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Price blitz
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-27
Monday July 9th 2007 - Sunday July 15th 2007
July 19, 2007

THE government media maintained their lopsided coverage of government's purge of businesses, restricting themselves to rehashing official claims that the crackdown had successfully brought about pricing stability and consumer satisfaction. As a result, none of their stories on the subject (ZBC [115] and government papers [88]) bothered to holistically measure the alleged benefits of the forced price cuts against their negative offshoots, underlined by acute shortages of basic commodities.

For example, at least half of the government papers' stories passively regurgitated Industry Minister Obert Mpofu's pronouncements on the government's position without balancing them with alternative views.

It was against this background that the official media failed to probe the effects of government's abrupt closure of private abattoirs and restoration of the state-run Cold Storage Company (CSC) monopoly in the beef industry. ZTV (10/7, 8pm), Spot FM and Radio Zimbabwe (11/7, morning bulletins) and The Herald and Chronicle (11/7) just reported Mpofu justifying the cancellation of the abattoirs' licences on the basis that they had betrayed government trust by stopping slaughtering cattle "in apparent resistance to the price controls slapped on beef".

No comments were sought from the slaughterhouses on why they had ceased operations. Neither did these media probe CSC's capacity to meet national meat requirements, especially in view of the serious viability problems the company is already facing.

The Herald (11/7), for example, merely quoted an unnamed member of the price crack team claiming that production was at "full throttle" at the government abattoir and other two companies the team visited. The only problem, he claimed, was "shortage of slaughter stock" caused by the "withholding" of "animals" by "some farmers" following "the price reduction". The fact that ranchers were reluctant to sell their cattle to the parastatal due to the sub-economic prices it offered was suppressed.

ZTV (12/7, 8pm) and Spot FM (13/7, 8am) equally failed to take CSC chairman Lovegot Tendengu to task on the matter. They vaguely reported him claiming that the re-establishment of the CSC monopoly would "bring sanity to the beef industry" and "level the playing field". Spot FM (14/7, 1pm) amplified these claims, reporting - without providing any shred of evidence - that "supplies of meat had begun" and that sales were expected "to improve next week".

Earlier, ZTV (9/7, 8pm) and Spot FM (10/7, 8am) reported Transport Minister Christopher Mushowe threatening to revoke licenses of private transporters for allegedly failing to comply with the government directive to reduce fares without reconciling it with calls by commuter omnibus operators for cheaper fuel, which they said was unavailable. Similarly, The Herald (10/7) did not establish the veracity of claims by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) that it had "increased fuel supplies to commuter omnibus and long distance bus operators to ensure that they slash fares in line with government directive" on prices.

In fact, instead of investigating the volumes and adequacy of the fuel the parastatal claimed to be supplying, the paper simply created the impression that NOCZIM's intervention was paying dividends with some service stations already selling the commodity at the government-stipulated prices. No attempt was made to relate the parastatal's claims to the continued fuel and transport shortages.

Neither did the Chronicle (9/7) ask Mpofu how the forced reduction in the "unwarranted extortionist rise" in the price of vehicle spare parts, "which was the major driver of exorbitant urban commuter fares," translated to a lasting solution to the public transport crisis.

The government media's blind endorsement of the clampdown also manifested itself in simplistic assessment of its successes. For example, ZTV and Spot FM (10/7, 8pm) approvingly reported on the exercise saying it had been "welcomed by most Zimbabweans" and as a result "made the government highly popular with consumers, who were suffering at the hands of unscrupulous business operators". Spot FM (13/7, 8pm) reported that ZANU PF supporters in Chiredzi had taken to the streets "in support of President Robert Mugabe's call for the reduction of prices".

In addition, Diabetics Association of Zimbabwe, Commercial Tenants of Harare, small and medium enterprises in Harare and some unnamed Mhondoro residents were reported appealing to the taskforce to extend the clampdown to their various areas.

Differing views were hardly given space.

For example, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's observations during a rally in Dzivarasekwa that the price cuts were just "an election gimmick" were simply reported in the context of their dismissal by pro-government analyst Goodwills Masimirembwa (ZTV and Spot FM 10/7 evening bulletins). In some cases, the official media tried to use the exercise to criminalise perceived government opponents, whom they depicted as bent on scuttling the government efforts to stabilise prices. The Herald (10/7), for example, ignored the Law Society of Zimbabwe's reasons for hiking registration fees for law firms from $300,000 to $4 million choosing to accuse the organization, which "has of late been in a confrontational mood challenging government and openly associated itself with the MDC," of "defying" the price cut directive.

The previous day the paper announced that government was "investigating" some NGOs that were allegedly "buying basic commodities" and "stashing them in bonded warehouses" for "distribution around election time to tilt the electoral field in favour of the opposition". No attempt was made to establish the veracity of the allegations. Neither did it seek comment from the alleged organizations. Instead, the paper passively quoted Mpofu threatening to take "drastic measures against the NGOs" if government investigations find them guilty.

Although the government media's sourcing patterns appeared diverse (Figs 1 and 2), their coverage of the matter still remained superficial as their sources were basically quoted echoing government position on the clampdown.

Fig. 1 Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig. 2 Voice distribution in the government Press

Critical follow-ups on the purge only appeared in the private media.

They carried 31 stories that continued to highlight the negative effects of the exercise which The Financial Gazette (12/7) likened to the "ill-conceived" land reforms and Operation Murambatsvina that had "left the people traumatized and worse off than before".

Besides, they also exposed sharp differences in government in the way the exercise was being carried and reported on regional condemnation of its implementation.

The Zimbabwe Independent (13/7) reported central bank governor Gideon Gono as having written to government denouncing the crackdown and warning against its "unintended consequences such as collapse of businesses, worsening economic decline and suffering of the poor". Gono reportedly likened the purge to US' invasion of Iraq, which he claimed had been "launched without an exit strategy", adding only a "holistic package of measures which include the need to reduce government expenditure, reduce the budget deficit and ensure fiscal discipline were needed to reduce inflation".

His criticism, the paper further revealed, had angered some ruling party "hardliners supporting the price blitz" who were now calling on President Mugabe to cut his "prime ministerial powers" or dismiss him.

Although The Herald and Chronicle (14/7) reported Gono affirming his reservations on the blitz, they tried to present him as still unreservedly behind it. In addition, the private media revealed the dilemma facing the AG's office in prosecuting some of the arrested shop managers with the office having reportedly dismissed charges against some of the managers as "murky" (Studio 7 10/7).

SW Radio Africa (12/7) and Zimbabwe Times (14/7) reported South Africa's labour and business bodies as having released separate statements expressing deep concern at the "deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe", and the "threats it posed to South African owned business" in Zimbabwe. The private media also assessed some of the damage caused by the clampdown with SW Radio Africa (12/7) saying it had resulted in 90 percent of butcheries in the country closing down. It quoted Eddie Cross (former CSC CEO) who described the situation as the "beginning of the end of the beef industry", considering that "only 3 (CSC) abattoirs had replaced 400 private abattoirs", adding that "two of CSC's abattoirs had not killed a single animal in the last 15years".

New Zimbabwe.com (12/7) echoed similar sentiments, saying CSC was offering farmers as little as $3 million for a beast valued as high as Z$12m while Studio 7 (10/7) revealed that workers were being laid off because business was not "making any profits or extra money to pay them".

And to expose the economic cost of the clampdown - allegedly instigated by the state security agents - the Independent carried estimates of losses, running into billions of dollars, which business has incurred since the forced price cuts.

The private media's sourcing patterns are shown in Fig 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Fig. 4 Voice distribution in the private Press

Notably, they gave scarce attention to government opinion.

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