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Media Update 2008/11
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
May 11, 2008

General comment
MMPZ condemns ZANU PF's efforts to position the state media as exclusive campaign tools for President Mugabe ahead of his contest with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in the presidential election run-off set to be held by July 31st this year. Both the official and private media reported Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu demanding total monopoly by government of Zimbabwe's only state radios and TV station during a meeting with the ZBH board.

Reportedly, Ndlovu tasked the board to review all programming to include more content discrediting the opposition and extolling Mugabe and ZANU PF. He also implored Zimbabweans to listen to the government-run propagandist news radio station, Voice of Zimbabwe, based in Gweru, rather than alternative independent radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from abroad.

This crude attempt to impose a tyranny of thought upon the nation has been reinforced by the recent arrest of private and international media workers and members of civil society. Such action represents yet another assault on Zimbabweans' constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of expression and choice, and illustrates the authorities' blatant contempt for the country's electoral laws that demand equitable media coverage of all contestants during an election. As the main instruments of the authorities' attempts to brainwash the nation, the government controlled media have forsaken any claim they may once have had to being media outlets, substituting news for unadulterated propaganda that promotes intolerance, hatred, fear and confusion.

In this context, Spot FM (6/5, 1pm) reported Ndlovu distorting the role of the public broadcaster, saying its mandate was to "defend the country and remind citizens of where they are coming from". The minister claimed ZBC should "tell the true Zimbabwean story by having more programmes on the liberation war . . . to remind people that so much blood was lost in order for them to enjoy today's independence". The station made no attempt to view this "advice" as aimed at indoctrinating Zimbabweans with ZANU PF dogma ahead of the run-off. Although ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe ignored Ndlovu's comments, they coincided with an intensification of documentaries and movies based on the liberation struggle screened on ZTV.

Ndlovu was also reported expressing a sinister interest in supporting Zimpapers, publishers of government's print empire that includes the country's only two daily papers, The Herald and Chronicle.

The Herald (8/5) passively reported Ndlovu promising to help the publishing group acquire adequate newsprint to enable it to "print more newspapers and increase its reach to the people", adding that Zimpapers "must reciprocate government support". It also reported Ndlovu hinting at the authorities' plans to monopolise the publishing concern when he said that since government had "realised" the importance of newspapers in "projecting the national and international image of Zimbabwe", it had decided to "interface with Zimpapers management".

Only the private media interpreted this as gross editorial interference and an abuse of state institutions.

The Zimbabwe Independent's Editor's Memo (9/5) for example, regarded Ndlovu's action as "deplorable", saying his thinking was "worrying", especially in view of the widespread reports of post-election violence. Drawing parallels with the Rwanda genocide in 1994 where radio stations were used to promote killings through hate speech, it warned that although radios and newspapers "don't kill people", they provide the fertile ground of "hatred for people to act on".

In another story, the paper reported ZANU PF Politburo member Emmerson Mnangagwa and party hardliners directing President Mugabe's election campaign as having met state media editors where they gave them the "editorial . . . and political guidelines to be followed during the run-off". Similarly, ZimOnline reported Ndlovu as having given the ZBH board a "blank cheque" to dismiss any worker who refused to "conform, or showed questionable loyalty to Mugabe and ZANU PF" after accusing some ZBC officials of sabotaging the ruling party's campaign.
Incidentally, as this report went to print, The Herald (15/5) reported the board as having fired the broadcaster's chief executive, Henry Muradzikwa.

Only the private media reported the arrests and detention of The Standard Editor, Davison Maruziva, and Reuters photographer Howard Burditt, as intimidation of the media, while the official media passively reported them as normal.

Post-election focus
The government media gave a sanitised picture of Zimbabwe's post-election crisis despite devoting 122 reports to the matter. Of these, 26 appeared on ZBC and 96 in government papers. They selectively reported on escalating incidents of politically motivated violence in the country, attributing them to the MDC (Tsvangirai) while absolving ZANU PF of any culpability. In addition, the official Press carried propagandist editorials portraying the MDC, white commercial farmers, Western countries and other perceived government opponents, as collaborating to effect "illegal regime change" in Zimbabwe without providing any credible evidence.

