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Elections coverage by media
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2008-6
February 18th - Sunday February 24th 2008
February 28, 2008

This week the public media continued to violate domestic and regional guidelines on fair and equitable election reporting by giving massive publicity to ZANU PF than all its opponents combined. They also failed to provide informative updates either on the state of the authorities' poll preparations or on electoral malpractices, including political violence, five weeks before polling in the March 29 harmonised elections.

These professional shortcomings were reflected in almost all the 163 reports that they carried on the matter: ZBC (92) and government papers (71). In contrast, the private media critically examined these issues in 188 stories, 95 of which appeared in the private electronic media and 93 in print.

Political Developments
The government media's discriminatory coverage of parties' campaign activities was this week epitomised by ZBC's disproportionate use of ZANU PF presidential candidate, Robert Mugabe's 84th birthday, to spruce up his image ahead of next month's polls. For example, ZTV alone dedicated 48 minutes of nearly three hours in the week's 7am, 6pm and 8pm news bulletins (excluding business, entertainment and sport) to advertising President Mugabe and his party. Its (21/6, 6pm) bulletin even featured two praise poems of Mugabe.

In addition, ZTV aired his birthday interview, including featuring music and current affairs programmes that paid him glowing tribute. Although the official papers only carried 10 approving stories on the birthday, The Herald and Chronicle (21/2) and The Manica Post (22/2) carried 16-page supplements with congratulatory messages to Mugabe mostly from government departments and its cash-strapped parastatals, despite the crippling newsprint shortage that has seen newspapers become thinner.

However, the official media's overkill coverage of the birthday celebrations - cast in the communist-style of cult hero-worshiping - never translated into any critical analysis.

Rather, they passively allowed Mugabe to divert attention from crucial national issues by using the event to malign opponents such as MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai and former ZANU PF politburo member Simba Makoni, who is standing as an independent presidential candidate. For example, the government media never questioned the appropriateness of Mugabe's use of his birthday to insult Makoni as a puffed out frog and "political prostitute" (The Herald 22 &24/2 and ZTV 22/2, 7am).Neither did they demand empirical evidence to his recycled claims of an Anglo-American plot to effect 'illegal' regime change in Zimbabwe using the opposition.

The government media merely amplified these conspiracies. For example, The Herald (22/2) insinuated without proof, that there was a "symbiotic" relationship between Makoni and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair "bent on reversing the gains of our independence".

The paper's desperation to link Britain to the alleged regime change agenda in the country resulted in it (20/2) contriving contents of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's purported letter to the British Law Society. While its news report quoted Brown as telling the society that Britain would, "continue to do everything we can" to "cause regime change in Zimbabwe" which 'remains a priority for this government", the actual letter, which it also published, made no reference to regime change.

Besides their use of the 21st February Movement to campaign for Mugabe, the government media carried 106 positive reports on other ZANU PF electoral preparations and turned a blind eye to the rebellions rocking the party, which have resulted in the emergence of dual candidacy in several constituencies. For example, The Herald (18/2) and Chronicle (19/2) passively cited ZANU PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa narrowly attributing the problem to "indiscipline".

The government media only covered Makoni and the MDC in 16 stories. Even then, they were mostly presented as Western stooges.

The private media were more informative in their coverage of party activities. They questioned the government's abuse of the public media in its coverage of the 21st February Movement and the extravagance of the celebrations; updated its audiences on the parties' electoral preparations, including the rebellion in ZANU PF and MDC over the selection of candidates. For example, New Zimbabwe (21/2) criticised Mugabe's attack on Makoni, pointing out that the president's personal attacks on perceived opponents had become the "hallmark" of his "survival strategy" while The Standard (24/2) warned that such insults "could...open floodgates of violence and hostility" against Makoni.

The private media viewed the "rebellious" senior officials contesting seats on ruling party tickets or as independents despite being defeated in party primaries as further proof of open revolt in ZANU PF. The Zimbabwe Independent (22/2), for example, claimed that some of the "rebels...received instructions from members of the presidium to file their nomination papers", adding that most of them were linked to the Solomon Mujuru faction, said to be backing Makoni's presidential bid. The private media also reported on opposition parties' preparations for the polls such as the Tsvangirai-led MDC's campaign launch in Sakubva and Makoni's proposed first rally in Bulawayo .

Administration
The official media relied on official handouts for coverage of the country's electoral preparations in most of the 20 reports they carried on the management of the elections: ZBC (eight) and government papers (12). As a result, there was no attempt to question or verify the authorities' source of optimism that the elections would be run smoothly in free and fair conditions. For example, neither The Herald and Chronicle (21/2) nor Spot FM (21/ 2, 8am) and ZTV (21/2, 6pm) interrogated Justice Ministry Permanent Secretary David Mangota and Zimbabwe Election Commission spokesman Utloile Silayigwana on the adequacy of setting up 11 000 polling stations for the elections. Or the feasibility of voting in one day, considering the complicated voting process where voters have to simultaneously cast four different ballot papers for the presidential, parliamentary, senate and local government elections.

