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SADC and Image building
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2006-33
Monday August 14^th 2006 - Sunday August 20^th 2006

THIS week the government media used the just ended SADC summit to portray President Mugabe as a popular leader enjoying the support of his SADC colleagues.

The official papers carried eight stories propagating this impression while ZBH aired 24.

Most of the stories were either updates on President Mugabe’s traveling itinerary or merely regurgitated official statements and positive comments made by foreign dignitaries about the country.

None of the stories balanced the official line with alternative views as illustrated by the sourcing pattern of the official papers (Fig 1).

Fig 1 Voice distribution in the government Press

Notably, all four foreign voices recorded were of former SADC chairman Festus Mogae’s positive comments about Zimbabwe’s electoral reforms, which the official media used to gloss over the country’s skewed electoral framework.

For example, The Herald columnist Caesar Zvayi argued (18/8) that Mogae’s endorsement of Zimbabwe’s electoral reforms "invalidates the accusations by detractors who criticised Harare’s electoral system even after the adoption of the reforms".

The private media presented a different picture in the 11 stories they carried on the topic. They portrayed SADC as concerned about the Zimbabwean crisis.

The Financial Gazette, for example, claimed that the country’s political and economic crises would be discussed at the summit, a development reiterated by the Zimbabwe Independent the following day.

However, besides confirmation by Lesotho’s Finance Minister, Timothy Thahane, of the planned discussion on Zimbabwe in the Independent, the papers’ stories remained speculative as they were mainly based on unnamed sources.

By the weekend, The Herald (19/8) and ZBH (20/8, 8pm) reported Simbarashe Mumbengegwi denying Zimbabwe was ever discussed at the summit, saying anyone claiming that "would be telling a falsehood".

But SW Radio Africa (21/8) reported "sources" insisting that regional leaders had indeed raised concerns over Zimbabwe behind closed doors resulting in Mugabe leaving the summit prematurely.

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