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MISA-Zimbabwe statement on the Code of Conduct and Media Council Project
MISA-Zimbabwe
July 14, 2005

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ), under the umbrella body of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) met with the Minister of Information and Publicity, Dr Tichaona Jokonya at his Munhumutapa offices on July 13, 2005.

The meeting focused on the Code of Conduct and Voluntary Media Council Project that MAZ in partnership with the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZINEF) have embarked on. The Code of Conduct, which has been agreed to by all these partners including journalists in the state media, is to be used by journalists and media houses in Zimbabwe in the course of their work and will be administered by a voluntary body that the media itself will constitute.

The Minister was informed of the concerns of media practitioners, especially those from private media houses, that the statutory media regulatory body, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) has failed to fairly regulate the media and has unfairly targeted the private media and journalists.

The Minister was also informed that the sprouting of news agencies and radio stations focusing on Zimbabwe from outside the borders is a result of the closing of the space in Zimbabwe as a result of laws such as AIPPA.

Partners also informed the Minister that the government has a responsibility to come up with policies that promote the media in Zimbabwe even if that media is critical of the government. For his part, the Minister expressed concern for what he called unpatriotic journalism that does not take national interests into consideration.

He urged journalists to identify with their country. The Minister also says there must be broader principles that the people of Zimbabwe agree on as far as how the media operates.

The Code of Conduct is the first step in setting up a self-regulatory media council. The Voluntary Media Council is not meant to accredit journalists or register media houses but mediate in disputes between journalists and the general public.

Journalists and media houses in Zimbabwe, especially private media houses and MAZ, have spoken out against the accreditation of journalists and registration of media houses as unnecessary and placing restrictions on the operations of the media.

The voluntary media council is, therefore, set on the premise that complaints against the media must be resolved amicably without costly litigation. It is also realised that complaints against the media must not result in the arrests of journalists or closures of media houses but a fair hearing in which the media, if it errs, is asked to apologise and retract such reports.

Members of the public who choose to pursue civil suits in the courts of law are, however, free to do so, though the media houses and journalists would campaign and urge the use of the voluntary media council.

The Voluntary Media Council is meant to promote rapport between the media and its publics and demonstrate that media practitioners believe in responsible journalism. The Voluntary Media Council is therefore a national project that all sectors of society from the church, labour and business must buy into.

The Minister, his Deputy Honourable Bright Matonga, and the Permanent Secretary George Charamba agreed that the government would not stand in the way of these efforts.

They applauded the media for taking this first step. They also indicated that depending on the success of this project, the Ministry is willing to re-visit the operations and mandate of the MIC.  The Permanent Secretary says the MIC can be directed to focus on issues of access to information and training.

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