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ZBH should transform from state to public broadcaster
MISA-Zimbabwe
Extracted from Monthly Media Alerts Digest June 2006
July 19, 2006

The restructuring of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) with the merging of its former nine companies into two entities still falls far short of fulfilling and meeting its expected mandate as an independent public broadcaster.

The late Minister of Information and Publicity Dr Tichaona Jokonya effected the restructuring in June 2006 as part of efforts to turn the loss making broadcaster into a viable entity. This followed recommendations by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications.

While these developments were welcomed as long overdue, the restructuring cannot be expected to usher in a new wave of independent broadcasting at ZBH unless massive legislative reforms are undertaken to repeal or amend sections of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).

These legislative reforms will trigger the transformation of ZBH from a state-controlled to a truly independent public broadcaster as envisaged under the African Charter on Broadcasting and the SADC Guidelines on the Conduct of Democratic Elections.

The African Charter stipulates among other provisions:

• All state and government controlled broadcasters should be transformed into public service broadcasters that are accountable to all strata of the people as represented by an independent board, and that serve the overall public interest, avoiding one-sided reporting and programming in regard to religion, political belief, culture, race and gender.
• Public service broadcasters should, like broadcasting and telecommunications regulators, be governed by bodies which are protected against interference.
• The editorial independence of public broadcasters should be guaranteed.

The SADC Guidelines simplify and amplify the provisions of the Charter by stating that citizens and political parties should especially during elections, enjoy equal and equitable access to the public broadcaster.

Under the present set-up as dictated by the prevailing legislative environment, the credibility and integrity of Zimbabwe’s sole broadcaster has been seriously compromised by the government’s stranglehold on ZBH’s editorial independence which chokes it from fulfilling its public mandate.

ZBH as presently constituted and structured is accountable to the government which in turn determines its editorial policy and content. To argue otherwise would be an exercise in futility.

The ZBH board is handpicked by the Minister of Information and Publicity in consultation with the President which runs against the grain of the principles of the African Charter on Broadcasting. Ideally, in a democracy the people, through parliamentary public hearings should nominate individuals to sit on such boards. Transparency and accountability are guaranteed only if the board is well representative as opposed to the present set-up.

Transformation from a state to a public broadcaster entails the repealing of the current legislative framework that allows the existence of ZBH in its current format. The law should be repealed or amended to allow the metamorphosis of ZBH into a truly independent omnibus broadcaster which carries the voices of all sectors regardless of economic, political, language or racial differences.

Parliament should therefore push for holistic changes to the broadcasting legislation which enforces open, transparent and democratic appointments of the board, key staff while reinforcing editorial independence at ZBH.

Independence from editorial interference does not necessarily mean that the government should not be involved, but simply means that more sectors and sections of society are involved especially parliament and other key civilian bodies in the running of the public broadcaster.

Meanwhile the parliamentary portfolio committee noted technical weaknesses in the running and performance of ZBH. Questions should be raised on whether the technical challenges facing ZBH are not a result of lack of a clear mandate for the public broadcaster.

ZBH cannot, in its current state, serve its public mandate because as a holding company it is geared to make profits a scenario that compels it to operate on the lines of a commercial broadcaster.

The purpose, structure and orientation of a public broadcaster are markedly different from that of a commercial broadcaster.

Parliament should, therefore, encourage the Ministry of Information and Publicity to do away with the concept of commercialisation and seek to come up with a funding structure that ensures that the public broadcaster meets its running costs.

Stations such as National FM should revert to their initial mandate of serving disadvantaged communities; carry the voice of civic society, public education and cultural issues. This, however, can only be possible if parliament has a direct say in the appointment of the board and the commensurate editorial charter.

As things stand ZBH has no editorial charter that legislators and indeed citizens of Zimbabwe can make reference to as to whether the company is meeting its mandate or not. The confusion and management crisis at ZBH is a result of an unclear mandate, lack of democratic management and muddled reporting structures at the state broadcaster.

If ZBH is to emerge as a bona fide national broadcaster, it should reach out to each and every part of the country in all languages. This is however, not feasible with the archaic equipment being used by Transmedia, the country’s sole transmission licensee. Entry of private players in the transmission industry will definitely aid the cause since Transmedia has failed to upgrade its coverage of Zimbabwe.

Editorial independence can only be underpinned by the ‘public broadcaster’s respect for the right to freedom of expression and information, freedom from undue government interference - principles upon which a public broadcaster can become more public serving and efficient.

An independent, accountable and transparent method of appointing a board for the public broadcaster complimented by an independent editorial charter will guarantee a true public broadcaster for Zimbabwe.

That is still far from being achieved given the restrictive legislative environment posed by the Broadcasting Services Act.

*Hilton Zvidzayi is a third year student with the National University of Science and Technology’s Journalism and Media Studies Department on attachment with MISA-Zimbabwe

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