Neither were there any sensible explanations on the authorities' delays in holding the presidential poll run-off. In contrast, the private Press gave more informed coverage of the poisoned post-election environment, which they argued made a free and fair run-off impossible. This was reflected in their 88 reports on the topic: private electronic media (15) and private papers (73).

Political violence
The government media maintained a tight lid on widespread allegations of state-sponsored post-election violence featuring prominently in the private and international media. For example, although ZBC carried 13 stories on the subject, recording one incident, none of the reports articulated the causes and gravity of the problem. Neither did the state broadcaster or its print counterparts assess the damaging effects of the violence on the electoral climate in the context of the pending presidential run-off. They also smothered news of the widespread international outrage the violence has attracted.

It was against this background that these media hid the real reasons behind visits from South African President Thabo Mbeki and a SADC ministerial committee of the troika on Politics, Defence and Security to the country: to investigate the worsening violence.

Radio Zimbabwe and Spot FM (7/5, 1pm) merely reported the SADC ministerial group as being here to "access the political situation" in preparation for the run-off. ZTV (9/5, 8pm) shed no light on Mbeki's mission, only saying he held talks with President Mugabe on an "undisclosed topic".

Instead, the government media parried public attention arising from the increasingly disturbing reports of violence with mainly official comments dismissing these as figments of opposition and Western propaganda designed to tarnish Mugabe's government.

The government media selectively covered the violence by only highlighting incidents allegedly committed by the MDC and other perceived government opponents whilst censoring those where ZANU PF activists were blamed. For example, the only incident of political violence that ZBC recorded was on the burning of eight houses belonging to ZANU PF supporters by alleged MDC activists. Spot FM and ZTV (8/5, 1pm, 6pm) claimed the arson attacks were carried out as punishment against ruling party supporters for defecting from the MDC. No other details were given, nor was the MDC accessed for comment.

The government papers also portrayed white farmers as perpetrators of violence without providing any credible evidence. The Herald and Chronicle (5/5) merely reported the arrest of three white farmers "after they were seen driving around in an allegedly unregistered vehicle" without citing any charges against them. Instead, they tried to link the farmers with white former farmers, whom they said were allegedly invading farms belonging to black farmers and committing violence against them.

The following day, the official dailies passively reported the arrest of another white farmer, Wayne Munro, for "using pepper spray to attack war veterans who had visited his farm". They neither clarified the purpose of the war veterans' "visit" nor interpreted Munro's action as self-defence.

The government media also failed to give the context in which the Zimbabwe National Army had disassociated itself from allegations that its members were responsible for some of the violence, saying the army "has never and will never be responsible for violence" (ZTV, 6/5, 8pm). These media also made no attempt to explain the ZNA's concerns about "ever increasing incidents" against some of its members "being provoked, insulted, abused and even attacked by some sections of our community for no good reason" (The Herald [9/5]). They showed no interest in discovering the identities of those people wearing army uniforms who were identified as being responsible for the violence and why the army had suddenly become targets of public hostility.

Worst of all, these media suppressed news that MDC supporters had ever been attacked despite the party's claims accusing government of purging its supporters so as to immobilize them ahead of the run-off.

Only the private electronic media gave wide-ranging exposure to the post-election violence. They carried 53 reports and recorded 70 incidents of politically motivated violence: private electronic media (44) and private papers (26). The reports identified the victims as perceived government opponents while the perpetrators were named as state security agents, war veterans and ZANU PF militia. Of these cases, 27 were fatalities.

However, with the exception of The Standard, the private media failed to conduct independent investigation into the deaths, relying generally on MDC statements as their sole source. SW Radio Africa (7/5), for example, reported the MDC claiming that post-election violence had claimed the lives of 25 supporters, but failed to confirm this figure with any independent evidence, such as hospitals, eye-witnesses or the police.

It only confirmed 22 of the deaths through a report by the Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights.

