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Unprofessional conduct
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-21
Monday May 28th 2007 - Sunday June 3rd 2007
June 07, 2007

THIS week ZBC's professional ineptitude manifested itself in its censorship of important stories; its poor news prioritisation and its failure to question official pronouncements. For example, Spot FM and ZTV (30/5, 8pm) subordinated the effects of bus fare hikes on the public and the "pandemonium" at an Epworth school "following the discovery of pebbles resembling diamonds . . . " to courtesy remarks by President Mugabe thanking those who consoled his family during his brother's death. In addition, Spot FM (1/6, 8am) led with a repeat of the previous night's passive report on Mugabe's threats against his opponents without seeking any critical independent assessment of his statements.

ZBC's failure to go beyond official pronouncements resulted in Spot FM (30/5, 1pm) and ZTV (30/5, 8pm) allowing Matabeleland South governor Angeline Masuku to gloss over declining agricultural production. She claimed that government's controversial land reforms had resulted in "high yields" and the production of "high quality livestock" by resettled farmers. No attempt was made to reconcile these claims with reality. Earlier, the stations (28/5, 8am & 8pm) also passively quoted Labour Minister Nicholas Goche threatening that the ruling party would use "petrol bombs against the MDC" in response to its alleged "terror campaign". The stations did not seek condemnation for these crude threats, especially in view of the fact that none of the opposition activists accused of petrol bombings have yet been convicted.

In fact, ZBC did not see anything wrong with government officials' abuse of public events to denigrate the opposition and its perceived allies. For instance, while ZTV (31/05,6pm) announced that Msika had "commissioned a multi-million dollar solar project" in Goromonzi, the accompanying footage only showed him rehashing ZANU PF attacks on the West and the opposition. Likewise, Spot FM (30/5, 8pm) only quoted Mashonaland West governor Nelson Samkange denigrating the opposition in a report on the District Development Fund's borehole rehabilitation in Zvimba South.

But while ZBC gave prominence to ruling party attacks on its opponents, it ignored important stories such as the nurses and doctors' strike, the release on bail of Makone and the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

These only appeared in the private media.

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