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Government
officials and the private media
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2006-28
Monday July 10th 2006- Sunday July 16th 2006
DURING the week
the Zimbabwe Independent (14/7) exposed a government official’s
total misconception, both of his role as a civil servant and that
of the media, when he refused to comment to the privately owned
paper on the basis that they were long time ‘enemies’.
The weekly reported
the Grain Marketing Board’s long-acting chief executive, retired
Colonel Samuel Muvuti, refusing to respond to its questions regarding
grain deliveries saying he did not "talk to reporters
from the Independent" because they were enemies".
Reportedly, the
paper wanted to know why "millers were not getting maize
and why farmers delivering maize to the GMB were not getting paid
on time".
Such a misplaced
attitude has become commonplace.
There are many
cases in which government officials have refused to speak to the
private media in the past on similar grounds. For example, it became
public knowledge that police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena would not
give comment to The Daily News when it was still operational.
SW Radio Africa has also reported a number of government officials
as having refused to talk to the station.
And recently,
The Standard (28/5) reported Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa
as threatening the paper’s reporter after refusing to respond to
its questions.
As the Independent
noted such behaviour is "symptomatic of a serious cancer
of arrogance in government stemming from a clear failure to appreciate
the role of the media".
It added: "A
public official does not give information to the media on the basis
of his affection for them" but is "duty-bound
to provide information because he is paid by the taxpayer to whom
he must be accountable" and not "their inflated
egos or their partisan sponsors".
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sheet
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