Notably, during the 2002 presidential election alone, the polling stations that ZEC established countrywide failed to cope, forcing the commission to extend the voting periods in urban centres. And even then, quite a large number of people were still turned away after failing to cast their vote. However, instead of refreshing the electoral authorities on these issues, Spot FM (21/2, 1pm) and the two official dailies simply reported Mangota as having "allayed fears" that voting would not be extended due to long queues.

The private electronic media highlighted these electoral shortcomings, and reported local and international bodies disputing official claims that the country's preparations created conditions for undisputed elections. These bodies questioned ZEC's independence; the piecemeal and inadequate amendments to harsh media and security laws that still curtailed media growth and independence and frustrated the opposition from organising and holding rallies; state-sponsored intimidation and organised violence; and the general lack of voter education by the electoral authorities. For example, Studio 7 (18/2) and The Financial Gazette (21/2) reported local election watchdog ZESN bemoaning ZEC's poor management.

The Standard quoted ZESN chairperson Noel Kututwa reiterating the need to postpone the polls as "there are fundamental issues requiring more time to correct", adding, "the same problems encountered at nomination could spill into the elections". The Gazette argued that ZEC had flouted electoral laws by failing to conduct voter education at least 90 days before the election. Only the private papers discussed amendments to the Electoral Law, which now call for a re-run if none of the four presidential candidates fail to garner a majority vote of 51 percent.

Political violence and vote-buying
The government media recorded two incidents of politically motivated violence during the week. One stemmed from intra-ZANU PF fighting and the other from alleged clashes between members of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe and ZANU PF activists. While The Herald (21/2) revealed that those arrested in the ZANU PF in-fighting were Shuvai Mahofa's husband and three others on allegations of torching a hut belonging to a rival in the just-ended primary elections, Spot FM (21/2,1pm) deliberately masked this. It reported the arrests of the three without identifying their political affiliation and the circumstances leading to the violence. It simply noted: " This is one of the cases to go down under the police initiated zero tolerance to political violence during campaigns."

Notably, The Herald (21/2) distorted circumstances leading to the arrest of PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe and eight other activists, whom it presented as MDC activists. Reportedly, the nine were arrested for "allegedly disturbing peace" after "throwing fliers inscribed with provocative political messages" at the ZANU PF Harare provincial offices along Fourth Street. The paper cited the police saying the nine were in hospital "receiving treatment for injuries sustained in clashes with ruling party supporters" without clarification. However, it only emerged in the private media that the PTUZ members had actually been abducted and tortured by ZANU PF supporters for distributing fliers on the streets of Harare denouncing the collapsed state of the education sector.

Meanwhile the government media recorded 6 incidents of vote buying by ZANU PF candidates without interpreting these as electoral malpractices. For example, ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe (20/2, 1pm) passively reported Joseph Chinotimba donating 20 wheel chairs to clinics in Buhera South where he is standing as a candidate while Spot FM (22/2, 8am) recorded ZANU PF senatorial candidate for Makokoba Tshinga Dube donating $3bn towards the improvement of school facilities in the area, including promises to open a free clinic in the area by Saturday. The private media categorically regarded these acts as vote buying. The government media's lopsided coverage of the topic was shown by their over reliance on ZANU PF voices while the private media's reportage was more diversified. See Figs 1 to 4.

Fig 1: Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Fig 3: Voice distribution in the private Press

Fig 4: Voice distribution in government papers

Economic decline
The government media failed to adequately report on Zimbabwe 's economic recession, characterised by spiralling inflation, crash of the Zimbabwe dollar and the galloping cost of living. ZBC, for example, drowned its audiences in the 21st February Movement celebrations and ignored the economic decline, including the rise in the January inflation to a record high of 100 000. The official papers did not fare any better. They either censored news of the economic decline or papered them with official rhetoric blaming Western sanctions and economic saboteurs for the difficulties. For example, while only the Chronicle (22/2) reported the hike in the inflation, it hid the news in its business section.

Only the private media paid attention to the economic slump, emphasising the need for government to holistically deal with the matter. For example, all the electronic media (21/2) and The Standard and The Zimbabwean on Sunday reported the leap in inflation as indicative of how government had lost the battle to end a biting economic crisis. The private media also highlighted other indicators of economic decay such as the free fall of the local currency against major currencies, the continued brain drain in the teaching profession due to poor working conditions and the breakdown in service in towns.

The differences in the way the government and private media handled the topic are reflected in the sourcing patterns (Fig 5 and 6).

Fig 5: Voice distribution in government-controlled press

Fig 6: Voice distribution in private Press

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