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Economic decline and food insecurity
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2006-12
Monday March 20^th – Sunday March 26^th 2006

THIS week the government Press continued to provide piecemeal information on the country’s ailing economy.

The papers simply highlighted indicators of economic decline without providing any clear economic analysis, a depressingly incessant unprofessional habit that extended to their failure to investigate the full significance of government’s plans to nationalise the mining industry in the three stories they carried on the matter.

While The Herald (21/3), for example, claimed that "foreign-owned mines" had agreed to the "empowerment of Zimbabweans" while "consultations" on the proposed mining plans continued, the story carried no confirmation of this claim.

The paper only quoted Zimbabwe Platinum Mines (Zimplats) chief executive officer, Greg Sebborn, as saying the mining sector was in discussion with government "on the ownership proposals".

The government papers’ failure to investigate the effects of government’s plans to seize majority shareholdings in the country’s mining industry on investor confidence was symbolic of the 22 stories they carried on indicators of economic decline.

Their dishonesty was clearly illustrated by the manner they suffocated the two-week shortage of soft drinks only to report on it in the context of revelations that Delta Corporation had secured foreign currency to import the essential concentrates required in the production of the drinks (The Herald, 24/3).

Even then, the paper reported the matter in isolation without holistically viewing it as symptomatic of the viability problems afflicting the manufacturing sector.

Rather, the Chronicle (24/3) passively reported Trade and Industry Minister Obert Mpofu passively projecting government as taking measures to revive the manufacturing sector, especially the textile industry, reportedly operating at below 40% capacity.

The national public broadcaster, ZBH, gave more attention during the week to Zimbabwe’s dwindling agricultural production capacity. It carried 62 stories on the matter (ZTV [33], Spot FM [15] and Radio Zimbabwe [14]).

However, like the government papers’ economic reports, the national broadcaster’s stories were largely one-off events that simply dwelt on symptoms of agricultural decline in the country rather than on why the sector was continuing to experience such decay.

For example, ZBH scarcely provided any reasoned information on why wheat and tobacco production had dramatically collapsed to record low levels or why such a scenario had been allowed to prevail (Power FM 21/3, 1pm and ZTV 21/3, 8pm).

Instead, the broadcaster remained content to focus narrowly on official comments rather than providing well-sourced independent assessments of important issues, thus reinforcing its grossly unprofessional reputation as a news organisation, especially when it comes to querying government’s level of responsibility.

For example, ZTV (21/3,8pm) simply reported on a public hearing conducted by a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee (PPC) on agriculture with farmers and agro-based industries revealing shoddy preparations for winter wheat farming without linking this to government’s overall poor planning.

As a result, its audiences remained no wiser to the reasons why the country seemed to be suffering perpetual shortages of inputs, power, tillage equipment, or why producer prices for important crops remained uncompetitive.

ZBH’s unwillingness to question the authorities over the country’s agricultural problems also resulted in the national broadcaster passively portraying them as committed to rectifying the situation while simultaneously allowing them to blame others for their policy shortcomings (ZTV 21/3, 6pm and Spot FM 21/3, 8pm).

The supine nature in which the government media handled the economic and agricultural crises was reflected by their dependence on government sources as seen in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 1 Voice distribution on ZBH

Fig. 2 Voice distribution in the government Press

In contrast, the private media continued to provide critical insights into the effects of government’s plans to seize a majority shareholding throughout the mining industry in the 12 stories they carried (Radio stations [2] and the papers [10]).

They all noted that the move would dramatically worsen the country’s haemorrhaging economy by diminishing investor confidence, trigger low mineral production and cause massive job losses, including confirming Zimbabwe’s status as a rogue state that did not respect property rights.

In fact, the private media revealed that the proposed mine reforms had even divided government. For example, the Zimbabwe Independent (24/3) and The Sunday Mirror (26/3) noted that Midzi had prematurely announced the proposal before Cabinet had deliberated on the issue because he simply wanted to spruce up the image of his ministry, one of a number that President Mugabe recently rebuked for incompetence. As a result, added the papers, Midzi was likely to be censured by Mugabe, who had not approved the proposals.

The private media also continued to carry several stories on indicators of economic decline. And although some of the reports informed their readers about the soft drink shortage, they also failed to trace the origins of the problems faced by the manufacturer.

Generally though, the private papers tried to seek more independent views on the poor state of the country’s economy as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3: Voice distribution in the private Press

Meanwhile, Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa carried four stories on Zimbabwe’s precarious food situation, revealing how local and international donor agencies were still battling to either feed or raise funds to feed the country’s hungry.

Three of these were featured on Studio 7 while SW Radio Africa carried one.

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