Back to Index

Inadequate news coverage
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2006-45
Monday November 6^th 2006 – Sunday November 12^th 2006

THE electronic media’s failure to adequately inform their audiences on issues affecting their livelihoods was mirrored by the manner in which they handled poor service delivery in the country’s major towns and the confusion in the agricultural sector. Whereas ZBH passively regurgitated official pronouncements, the private electronic media paid scant attention to these issues. As a result, the public was left in the dark on the reasons behind severe water shortages in the cities and the importation of poor quality fertiliser by the authorities.

a. Water shortages
Although ZBH carried 30 stories highlighting poor service delivery in the country’s major towns, such as the failure by local authorities to provide residents with adequate water supplies, it hardly discussed the actual causes. Neither did it holistically view the water shortages as symptomatic of the country’s crumbling basic amenities nor discuss them in the context of the general economic distress observers have attributed to government’s poor policies. For example, while ZTV (7/11, 6&8pm) identified "irregularities" in the awarding of tenders for the supply of water purification chemicals and council’s failure to repair burst pipes as some of the causes of the water crisis in Harare, it skirted interpreting these in light of the alleged corruption and incompetence by the government-appointed commission. In fact, it simply quoted an urban planner and an official from the government-run Zimbabwe National Water Authority merely attributing the problem to "increasing urban population", "uneconomic" water charges and the water authority’s inadequate financial resources.

No effort was made to link these problems to government’s poor planning or quiz the authorities on what measures they were taking to address them. Instead, it (and Radio Zimbabwe, 7/11, 8pm) supinely quoted one commentator Ngoni Mudenge calling on "Zimbabweans to cultivate a culture of conserving the little water at their disposal as a means of helping solve the perennial water shortages". The call, the station noted, came "in the wake of a realization that the country does not have adequate financial resources to build infrastructure to harness more water needed to meet an increased demand". Why the country did not have enough money to resolve the crisis remained unexplored. Except for one story that appeared on Studio 7, the private electronic media largely ignored the topic. In its story, the private station (10/11) reported Harare residents complaining about the commission’s plans to increase water tariffs.

b. Agricultural chaos
The government broadcaster also failed to critically examine the authorities’ importation of low quality fertiliser and the issuing of 99-year farm leases to resettled farmers.

Almost all its 44 stories on these topics were based on official pronouncements and lacked independent investigations. For example, ZBH initially ignored the controversy surrounding the procurement of fertiliser and only latched onto the matter in the context of official responses. ZTV and Spot FM (12/11, 8pm), for instance, quoted Information Secretary George Charamba defending the authorities saying reports that government had procured "fake" and "useless" fertiliser from South Africa were false because it was only "unsuitable" as "compound D which services maize" but "function for other crops".

The station did not reconcile his statements with Agriculture Minister Joseph Made’s earlier claims on ZTV (6/11, 6pm), Radio Zimbabwe and Spot FM (7/11, 6am) that the fertiliser could still be used for maize on "certain soils and areas". Neither did ZBH openly discuss the impact of such a boob on the country’s agricultural production, which has been on the decline since the inception of government’s controversial land reforms.

The private media was largely reticent on the matter. Only ZimOnline (10/11) appeared interested in the story. It quoted unnamed government and intelligence officials claiming that "an irate" President Mugabe had ordered the Central Intelligence Organisation to investigate the central bank governor and Made "over allegations the two imported… fake fertilizer… in return for kickbacks".

ZBH ignored this. In fact, its failure to openly discuss the authorities’ policy deficiencies manifested itself in its coverage of the 99-year land leases. The official broadcaster simplistically celebrated the move as an "historic development" that would boost agricultural production. ZTV (9/11), for example, quoted farmer organisations "hailing" the leases saying they would "motivate players in the agricultural sector to work hard and ensure prosperity" without explaining how. Neither did ZBH fully explain the criteria used to select 120 farmers that were issued with the first batch of leases. The station only claimed they were "productive" and "drawn from the 10 provinces".

In fact, apart from revelations by ZBH reporter Ruben Barwe – who covered the story – that he was one of the beneficiaries, the rest remained anonymous.

In an effort to present the land reform programme as transparent and non-discriminatory, the station quoted an unidentified white commercial farmer calling on his colleagues to apply for land as he had also benefited from government’s land reforms, which he claimed were "non-racial". But the private electronic media were probing in the four stories they carried on the subject. They either disproved the notion by ZBH that the leases would increase agricultural production or questioned how the beneficiaries were selected. Studio 7 (10/11), for example, reported economist Eric Bloch noting that the "mere issuance of leases would not change much so long as inputs such as fertiliser and fuel remain scarce".

Another economist Prosper Chitambara concurred, adding that the private sector was likely to finance agriculture only if the authorities restored normalcy on farms.

Besides, the station revealed that contrary to the impression created by ZBH, only five white farmers were issued with the leases while "most of the beneficiaries were officials". However, it did not substantiate these claims.

On the same day, SW Radio Africa quoted Commercial Farmers Union official Emily Cookes wondering if all the beneficiaries had been productive and on the land for the minimum three years as required by law.

The difference in the manner in which the electronic media handled the topics was reflected by their sourcing patterns as shown in Figs 1 and 2.

Fig. 1 Voice distribution on ZBH

Notably, although the broadcaster gave significant space to the ordinary people’s complaints over deteriorating service delivery, their concerns were mainly drowned in torrents of official pronouncements while most alternative voices were used to reinforce official positions.

The scant attention the private electronic media paid to some of the issues was mirrored by their narrow sourcing pattern.

Fig. 2 Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Visit the MMPZ fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP