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Further economic decline
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2005-32
Monday August 22^nd – Sunday August 28^th 2005

THE government media’s indifferent coverage of important issues also manifested itself in their coverage of worsening economic conditions in the country.

These media tried to smother the extent of the economic meltdown with glowing stories on the Harare Agricultural Show.

It was in this context that the government Press viewed the annual showcase as a "success" in its 20 stories on the matter while the other 10 were glowing reports on the authorities’ efforts to revitalize the agricultural sector. ZBH also reported approvingly of the show in 41 stories against 10 reports exposing signs of an ailing economy.

The official media’s uncritical approach resulted in them simplistically rating the Agricultural Show’s "success" on the basis of the return of livestock to the show and the attendance figures in the first three days of the event, which were reportedly higher than last year.

There was no attempt to compare past years’ attendance or to examine the overall quality of the exhibits, the amount of business recorded, or whether foreign exhibitors were also showcasing their products.

Instead, ZTV (23/8, 6pm) and The Herald (23/8) merely claimed that all the stands had been "fully booked" while Power FM (26/8,6am) simplistically noted: "The Agricultural Show has registered an increase in exhibitors…clear proof that the government turnaround programme is working…"

Such superficial interpretation of Zimbabwe’s economic problems found expression in 28 stories that the government papers carried on Zimbabwe’s economy. Although 19 of the reports were on indicators of economic decline, none of them interpreted the issues as a reflection of the deteriorating economic crisis, nor did they holistically link them to the economy’s mismanagement. Nine of the stories were follow-up reports on the mid-term fiscal policy announced by Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa.

Although The Herald (22 & 23/8) highlighted the negative effects of government’s new 10 percent withholding tax on listed securities on the stock market, the paper later (25/8) tried to absolve the authorities from blame by quoting government saying traders had misinterpreted the application of the tax thereby "causing unnecessary panic on the stock market".

It quoted Secretary for Finance Willard Manungo saying traders were under the wrong impression that the new tax would apply on gross returns when "the correct position is that (it) would be charged on the capital gain, which would be adjusted for inflation".

There was no discussion on the perceived relief the revised move would have on Stock Exchange trade. Despite quoting a wide range of sources in its stories as shown in Fig 3, the official papers still maintained their supine tone.

Fig 3. Distribution of voices in the government Press

The private media presented a different picture of the Agricultural Show.

For example, The Daily Mirror (26/8) revealed that on the contrary, many informal traders’ stands had not been taken up, adding that the poor quality of products had marred the country’s biggest agricultural showcase. The paper quoted First Lady Grace Mugabe as having expressed concerns over the low attendance by informal traders, a development the daily attributed to Murambatsvina.

The Standard comment, Farming crisis undermines show, agreed. It noted that the show was "a pale shadow of similar events held more than half a decade ago" and dismissed the use of high attendance figures to measure the success of the event, saying its success could only be "gauged by the latest goods and innovations on exhibition…and the business conducted or contracts concluded".

It then attributed the "lack-lustre Harare Agricultural Show" to "government’s systematic and sustained undermining of the agricultural sector", a point earlier raised by economist John Robertson on SW Radio Africa (23/8). Robertson was quoted by the station blaming Zimbabwe’s economic tailspin on government’s political decisions such as " the controversial and chaotic land reform programme", which he said, had resulted in the economy losing "its principal foreign currency earners in the agricultural sector" like tobacco, beef, dairy and tea industries.

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