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Media
failing to fully cover newsworthy developments
Media
Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2005-33
Monday August 29th – Sunday September 4th
2005
THE media’s
increasing failure to fully cover newsworthy developments for the
benefit of their audiences has become a growing source of concern
and illustrates the void in news reporting and analysis that has
become evident as a result of the repressive media laws, which have
destroyed or strangled initiatives to diversify Zimbabwe’s media
environment. This was evident again in the week under review with
the media’s failure to adequately report and analyse important court
cases that affect Zimbabweans’ rights to information and democratic
governance.
For instance,
since The Daily Mirror’s brief report (1/8) of the acquittal
of the banned Daily News’ former Mutare bureau chief, Kelvin Jakachira,
on charges of practising journalism without a licence, none of the
media have followed up the matter and explained the basis for his
acquittal.
In addition,
the public has remained in the dark on the revelations that surfaced
during Jakachira’s trial, particularly regarding the operations
of the government-appointed Media and Information Commission (MIC).
While the MIC
has in the past vehemently denied allegations of its partiality
purporting that it was an independent regulatory authority, evidence
emerged during Jakachira’s trial that the Commission’s old Causeway
mail bag, Private Bag 7700, which it used for official correspondence,
including journalists’ applications for accreditation, belonged
to the Office of the President.
The government-controlled
print and electronic media’s failure to report the outcome of the
trial at all amounts to another blatant case of censorship. But
it is regrettable that the private media can no longer be relied
upon to provide details of newsworthy developments, particularly
those that belie official claims of the Commission’s independence.
Another example
during the week was the media’s general failure to report the High
Court’s dismissal of an urgent application by the Combined Harare
Residents Association (CHRA) challenging the extension of the term
of office of the government-appointed commission running Harare
City Council, almost two-and-a-half months after the case was filed.
Despite taking such a long time to make a determination on whether
the matter was urgent or not, Justice Lavender Makoni would not
give reasons for the ruling.
Except for The
Standard (4/9), the rest of the media missed this latest example
of the extent to which the justice delivery system has been compromised.
Worse still, none of the media have attempted any informative analysis
of how this ruling affects the democratic governance of Zimbabwe’s
capital city. The private weekly merely quoted CHRA’s lawyer Rangu
Nyamurundira saying his clients would now proceed with their case
as an "ordinary application".
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