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Weekly Media Update 2008/ 21
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
August 03, 2008

Comment
In the past few weeks, MMPZ has noticed an almost miraculous transformation of the public media from being downright purveyors of appalling hate messages against the MDC, particularly its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, into tolerant and more responsible news organisations.

The drastic thaw in these media's hostile coverage of the ruling party's political opposition manifested itself following the July 21 signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between ZANU PF and the MDC that has culminated in the ongoing power-sharing talks in Pretoria aimed at solving Zimbabwe's drawn-out political crisis.

Until then, the national broadcaster, ZBC, and the government-controlled papers had abandoned anything remotely resembling ethical journalistic practice in their single-minded pursuit to malign the MDC and portray it as the number one enemy of the state.

Equally, they had forsaken their public mandate to provide fair and credible news service to the people of Zimbabwe, distorting all manner of political developments so as to give a negative spin to all matters relating to the MDC.

The official papers' news and editorial pages had become fertile, breeding grounds of hate language against the MDC while ZBC TV's current affairs programmes were contaminated with intolerable offensive assaults against the opposition party, which was never given the right to defend itself.

But in recent weeks, the government media have shown some promise that they can be professional if they so wish and that they are capable of distinguishing between right and wrong.

This is illustrated by the way their coverage of opposition activities has suddenly become measured and devoid of their customary vitriol attacks. For example, whereas the tendency would have been to impulsively weave conspiracy theories linking the MDC to the explosion that rocked Harare Central Police Station in the capital, The Sunday Mail (3/7) displayed refreshing professionalism by strictly sticking to the facts of the matter. So did The Herald (4/7).

Notably too, is the change in ZBC's address of the MDC leader. The national broadcaster now refers to him with an honorific "Mr" against its former, casual reference to him.

MMPZ applauds this apparent genesis of open-mindedness in the government media's coverage of government opponents, which can only be truly sustainable if these media are freed from the shackles of government control.

While it may indeed be premature to celebrate this positive development, we hope Zimbabweans have seen the last of this biased, intolerable misinformation by the government media to incite hatred against innocent fellow Zimbabweans.

Political developments
This week the government media again showed little enthusiasm of reporting beyond the media blackout set out in a July 21 deal laying the foundation of power-sharing talks between ZANU PF and the MDC meant to resolve the country's poisonous political impasse. All their 75 reports on the issue appeared content with regurgitating official rhetoric endorsing the talks as going well without attempts to adequately test the veracity of these claims.

This was especially so in light of nearly a week-long break in the negotiations amid suggestions the talks were deadlocked over differences on who should wield more powers in an envisaged coalition government between the rival claimants to power: ZANU PF's Robert Mugabe or MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai?

However, the government media simply steered clear of these contentious issues. Neither did they carry any critical and measured analysis of any successes so far scored in the SADC-backed negotiations, preferring only to highlight bland statements by the negotiators, including the mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, declaring their satisfaction on the progress of the dialogue. For example, though The Sunday Mail (3/8) and all ZBC stations (3/8,1pm) reported that the talks were expected to resume "today" with the negotiators expected to "iron out the sticking points" that had led to an adjournment, they avoided discussing the issues that had caused the deadlock.

In addition, none of these media's earlier stories on the matter had prepared their audiences for the sudden suspension of the talks. The reports docilely portrayed a smooth negotiating process despite signs of serious ideological differences between the protagonist parties. Apparent too, was the way the government media continued to simplistically present the talks as the panacea to the country's political and economic crisis without demonstrating how. For example, Spot FM (31/7,8am) claimed the visit by Mbeki to Harare to brief President Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara (leader of the other MDC formation) on the progress of the talks was being viewed "as a consolidation of the process which is expected to see Zimbabweans moving forward as one in the development of the country and revival of the economy".

It did not discuss the basis of its optimism.

Similarly, Radio Zimbabwe and Spot FM (1/8,8pm) quoted pro-government analyst Chinondidyachii Mararike commending "progress in the talks" but failed to ask him to provide details on the purported progress. Otherwise, the government media devoted most of their energy to railing against the US and European Union's targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and members of his inner circle, including some parastatals, accused of spearheading and facilitating a purge of opposition supporters ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off. These media presented the sanctions as an intrusion into the country's internal affairs aimed at scuttling the on-going talks without providing substance to their allegations. Neither did they give a non-impassioned presentation of why they had been introduced in the first place.

The private media appeared less inhibited by the media blackout on the talks and continued to provide critical updates on the matter though most of their reports largely remained speculative.They carried 63 stories.
While these media acknowledged progress in the talks, they also highlighted the policy differences between ZANU PF and the MDC that still threatened the successful outcome of a power sharing deal. For example, the private media attributed the recent deadlock in the negotiations to the parties' disagreements on the possible duration of the transitional period; the form of government to be established and who would lead it; and the proposal to establish a Truth and Justice Commission to investigate atrocities perpetrated against Zimbabweans during the ZANU PF rule.
However despite these impediments, they still envisaged a negotiated settlement as inevitable.

Factors compelling this, they argued, included Mbeki's desire to have an agreement signed before assuming the chairmanship of SADC on August 14 this year as this would help him to avoid supervising his own mediation; and Botswana's threats to boycott the SADC summit, which Mugabe is expected to attend, as it feels it would be equivalent to recognizing him as president.

Botswana has refused to recognize Mugabe's one-man presidential run-off victory after Tsvangirai withdrew from the race citing violence against his supporters. The private media also noted threats by the US and Britain to again raise the issue of the Zimbabwean crisis with the United Nations Security Council if the talks collapsed.

