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International relations
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-36
Monday September 10th - Sunday September 16th 2007
September 20, 2007

Although the government media carried 78 reports on international relations (ZBC [52] and government papers [26]), none of them honestly discussed the causes of Harare's frosty relations with some members of the international community. Most of the stories just portrayed President Mugabe's embattled government as enjoying huge support from the international community but failed to gauge benefits to the country of this purported solidarity. It was in this light that the official media even deliberately misconstrued support for the country as meaning support for government's under-fire political and economic policies. The misrepresentation also applied to the way they reported on the targeted Western sanctions against the ruling elite and their cronies, which they continued to depict as blanket retribution against the people of Zimbabwe.

The government media' determination to twist issues and peddle the narrow perception of a popular Mugabe government - even among its alleged Western detractors - was exemplified by Spot FM (12/9, 8pm) and The Herald (13/9). They gave the impression that Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon had called President Mugabe a "hero" although there was nothing in their reports that remotely suggested that. In the same vein, they oversimplified McKinnon's observations that "some African countries he (McKinnon) had visited" still regarded Mugabe as "very much a hero" to mean that he had "admitted that Mugabe is a hero in Africa". In addition, the official media just gave the simplistic notion that, apart from Britain's objection to Mugabe's participation at the summit, it was almost inevitable that he would be invited.

The official media glossed over the causes of Zimbabwe's expulsion from the Commonwealth or of its unease relations with the West. Spot FM (12/9,8pm) just attributed it to Zimbabwe's "bold decision to give land to the majority". The government media portrayed the ruling elite as prevailing over isolation and its Western opponents. This reached almost ridiculous levels when they presented the Zimbabwe cricket team's win against Australia as a diplomatic victory for Zimbabwe without coherently explaining how. For example, The Herald (14/9) editorial; Zim win: A kick in Howard's face, attacked John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, for alleged political malice against Zimbabwe. In addition, the same issue of the paper carried a cartoon depicting the "famous" cricket victory as retribution against the recent deportation from Australia of the eight children of top government officials as part of Canberra's intensified smart sanctions against the ruling elite. Earlier, The Herald (13/9) skirted the true reasons behind Australia's failure to fulfil its previous fixture with Zimbabwe by citing an unnamed commentator implying it was due to fear of defeat: "Now everyone knew why the Australian national side was banned by its government from coming to Zimbabwe for a one day international series this month."

The official media used the authorities' exchanges of diplomatic etiquettes with their Cuban, Libyan, Kuwait and Mozambican counterparts as proof that the country was enjoying good relations with the rest of the world. For example, while ZBC's morning bulletins (11/9) and The Herald (11/9) reported Mozambique as having boosted power supply to Zimbabwe, increasing it by 100 percent from 150 megawatts daily to 300, it did not clarify under what conditions it was made. They passively quoted the authorities attributing the concession to "good working relationship" despite the "existing debt . . . of close to US$20 million" to Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa of Mozambique. No comment was sought from the Mozambicans. The lack of in-depth coverage of the topic by the government media was mirrored by their heavy reliance on official comments without balancing them with alternative opinions. See Figs 1 and 2.

Fig 1: Voice Distribution on ZBC

Most of the diplomatic voices were reported in the context of giving support to the authorities' claims of a Zimbabwean government at peace with the world despite Western machinations to isolate it.

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the government Press

Only the private media exposed the gravity of Zimbabwe's strained relations with the international community. Its 20 stories on the matter (private electronic media [8] and private papers [12]) showed that even in Africa, support for Mugabe was not as unanimous as the government media projected it. For example, the Zimbabwe Independent (14/9) revealed that Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa had "clashed" with Mugabe after he tried to table for discussion the Zimbabwe crisis during a closed-door session at the recent SADC Summit in Zambia. Reportedly, Mugabe walked out of the meeting in "protest" despite attempts by fellow presidents, such as South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, to stop him from leaving.Earlier, Zimdaily (13/9) claimed that Mugabe was considering withdrawing Zimbabwe from SADC if the region continued to press him to resign.

It quoted unnamed ZANU PF Politburo sources as saying the president had already tasked ZANU-PF's legal team led by Patrick Chinamasa and Emmerson Mnangagwa to look into the matter. However, the report lacked substantiation. The Financial Gazette (13/9) also exposed cracks in Zimbabwe's relationship with China, the lynchpin of government's 'Look East' policy. It reported Liu Joe, a trade attaché at the Chinese embassy, revealing that the support and solidarity that Zimbabwe was receiving from his country had yielded very little due to Zimbabwe's incapacity to raise both the foreign and local currency to back the projects.

New Zimbabwe and Studio 7(12/9) and The Financial Gazette (13/9) reported on the growing tension over Mugabe possible presence at the EU-AU summit, saying already Britain and Germany had threatened to boycott it if he was invited. SW Radio Africa (12/9) cited UK-based MDC official Hebson Makuvise and a former British government minister, Malcolm Rifkind, advising against Mugabe's invitation. It quoted Makuvise saying inviting Mugabe would "send wrong signals to repressive regimes in Africa" while Rifkind argued that it would "validate the Harare government while humiliating Europe."

The critical manner in which the private media tackled the topic was reflected in their use of alternative comments to test official pronouncements. See Figs 3 and 4.

Fig 3: Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Fig 4: Voice distribution in the private Press

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