identity of individuals quoted in their stories. For
example, in the week under review ZTV (15/11, 8pm) reported that
private fuel companies had failed to shed light on the findings
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) that more than $70 billion
worth of foreign currency meant for fuel procurement had been misappropriated.
The report quoted
"industry sources", "analysts"
and "some companies" but failed to reveal
their identity.
Similarly, Power
FM (20/11, 1pm) reported that, "economists have expressed
concern over recent fuel price hikes saying it will have an adverse
impact on the country’s inflation rate". Not a single
economist was named and the reasons for not identifying the sources
on such a general story remain a mystery. Consequently, the failure
by these media to identify their sources compromises the authenticity
of their reports and gives the impression that they do not entirely
represent the truth of the matter.
It is, of course,
easy for reporters to "interview themselves" and in fact,
to distort a story at will without providing any identifiable sources.
Such activities are a travesty of journalistic practice and represent
some of the essential elements necessary in the creation of propaganda,
which is so prevalent in the government-controlled media.
Besides its
own extensive use of unnamed sources, the government broadcaster
frequently also tends to misrepresent general opinion by presenting
the views of a few selected individuals as reflective of all Zimbabweans’
support for government policies.
For example,
on the day that the Registrar-General launched the new synthetic
identification cards, ZTV (18/11, 8pm) claimed that the public had
"applauded" the move, saying it would speed
up the issuing of identity documents. However, only four individuals
were quoted welcoming the latest development.
In fact, the
credibility of ZTV’s public opinion surveys suffered another blow
when it (11/11, 8pm) used one of its own staffers as a source in
its report on public sentiments over commuter transport problems.
The station
quoted Artwell Manyengavana masquerading as an unnamed general member
of the public calling on commuter bus operators to charge government
sanctioned fares.
Visit the MMPZ
fact sheet
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