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Political developments
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2005-1
Monday January 3^rd – Sunday January 9^th 2005

THE first week of the New Year reflected the political developments that dogged the country during the festive season.

The widening divisions in the ruling ZANU PF, triggered by the controversial nomination of Joyce Mujuru as the country’s second vice-president and worsened by the party’s announcement (ZTV, 28/12, 8pm and The Herald 29/12) of equally contentious rules governing the participation of its members in primary elections ahead of the March plebiscite, continued to dominate the media.

In the news too was the MDC’s continued reluctance to participate in the election in protest against government’s failure to adequately conform to the SADC guidelines on democratic elections. The significance of these developments was duly given prominence by the Press, which carried 52 stories in the week, 39 (75%) of which were on ZANU PF and 11 (21%) on the MDC.

However, the private Press led in exposing the swell of disenchantment in ZANU PF by carrying 23 (59%) of the 39 stories that the media devoted to the ruling party’s in-house fighting. The government Press, on the other hand, seemed to downplay the matter by according it only 16 stories (41%).

The trend was similar in the broadcast media. For instance, 45 (82%) of the 55 stories the government broadcaster (ZTV, Power FM and Radio Zimbabwe) carried on these political developments glossed over the chaos and squabbles in ZANU PF. Instead, they presented the ruling party’s stringent regulations for nominating candidates for its primary elections as indicative of its democratic nature. So it was not surprising that the stations ignored the demonstration by ZANU PF supporters against the guidelines.

In contrast, the seven stories (13%) the broadcaster carried on the MDC tarnished the party as confused, "western driven" and engaging in criminal activities such as defacing the country’s currency to air its political messages. No evidence was provided to substantiate such claims.

Interestingly, other small parties did not encounter such vilification in the three (5 %) stories where they featured.

The government broadcaster’s bias against the MDC was further demonstrated by the distribution of sources in its political stories as shown in Fig 1.  

Fig. 1 ZBC voice distribution

While the MDC was only quoted twice, ZANU PF, which got more voices in the coverage, also had an advantage over its main rival in the sense that all eight alternative voices the broadcaster quoted were pro-ZANU PF analysts who attacked the opposition and praised government policies, particularly its cosmetic reforms on the country’s electoral laws.

War veterans and selected members of the public who were quoted were also supportive of the policies of the ruling party.

But while the government broadcaster glossed over the chaos in the ruling party, SW Radio Africa and Studio 7 exposed these fissures in 14 stories (54%) out of the 26 reports they carried on political developments. The reports also discussed the possible negative ramifications of the new regulations on the ruling party’s performance in the coming election.

Seven (27%) of their reports were on MDC’s activities and particularly highlighted the party’s concerns about the country’s electoral system. The remainder was on general political accounts that included stories exposing ZANU PF’s continued vote-buying schemes, such as its donations of vehicles to chiefs.

Similarly, the private Press also accorded positive publicity to the MDC. Eight (73%) of the 11 stories the Press carried on MDC’s reasons for its continued indecision in participating in the March elections appeared in the private papers while only three (27%) were carried by the government Press.

Although the private radio stations carried more stories on ZANU PF than any other party, none of the 28 voices they quoted in their stories accessed comment from the party. 

Fig 2 Private radio stations voice distribution

Like the government-controlled broadcaster, the private stations’ alternative voices were largely drawn from their favourite pool of commentators that are critical of ZANU PF such as Lovemore Madhuku, Heneri Dzinotyiweyi, Max Mkandla and David Chimhini.

However, the private Press was generally fair in its sourcing, striking a balance of opinion chiefly between ZANU PF and the MDC.

Notably, the private Press almost always granted the ruling party the right of reply in the 23 stories it carried on the upheavals within the party. This was exemplified by the way it accessed ZANU PF 44 times (63%) out of the 70 sources it used in their stories.

Fig 3 Voice distribution in government and private Press

The private Press also gave the MDC a fair share of exposure in the eight stories it carried on the activities of the party by quoting it 10 times or 14 (%).

However, the government Press’ voice distribution was overwhelmingly ZANU PF, which it quoted 18 times (72%) in the 16 stories it carried on the ruling party’s activities. In contrast, it was particularly thin in sourcing views from other commentators, particularly the MDC, which it only accessed once (4%) in the three stories it devoted to the party.

Refreshing, however, was the non-partisan nature in which The Herald (6/1) allowed MDC official Remius Makuwaza to comment freely, without the usual badmouthing, on his party’s preparations for the parliamentary elections in the report.

This notwithstanding, the remaining stories, carried by The Herald (5 and 6/1) were mere editorials portraying the MDC in bad light.

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