Back to Index

Inadequate news coverage
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2000 – 4
Monday January 29th 2007 – Sunday February 4th 2007

THIS week the electronic media failed to adequately inform their audiences about pertinent issues affecting their livelihoods. These included the outbreak of cholera, the continued health workers’ strike and alleged corruption by government officials.

Instead of coherently discussing these issues, ZBC carried piecemeal reports that either downplayed the scale of the problems or projected the authorities as taking measures to address them.

The private electronic media were not helpful either.

They largely ignored most of the issues and paid scant attention to the health workers’ job action.

a) Cholera outbreak
ZBC’s failure to fulfil its public mandate was clearly illustrated by its poor coverage of the cholera outbreak in Harare. None of the five stories it carried on the matter fully discussed the scale of the disease in the city or took the authorities to task over the outbreak.

In fact, besides mentioning in passing that the scourge was a result of water cuts in Tafara and Mabvuku, the broadcaster did not link this with the authorities’ bungling in their management of Harare’s water reticulation.

Otherwise, two of the stories merely announced (Radio Zimbabwe and Spot FM 1/2, morning bulletins) the outbreak while the remaining three treated the matter in the context of the authorities’ efforts to contain the disease.

For example, (ZTV 1/2, 8pm), merely reported that "the ministry of health officials are currently distributing water treatment tablets to residents in Mabvuku and Tafara" without discussing the effectiveness of this measure. Neither was there any effort to quiz the authorities on when water supplies to the two suburbs, and any other areas without water, would be restored.

Only Studio 7 (30/1) covered the cholera outbreak, while the rest of the private media ignored it. The story revealed that besides Harare, there was another outbreak in Kariba.

However, this lacked any useful detail.

b) Strikes
THE broadcaster carried only four stories on the health workers’ strike. These comprised piecemeal announcements that nurses had joined the doctors’ strike and unverified claims by Health Minister David Parirenyatwa that government had granted health workers a salary increase (ZTV 1/2, 8pm).

None of the reports gave a coherent picture on the extent of the nurses’ strike, the situation at the government-run hospitals or the human cost of the industrial action.

For example, Spot FM & ZTV (29/1, 8pm) and Radio Zimbabwe (30/1, 6am) simply announced that nurses in Harare had also gone on strike demanding salary hikes without discussing the situation in other hospitals outside the capital.

Besides, ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe buried the news in their bulletins, preferring to lead with the visiting Chinese delegation and a sanitised account of the just-ended AU meeting. For instance, although they gave prominence to the AU meeting, they inadequately reported on the results of the summit.

Although the private electronic media were largely reticent on the nurses’ strike, they carried follow-up reports on the doctors’ industrial action and general labour unrest in other sectors of the economy.

These comprised threats by the ZCTU and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe to strike over low pay (SW Radio & Studio 7 29/01 and Zimbabwe Times 31/01) and the university lecturers’ strike (SW Radio Africa 30/01, Zimbabwe Times 31/01).

ZBC censored these issues.

c) Corruption
ALL private electronic media failed to investigate allegations of corruption by some government departments and officials. While the private media was silent on the matter, ZBC merely regurgitated official pronouncements without any attempt to probe the allegations.

For example, ZTV (29/1, 8pm) and Spot FM (30/1, 8am) passively reported the parliamentary portfolio committee on public funds lambasting the social welfare ministry for failing to account for "considerable sums of money" it received under the Social Development Fund since 1996 without subjecting the matter to any independent scrutiny.

For instance, the stations did not investigate those responsible for this or relate the matter to other documented cases of abuse of public funds.

Similarly, ZTV and Spot FM (1/2, 8pm) did not go beyond revelations by Acting Police Commissioner Godwin Matanga that "some politicians are involved in illegal dealings in gold and diamonds" by naming the culprits.

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