However, a report in the South African-based publication, The Sunday Tribune (11/5), provided an insight into some of the difficulties journalists were having in covering the violence. These ranged from poor telecommunications in the communal areas to a lack of co-operation from the police and hospital staff. As a result, said the article, journalists were forced to rely on an "enormous network of informers countrywide". SW Radio Africa and Studio 7 (9/5) reported the doctors' association revealing that it had attended to 900 cases of torture and assault, adding that it believed this was "only a fraction of those injured".

Studio 7 reported that the Zimbabwe Peace Project had documented 4 331 cases of political violence and 10 deaths in April and cited soldiers, war veterans and youth militia as being responsible. The private media also carried several incidents on government's crackdown against dissent. These included the arrest of journalists, lawyers, labour leaders and activists from the human rights organisation, Women of Zimbabwe Arise.

They also highlighted growing regional and international indignation at the violence.For instance, they linked visits by Mbeki, his emissaries and SADC delegations to the escalating post-election violence. However, despite reporting the groups as having met President Mugabe, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the MDC and civil society leaders, the private media did not reveal the details of what they discussed.

Electoral administration
The official media maintained their indifference towards ZEC's mismanagement of the electoral process. This was characterised by their failure to question the commission's reluctance to announce the presidential run-off date, which according to the country's electoral laws, must be held within 21 days from the announcement of the result of the initial poll. Likewise, the official media appeared disinterested in questioning ZEC's silence on the results of five of the 23 constituencies where it conducted recounts following ZANU PF complaints of ballot tampering.They also suppressed news of the municipal election results, which the government papers merely carried as ZEC advertisements, leaving readers to interpret the results on their own. This shameful offence against journalistic practice effectively suffocated news of widespread gains by the MDC in the country's towns and cities, and even in some rural areas.

Only the Sunday News (11/5) belatedly reported ZEC's comments on the run-off dates, which appeared in the private and international media, saying it was considering extending the 21-day period due to lack of financial resources, among others. It cited ZEC's deputy elections officer, Utloile Silaigwana, saying that his commission was legally empowered by the law to extend the run-off period to "allow for adequate preparations for the poll". However, the paper did not pin down ZEC on when exactly it would hold the poll. The paper also failed to reconcile Silaigwana's denial of foreign media reports that ZEC was "broke and could not hold elections on time" with the comments from his boss George Chiweshe in the same report that the commission was "awaiting funds from Treasury".

ZBC only reported ZEC's position through a third party: SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao's statement saying the commission had assured the SADC team that it would announce the date as soon as all logistics were in place (Spot FM [7/5, 1pm]).

Instead, the government papers devoted their editorials, cartoons and letters-to-the-editor column to a propaganda blitz against the MDC and their perceived Western allies for their alleged plots to oust government and reverse the gains of independence.

The papers carried 23 editorials that discredited the MDC, portraying it as a stooge of British and American neo-colonial interests without providing any evidence, while simultaneously campaigning for President Mugabe and his party in the impending run-off.

The private media also failed to pressure ZEC on the outstanding results of the remaining five House of Assembly constituencies where recounts had been held. And only the Gazette responded to the first release by ZEC (in the form of adverts in all papers) of the municipal election results with a small story reporting an MDC-T victory in Bulawayo. The party won 23 of the 29 seats with the remainder going to its breakaway faction, MDC (Mutambara). However, unlike the government media, they reported observers doubting Zimbabwe's readiness to hold a free and fair run-off in view of the severity of the post-election violence. They reported the AU and SADC as having made representations to government to ensure the run-off ballot was conducted in an favourable environment. Studio 7 (7/5), for example, reported that Foreign Ministers of the AU gathered in Tanzania in the week and urged all participants to ensure that the run-off was "free, transparent and non-violent".

The private media also reported on the authorities' planned extension of the run-off date.

Figs 1-4 show the sourcing patterns in the official and private media on election related issues.

Fig 1: Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the government papers

Fig 3: Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Fig 4: Voice distribution in the private Press

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