Political violence
The government papers contradicted themselves by passively carrying officials' denials of the existence of politically motivated crimes mostly against opposition supporters by ZANU PF loyalists despite carrying evidence on the contrary. Although they carried six reports projecting the widespread allegations of the state-sponsored violence against opponents as fabrications, aimed at discrediting President Mugabe's government and justify international intervention into the country's affairs, they recorded two incidents of rights violations perpetrated by ruling party supporters against a commercial farmer and two suspected MDC activists.

In one of these, The Herald (31/7) carried a court report in which three war vets received effective 10-year jail terms each for stealing 16 cattle from Mwenezi commercial farmer Andre Eugene Foure. The paper reported the three as having "admitted" taking "advantage of the political situation in the run-up to the (June 27) presidential election run-off" to commit the crime.

The other report stemmed from the court appearance of three ZANU PF youths on charges of raping two women at a base in Shackleton, Chinhoyi, after accusing them of being MDC supporters; again in the period leading to the run-off (The Herald 2/8). In spite of this, the papers remained reluctant to reconcile such evidence with the authorities' insistences that there was no political violence in the country. For example, The Herald (2/8) only reported MDC's claims that ZANU PF supporters had murdered two of its supporters, Fungai Ziome and Kingsley Muteta despite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at ceasing hostilities between the two parties, in the context of police dismissal of the deaths as politically motivated. It reported police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena contending that the "situation countrywide" was "very, very peaceful", saying the police had "not heard of any politically related violence in a long time". Bvudzijena accused the MDC of having "tendency" to "claim any dead body as theirs".

ZBC did not carry any reports on political violence.

In contrast, the private media projected political violence as still a cause of concern in the country. They carried 26 stories on the subject and recorded 17 incidents. All of these stemmed from on-going ruling party violence against opposition supporters. For example, The Zimbabwean (31/7) reported that soldiers and ZANU PF militia forced MDC activist Hilton Chironga to drink Paraquat, a highly toxic herbicide used for weed control while ZimOnline (1/8) reported a Zimbabwe Peace Project report as having recorded about 16 000 incidents of politically motivated violence against MDC supporters in the first six months of this year.

Figs 1 and 2 show the sourcing patterns in the government and private media.

Fig 1: voice distribution in the government papers

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Monetary policy and economic decline
The government media glossed over the economic benefits of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono's half-year monetary policy presentation whose highlights included the introduction of a new currency and the lopping off of 10 zeroes from all monetary values of the family of bearer cheques.

The new currency will co-circulate with the bearer cheques until their expiry at the end of this year while cash withdrawal limits were increased from Z$100 billion to Z$2 trillion, now re-valued to Z$200. Gono also reintroduced the use of old coins during his presentation, arguing these had not been demonetised.

However, instead of giving a holistic assessment of the overall effectiveness of the RBZ measures in alleviating the country's acute economic decline, the official media only emphasised the convenience the removal of zeroes would have on transactions. ZBC (31/7, 8pm), for example, quoted John Mangudya of the Bankers' Association hailing the removal of the zeroes saying it would bring relief to the banking sector and remove pressure on the system while Spot FM (31/7, 8pm) reported President Mugabe describing the monetary policy as marking the beginning of "renewed hope and optimism for economic recovery".

The official media also narrowly focussed on the benefits that were likely to accrue to those that had not thrown away their then worthless old coins and carried extensive interviews with ordinary people who all commended the RBZ's decision. This was reflected by such headlines as: Windfall for some as old coins come back into circulation (The Herald 31/7) and Joy as villagers use coins to buy food (The Sunday Mail 3/8).

As a result, there was no attempt to address the continued poor macro-economic performance despite these piecemeal responses to the economic decline, characterised by hyperinflation and low production. Moreover, the government media did not query how Gono planned to effectively stabilise the economy and safeguard the buying power of the new currency.

Rather, The Herald (1/8) merely reported him advocating a "universal moratorium on all incomes and prices for a minimum period of six months" as a way of curbing inflation without testing the adequacy of the measure, especially as similar proposals have failed to take off in the past. Neither did the paper (31/7) question the logic of President Mugabe's attempts to solely blame business for the country's economic problems, accusing them of chasing "after wealth at any cost regardless of business ethics or discipline" and threatening to invoke emergency powers to whip them in line.

Critical comments on the monetary policy were stifled. For example, The Herald (31/7) failed to explore economist Pattison Sithole's dismissal of the monetary policy as "stop-gap measure" that "concentrated on currency reform and cash limits". Similarly, ZBC (29/7, 8pm) failed to make a follow-up on pre-monetary policy advice from industrialist Larry Mavhima urging the RBZ to come up with measures that "encompass incentives that encourage the resuscitation of industry so that it can maximise production and cut down on imports", adding: "The danger with relying on imports is that local industry will die."

The reports formed part of the 138 reports that the government carried on the topic.

In contrast, the private media noted that the slashing of the zeroes would not make much difference to the country's overall economic problems since it did not address the causes of hyperinflation or matched with meaningful reforms that addressed the unavailability of foreign currency, low investment and production in the country. They carried 31reports on the matter. For example, The Financial Gazette (31/7) comment contended that without "applying brakes on resurgent inflation", increase production and tackle corruption, there was no way the RBZ could "completely extricate the country from falling into the same trap".

SW Radio Africa (1/8) and The Standard (3/8) reported economist John Robertson making similar observations. SW Radio Africa, for example, reported him predicting a quick return of the coins into the "boxes where they have been sitting for the past seven years".

Figs 3 and 4 show the voice sourcing patterns in the official and private media.

Fig 3: Voice distribution on ZBC

Fig 4: voice distribution in the private Press

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