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Poor news management
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-14
Monday April 9th 2007 - Sunday April 15th 2007

ZBC's poor news management manifested itself in its presentation of bland official statements as headline stories; its misrepresentation of the public's views on issues affecting their livelihoods and censorship of topical issues, such as the country's deteriorating human rights situation.

Its coverage of the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa)'s controversial takeover of the cities' water and sewage reticulation is an example. For instance, ZTV and Spot FM (10/4, 6&8pm) simply projected the Zinwa takeover as having paid dividends, claiming that since its involvement in the management of Chitungwiza water supplies, the town's water and sewage problems were now a "thing of the past". The story, a public relations piece for Zinwa and Water Resources Deputy Minister Walter Mzembi, provided little evidence to substantiate the claims.

No effort was also made to reconcile the report with legislators and the comptroller-general's recommendations to Cabinet (ZBC 12/4, 1pm and evening bulletins) to "reverse" its "ill-advised" decision to place the urban water and sewage systems under Zinwa's jurisdiction because the water authority "had no capacity" to efficiently service towns.

Without exploring these calls, ZTV (12/4, 8pm) reported Mabvuku residents as impressed by the authority's services saying there was a "significant change" in the suburb's water supplies since Zinwa's takeover of Harare's water. However, none of those quoted expressed this, complaining instead about acute water shortages and sewage problems in the suburb.

ZBC's predilection for giving every official statement prominence at the expense of more important stories resulted in ZTV (9/4, 6pm & 8pm) leading - ahead of the death of 11 people in Easter Holiday road accidents - with a statement by Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu in which he reiterated the usual government claims that Britain and the US were behind the country's problems.

Similarly, ZTV (11/4, 8pm) led with President Mugabe's commissioning of agricultural equipment instead of a bus accident that killed 10 informal traders and injured 30 others travelling from South Africa to Harare. The story was placed third after Vice-President Joice Mujuru's assurance that government respected citizens' freedom of worship. No context was given to her statements except that she had made them during the burial of the United Methodist Church leader.

And while ZBC (12/4, 8pm) found mundane events such as the annual harvesting of crops as deserving space in its bulletins, it did not see the ongoing crackdown on the opposition as newsworthy.

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