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Electoral issues
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Weekly Media Update 2008-2
Monday January 14th - Sunday January 20th, 2008
January 25, 2008

There was no improvement in the government media's coverage of electoral issues during the week. All 63 stories on the matter continued to gloss over the authorities' controversial preparations for the March elections; failed to report impartially on the campaigns of the ruling party and the opposition, and barely gave any attention to cases of electoral irregularities and politically motivated violence. Of these, 31 appeared on ZBC and government papers published 32. Only the private media made attempts to report holistically on the electoral issues in 41 reports: private electronic media (25) and private papers (16).

Political rallies/campaigns
The government media devoted 51 stories to party political campaigns: ZANU PF (43), MDC (seven) and the little-known African National Party (ANP) led by Egypt Dzinemunhenzva (one). However, only the activities of the ruling party and ANP got favourable coverage while those of the MDC were portrayed in bad light. For example, while they updated their audiences on ZANU PF's poll preparations, such as its proposed primaries to select candidates, there was no corresponding information regarding the MDC's activities. Instead, all their reports on the opposition MDC projected it as rebellious, hypocritical and violent. For example, the government Press projected the stalemate in the SADC-backed talks between ZANU PF and the MDC - aimed at resolving the country's political and economic crises through, among others, the holding of credible elections - as caused by the MDC's insincerity.

The Herald and Chronicle and all ZBC stations (17/1), for instance, presented the current standoff in the inter-party talks as having been caused by the MDC's sudden insistence on a new constitution before the elections, prompting talks mediator President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to fly into the country to resolve the dispute.

Spot FM (17/1, 1&8pm) epitomised the official media's position: "The MDC wants a new constitution even if it means doing so without consulting the people . . . ZANU PF says the necessary democratic channels should be followed to ensure democracy is observed". No clear details were given on why the MDC would insist on a new constitution if it was not part of the agreement between the two parties. Neither did they remind their audiences that ZANU PF had not consulted the nation when they solicited the MDC's support for the enactment of Amendment No.18, which contains fundamental electoral reforms, including an increase in the number of constituencies and senatorial seats.

By the weekend The Sunday Mail (20/1) accused the MDC of being reluctant to conclude the inter-party talks with ZANU PF, saying it did not want to be perceived as endorsing two clauses on sanctions and land reforms contained in the "tentative" agreement between the two. Quoting unnamed sources, it claimed that the MDC "did not want to be seen to be opposing Western policies on Zimbabwe". Such distorted coverage also manifested itself in the way the official media reported the MDC's proposed march dubbed "Freedom March for a New Zimbabwe", aimed at pressuring government to agree on a new constitution before the elections. The Herald and Chronicle (17/1) merely dismissed the event as "mischievous" and a "Jay Walk" whose "stated objectives were at variance with the real objectives of the march" without remotely trying to analyse the point of the protest.

Further, there was no reconciliation of the planned demonstration with ZANU PF's Million-Man March conducted last November in support of President Mugabe's candidature in the presidential election, which the government media uncritically praised as an indication of Mugabe's popularity. Only the private media accorded space to other contesting parties. For example, there was no malice in their coverage of the MDC's planned street march. In fact, Studio 7 (15/1) and The Standard (20/1) reminded their audiences that it was on the basis of the promise of a new constitution that the party had agreed to support the 18th Amendment.

In addition, the private media exposed how the ruling party was abusing relief aid distribution in flood-hit areas of the country by using them as an opportunity to campaign for the ruling party. SW Radio (16/1), for example, reported that some senior party leaders were "holding impromptu rallies" in the affected areas "telling villagers the aid is coming from ZANU PF". It recorded Manyika as having said at one of the rallies in Mashonaland Central: "You have seen that the party leadership has its people at heart. We have been hit by this national disaster and we have acted swiftly to provide aid."

The private media also assessed the credibility, timing and likely effects of a prospective new "break-away" party reportedly led by ZANU PF Politburo member, Simba Makoni. While SW Radio Africa and New Zimbabwe (15/1) believed that it would not stand a chance owing to, among other things, its delayed launch, New Zimbabwe (17/1) quoted an unnamed source justifying its timing, saying "anything earlier than now would have been the wrong time". But constitutional lawyer and NCA chairman, Lovemore Madhuku, told SW Radio (15/1) that Makoni's party consisted a "group of legendary cowards . . . who lack the courage to confront Mugabe".

Administration
The government media's 10 reports on the subject failed to provide informed coverage on the country's electoral process by passively regurgitating the authorities' positive pronouncements on their readiness to hold elections. For example, there was no useful analysis of the delimitation report presented to President Mugabe by the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC). Coverage on the matter was limited to just reporting official observations on the report. TV (16/1, 8pm) and The Herald (17/1) passively reported Mugabe describing the report as an "excellent piece of work" without questioning how he had arrived at such a conclusion when the report had just been handed over to him.

Besides, no comment was sought from civic society, opposition parties and independent electoral watchdogs such as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) on the exercise. In fact, The Herald (17/1) seemed to discourage any discussions on the matter when it claimed that there was "no need to debate over the report as ZEC is understood to have consulted all parties during the preparations of the report". These "parties" were not mentioned.

It was against this background that none of the government media dared question the credibility of the delimitation exercise, considering that it was based on a voters' roll that has always been criticised for being in a shambles. Neither did they report on, let alone question, the logistics on other election mechanics such as voter registration, voter education and staffing levels of the electoral body. The private media performed better in their coverage of the topic. They continued to expose the deficiencies in the administration of the polls in 12 reports they devoted to the issue.
For example The Standard (20/1) quoted MDC anti-Senate MDC official Ian Makone arguing that the "whole delimitation method was fraudulent because it was based on a flawed process" adding that the new constituencies had been demarcated in a way that favours ZANU PF despite their protestations.

The opposition party claimed ZEC had attached some urban areas to rural areas "in a bid to neutralise the opposition party's urban dominance". Areas mostly affected by this were said to be Mutare, Harare and Bulawayo. For example, the MDC claimed that several suburban areas of Mutare such as Fan Valley, Yeovil and Greenside had now been attached to nearby rural areas to "dilute" the MDC's urban influence.

Political violence
None of the media recorded any incidents of politically motivated violence in the week. However, The Financial Gazette carried a ZESN report that recorded eight incidents of intimidation, deception, vote buying and abuse of traditional leaders and state resources by ZANU PF in an effort to coerce the rural electorate to vote for them in the March plebiscite. The government media ignored these issues, restricting themselves to mainly covering police warning political parties to desist from violence.

It was against this background that Spot FM (16/1, 8pm) failed to view as blatant abuse of a civic gathering, a call by Mashonaland East governor Ray Kaukonde for people in rural areas to "rally behind ZANU PF in the polls" during a donation of medical equipment to Murehwa Hospital by the Life Ministries church organisation.

The lopsided manner in which the official media handled the matter is shown by their reliance on government and ZANU PF voices. See Figs 1 and 2.

Fig 1: Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the government Press

The private media discriminated against ZANU PF voices as shown in 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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