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Print and Electronic Daily Media Update #10
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
March 31, 2005

1. Print Daily Update: March 31st

a. Administration
THE Daily Mirror and the Chronicle were not readily available at the time the report was compiled.

As the counting of votes begun, The Herald carried largely pre-emptive reports on the conduct of the election. All the seven stories the paper carried on the administration of the poll mainly depicted it as having been "exceptionally well organised". Only minor hurdles, some of which the electoral authorities had no control over such as the sudden death of the presiding officer of a polling station in Nyanga and the invasion of the Sikumbi polling station in Binga by four charging buffaloes were highlighted.

Major issues, like the electoral officials' turning away of more than a hundred thousand voters for various reasons, were not fully addressed. The paper only noted: "There were isolated cases of some people being turned away, mostly those who did not register or had gone to the wrong constituency." Consequently, there was no attempt to link this development with the authorities' inadequate election preparations such as poor voter education. Instead, the paper emphasised more on what it saw as a high voter turnout in the poll as exemplified by its lead story, Good turnout in elections.

Similarly, the paper gave more space to voters and observers (in two stories) complementing the voting process as compared to other alternative observations. For example, while The Herald quoted a statement by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) chairman Reginald Matchaba-Hove commending the peaceful nature of voting, it did not investigate the nature of "minor cases of violence and intimidation" the civic body said characterised the run-up to the election. Nor did the paper verify what observers from the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA) claimed were efforts by various political parties "to educate the electorate with material it deemed to be misleading". Otherwise, as illustrated in Fig 1, The Herald stories were presented chiefly through the eyes of government and ZANU PF officials.

Fig 1 Voice distribution in The Herald

On the other hand, The Zimbabwe Independent carried10 stories on administrative issues that were generally balanced. Three of the stories sought to balance opinion between observers' approval of the peaceful environment under which the election was held and the main opposition MDC's views on the matter.

Besides updating its audiences on the voting pattern during polling, the paper also highlighted the high rejection rate of voters in six of the country's provinces, which it quoted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) as pegging at 133 155, almost 10 percent of the 1 340 073 people that had voted in the six provinces by 9.30pm yesterday. The paper quoted ZEC saying those turned away "were either not aware of the constituency boundaries...or for failing to produce proper identification". In addition, the paper carried two stories in which the MDC alleged poll irregularities. The first story was about how the MDC had allegedly "exposed" methods used by ZANU PF youths in Bulawayo's Western areas to erase the indelible ink used in the voting process after a tip-off by "concerned voters". The paper cited the MDC as saying the youths were allegedly using a combination of "brake fluid, scouring powder and lemon juice to cleanse themselves of the indelible ink" before voting again, adding that the South African and SADC observer teams had however refused to observe the process after the opposition party notified them.

The other story was on how ZANU PF had engaged an unnamed printing company to print thousands of fliers discouraging voters from taking part in the election by claiming that the MDC had withdrawn from the contest due to government's non-compliance with the SADC guidelines on democratic elections. The paper's sourcing pattern was generally balanced although it discriminated against ZANU PF voices as shown in Fig 2

Fig 2 Voice distribution in the Zimbabwe Independent

b. Violence
THE Herald did not report on any cases of politically motivated violence. However, it recorded three incidents related to election crimes. They comprised the arrest of two "British" journalists, picked by the police at a Norton polling station, for practicing journalism in the country illegally and that of a woman voter from Gweru who allegedly violated the Electoral Act by waving an open palm (MDC symbol) at people waiting to vote.

The Zimbabwe Independent, on the other hand, reported on two cases of politically motivated violence and rights abuses. The perpetrators were ZANU PF and the police while the victims were MDC polling agents and foreign journalists. In addition, it recorded six incidents of election crimes. The perpetrators of the crimes were MDC and ZANU PF supporters (one case each), farmers and two journalists from the UK-based Sunday Telegraph.

Meanwhile The Daily Mirror (31/03) carried an unsubstantiated report claiming that, "an EU-orchestrated sub-plot to delegitimise the process has already been set in motion." The report, which relied on unnamed sources insinuating that the MDC was involved, quoted police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena confirming there were some people bent on causing trouble after the elections, adding that the law enforcement agencies were ready for any eventuality.

2. Daily Electronic Media Update: 31st March 2005

a. Voting day
ZBH (Power FM and ZTV) carried 46 stories on voting. All but three reports gave the impression that polling was smooth. The three stories on irregularities, two of which were on ZTV and one on Power FM, accused the MDC of causing problems during voting. They reported that police in Mashonaland West were investigating MDC candidate for Chinhoyi Silas Matamisa for allegedly assaulting a voter in that constituency. The other report was on the arrest in Gweru of one person who was allegedly campaigning for the MDC in the vicinity of a polling station.

Although ZTV quoted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairman Justice George Chiweshe giving figures of voters who were turned away for "one reason or another", it failed to challenge him to elaborate on the reasons or view the issue as emanating from the commission's own poor voter education exercise. In fact, ZBH's reluctance to fully examine irregularities that characterised the voting process resulted in the broadcaster over relying on ZEC for comment and largely ignoring alternative views on the voting process.

Fig. 1 Number of stories and voices quoted on ZBH's stations

Notably, all ZANU PF voices and selected members of the public who were quoted hailed the voting process. The MDC voices that were quoted were Morgan Tsvangirai and Job Sikhala, who both expressed confidence that the opposition would win.

In contrast, private radio stations exposed anomalies in some constituencies. Although acknowledging that the voting day was generally peaceful, Studio 7 carried five reports, which highlighted some irregularities that marred voting. In one of its stories, the station reported that Faith Based Mission, a group of churches observing the elections, had recorded that Chief Maphosa in Maphisa was seen shuttling between polling stations and that ZANU PF agents were ticking names of people as they came to the polling stations in Pumula/Luveve constituency.

Another report quoted Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) Chairman Reginald Matchaba-Hove saying 16 observers from his organization were denied entry into 16 polling stations in Harare, Masvingo and Matabeleland North. He said as a result, "it becomes difficult to determine free and fairness of the process especially since they missed the peak hours of voting." In its other report the station reported that ruling party activists were harassing MDC polling agents in Insiza. Similarly, SW Radio Africa carried about nine stories on irregularities. These included reports that:

Observers from the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace were turned away in Manicaland.

• The Electoral Supervisory Commission heads for Nyanga and Mutasa constituencies were CIO operatives.
• An MDC polling agent was abducted in Insiza while going to the polling station
• The MDC polling agents were chased away from their stations by ZANU PF activists in Manyame
• Thousands of polling officers did not vote as they were deployed away from their constituencies
• Some local observers were denied access to polling stations in Masvingo
• There were no local observers in some constituencies in Manicaland such as Makoni

It was however, difficult to assess if the station had accessed comments from relevant authorities as its normal frequencies continue to be jammed.

b. Political violence
BOTH Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa carried eight reports on politically motivated violence and intimidation of MDC activists by mainly ZANU PF supporters. Six reports were on SW Radio Africa while the remaining two were on Studio 7. Among SW Radio Africa's stories were reports on the violence in Insiza perpetrated by ZANU PF supporters against the MDC candidate for the constituency his polling agents. The station also reported on the deployment of soldiers in Gwanda and Masvingo, which it viewed as an attempt to intimidate the electorate.

In another story SW Radio Africa reported that a South African national, who is part of a church delegation that is in Harare for an Easter exchange programme, was "indecently assaulted" by ZANU PF activists in Marondera. The two reports that Studio 7 carried were on the assault of an MDC driver in Greendale by ZANU PF activists and the intimidation of opposition supporters in Insiza.

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