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Food Security and Economic Issues
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2005-14
Monday April 18th - Sunday April 24th 2005

ZIMBABWE'S deteriorating socio-economic situation continued to receive the attention of the media, which carried 107 stories on the matter. Forty-seven of these were published in the government-controlled papers while the private Press and ZBH stations (ZTV, Power FM and Radio Zimbabwe) carried 27 reports apiece. The remaining six stories appeared on Studio 7.

All the stories carried by the government-controlled media avoided discussing fully the extent of Zimbabwe's economic and food security problems. On the contrary, the reports heavily depended on official pronouncements and gave the impression that the economy was on the mend. For example, ZBH reports hardly tackled the exact reasons behind the re-appearance of power cuts and water shortages or the economic effects of a possible further devaluation of the dollar.

Instead, ZTV (22/4, 7am) passively quoted ZANU PF national chairman John Nkomo merely threatening those businesses that were allegedly conspiring "to reverse the gains of independence through economic sabotage and artificial shortages of basic commodities". No comment was sought from the business community. The government-controlled papers reported in similar vein. The Sunday News

(24/4), for example, either blamed the current food shortages and price increases on the MDC's "political mischief" or obfuscated these problems with positive reports on the purported achievements of government's much-publicized 'Look East' policy.

Notably, the paper simplistically interpreted the "expressed interest" by "many companies from Asia" to exhibit at this year's Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), as tantamount to Asian countries filling "the void created by the withdrawal... of some European Union countries" in protest against Zimbabwe's land reforms. But the paper, like its stablemates, failed to reconcile government's 'Look East' drive with the parallel attempts by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to re-engage Western international monetary agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank to help revive the economy.

In fact, more contradictions appeared in the government media reports. For example, Radio Zimbabwe and Power FM (21/4, 1pm) claimed that government's "comprehensive restocking exercise" had started "bearing fruit" with figures released by the Veterinary Department showing that the country's national herd had grown from 5 million in 2002 to 5.3 million in

2003. But the following day Radio Zimbabwe (22/4, 1pm) reported that the Stockfeed Manufacturers of Zimbabwe was facing viability problems due to a "decline in the national herd in the past five years". Although no figures were provided, the station noted that as a result of the decline in the national herd, one stock feed manufacturing company in Gweru had shut down. Similarly, the official media failed to probe the logic behind the authorities' plans to re-introduce price controls, which have, in the past, led to acute food shortages. Rather, The Sunday Mail (24/4) distorted the truth by claiming that the government action would "result in goods becoming readily available on the formal market, bringing relief to consumers who had been subjected to overcharging by profiteering black market traders". The official media's reluctance to balance its stories was reflected in the way the government papers relied on government sources almost to the exclusion of alternative commentators as shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1 Voice distribution in the government Press

In contrast, the private media continued to expose symptoms of a shrinking economy in their 33 stories on the topic. The reports ranged from exposing the effects of the current fuel and foreign currency shortages to the negative effect Zimbabwe's economic decline had on South Africa's economy.

For example, Studio 7 (20/4) and the Zimbabwe Independent revealed that due to Zimbabwe's foreign currency crisis, the country's credit rating had become so poor that it was threatening its ability to import food to augment the fast dwindling stocks, pegged by the Gazette at 60,000 tonnes by the end of last month. Because of Zimbabwe's lack of creditworthiness, said Frat Abijen of the Pan African advisory services for South Africa on Studio 7, "the international community finds it difficult to continue sending products to Zimbabwe knowing that the country may not be able to pay them."

On the domestic front The Standard article, 'Things fall apart', warned that notwithstanding the dwindling food reserves, the re-emergence of fuel shortages, power cuts and water shortages in the cities threatened, "to grind industry and commerce to a halt". However, the paper, like the rest of the media, failed to follow up on the astronomical increases in Harare City Council rates advertised in The Saturday Herald (16/4) by the Commission running the city. The ballooning economic crisis, added the Independent, had forced RBZ governor Gideon Gono, to seek help from other banking executives in resolving the situation. The paper quoted unnamed bankers saying Gono had also revised his targeted inflation rate of between 20-30 % by year-end to between 75 and 80 % due to the economic crisis. The government media ignored such reports. Instead, ZBH, The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News only reported Gono denying a Daily News online report and "rumours" that his resignation letter to President Mugabe, in protest against government's rebuff of his monetary policies aimed at taming the country's high inflation, had been rejected. While the government media heavily depended on government pronouncements, the private Press extensively sought comment from independent commentators.

Fig 2 Voice distribution in the private Press

The private papers also carried five editorial comments that were critical of government's economic policies.

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