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Print and Electronic Daily Media Update #8
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
March 29, 2005

As this report was being compiled it was becoming apparent that the countrywide list of polling stations published in the Press on March the 18th and subsequently, contained a number of inaccuracies and vague references that failed to identify the exact location of polling stations. It is of great concern to MMPZ that the published information is insufficient for many voters to identify where they can vote, particularly because the election is being held over just 12 hours. It is of even greater concern that none of the media have investigated the list and alerted the authorities to the problems this may cause in time for them to correct this fundamental obstacle before voting begins.

1. Daily Print Media Update: March 30th 2005.

a) Campaign stories
THE Herald continued to ignore the campaigns of the main opposition MDC, smaller opposition parties and independent candidates in its coverage of the political parties' activities on the eve of the election.

For example, out of the six stories the paper published on the subject five were approving reports on ZANU PF campaign activities, while the reminder was just a brief announcement on the withdrawal from the poll of independent candidate for Bulawayo South Charles Mpofu.

The five ZANU PF campaign stories carried by the government paper consisted of two stories on six rallies held by President Mugabe (one rally) and his deputy, Joyce Mujuru (five) in Mount Darwin and Harare, and three opinion features, praising ZANU PF and vilifying the MDC.

President Mugabe and Vice President Mujuru's rallies were also characterised by their anti-MDC/West rhetoric.

The paper's sourcing pattern was also almost exclusively ZANU PF, whose voices the paper quoted four times against one by Mpofu.

In contrast, The Daily Mirror, in its Election Watch column gave a balanced coverage of the two main parties' rallies in its seven campaign stories, although it also largely ignored the smaller political parties and independents. It carried three stories each on ZANU PF and MDC rallies. The seventh story was an announcement on the withdrawal from the election of Mpofu. However, the paper also favoured ZANU PF in its sourcing, as shown in Fig.1:

Fig.1

b) Administrative issues
The Herald again completely confined itself to the voice of the electoral authorities in its coverage of administrative issues. It carried three stories on the matter, one of which was an official announcement by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Election Supervisory Commission

(ESC) making sweeping assurances to observers on how their poll preparations were "almost complete". For example, the story lacked details on the logistics surrounding the staffing of polling stations and whether those stations located in areas without electricity would be adequately provided with light.

One story reported the police warning winning candidates not to celebrate their victories provocatively, while the other reported the police instructing voters not to remain at polling stations after casting their votes to conduct "so-called vigils".

The Herald carried a constituency boundaries' map in its Business section with a front-page brief advising readers where to find it. However, the map's typography was reproduced in such a small typeface it was virtually illegible, thereby defeating the purpose of publishing it as a source of information. Nor was their any narrative explaining detail of boundary changes to the relevant constituencies.

The Daily Mirror reported a story first carried by Studio 7 (28/3) that about 50 000 polling officers, mostly teachers, were unlikely to be able to vote in tomorrow's poll due to logistical problems arising from their deployment outside their constituencies. It carried an official comment from the ZEC confirming the story but suggesting that the "affected teachers" may be granted "postal votes". But the logistics of allowing this was not made clear. The Herald ignored the story. The story was one of the three stories the private daily carried on administrative issues. The paper also carried a comment in which it castigated district administrator and ZANU PF candidate for Mudzi, Ray Kaukonde, whom it reported yesterday (29/3) as having allegedly chased away

1 000 polling officers deployed in the constituency by ZEC on the grounds that they were "MDC loyalists".

The remaining story was a ZEC announcement encouraging observers to produce their preliminary reports on the poll before the results are announced.

The paper's stories on administrative issues were evenly sourced, as shown in Fig 2.

Fig. 2 Voice distribution in The Daily Mirror

c) Political violence
The Herald did not report any incidents of politically motivated violence or rights abuses in the two stories it carried relating to the issue. The two were again official announcements by police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena warning candidates and voters against causing mayhem after voting. The Daily Mirror also did not report any incidents on political violence. Its only story related to the topic was one on the possibility of NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku facing prosecution after the police gave him until last Thursday to validate claims contained in his organisation's report alleging widespread violence in the run-up to the polls. The story also comprised warnings to voters by the police against congregating at polling stations after voting.

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