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Weekly Media Update 2009-9
Monday March 2nd 2009 - Sunday March 8th 2009
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
March 13, 2009

1. General comment

ZBC's initial coverage of the road accident that injured Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and killed his wife, Susan, further exposed the appalling standards of journalism at the public broadcaster.

While news of the accident had already reached local audiences through widespread coverage of the tragedy in the international and private electronic media soon after it happened around 4pm on Friday, March 6, ZBC only reported it almost four hours later. Worse, ZTV (6/3, 8pm) falsely presented the matter as "breaking news" deep in a bulletin that gave headline status to relatively insipid reports on the activities of the presidium.

ZBC's radios also belatedly reported the accident.

Apart from the broadcaster's tardy response to the incident, its first reports also suffocated the fact that Tsvangirai's wife had died in the accident.

In fact, it was only after 12 noon the next day that ZBC radios announced her death. Otherwise, their earlier reports continued to insist that she and her husband were injured and admitted to hospital, thereby confusing those who had accessed private and international stories reporting her death the previous day.

It remained unclear why the broadcaster initially censored this important piece of news when it was already in the public domain, but its decision reinforced the public's conviction that international and alternative electronic sources of information are more reliable than the national broadcaster.

However, it was not only ZBC's initial reports on the tragedy that were unclear and confusing.

The Standard's stories (8/3) also gave conflicting accounts of the accident leaving its readers confused as to what exactly transpired. For example, while its lead story quoted unnamed "medical sources" alleging that Mrs Tsvangirai was "thrown 10 - 15 metres out of the (Toyota) Landcruiser after it rolled three times", its other report, Tsvangirai crash driver begs for mercy, alleged that "both Tsvangirai and his wife were pulled out of the mangled remains of the vehicle".

A clearer and more consistent picture appeared in The Sunday Mail (8/3), whose version of the incident appeared to tally with those of the international media. However, the paper and the rest of the government media censored the alleged arrest of the Commercial Farmers Union vice-president Deon Theron, who was filming the scene of the accident. This appeared in The Standard although the private weekly did not seek police corroboration and merely relied on claims by MDC-T member Hendrick O'Neill.

But, besides these professional deficiencies that characterised early reports of the accident, the media's subsequent stories were fairly presented.

2. The Public and Private Papers

The inclusive government's immediate task of rescuing the country's shattered economy and battered human rights record continued to feature prominently in the Press as illustrated in Fig 1.

Fig 1: Topical news distribution in the Press

However, the official Press continued to give a sanitized picture of the inclusive government, projecting it as working smoothly while downplaying, and even censoring, the evident policy dissonance, tensions and power struggles hampering its effectiveness.

As a result, there was no robust interrogation of how the coalition government planned to effectively reconcile its fundamental differences and move the country forward given President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai's recurrent divergent views on how to achieve political and socio-economic reforms, including civic and media liberties. In this light the government papers censored Tsvangirai's calls for the return to the rule of law, respect for property rights and the democratization of the media during his inaugural address to Parliament, issues that Mugabe has previously rebuffed.

Instead, The Herald and Chronicle's (5/3) only highlighted excerpts of Tsvangirai's speech that appeared to conform with ZANU PF's position such as his call for the "the removal of restrictive measures" by the international community against Zimbabwe and his "echo" of Mugabe's observations that there would be no going back on land distribution.

It was in this context that The Herald and Chronicle (6/3) narrowly dismissed as an "unfounded conspiracy against Zimbabwe", the US' extension of targeted sanctions against the ZANU PF leadership and its inner circle without relating it to the party's continued reluctance to reform and give impetus to the new government, as Tsvangirai plainly advocated in his parliamentary address.

Notably, the government dailies broke with tradition by not publishing the full text of the Prime Minister's speech for the benefit of their audiences, something they have always done whenever Mugabe and other ZANU PF government officials issue pertinent national statements.

The government Press' unprofessional selective reporting also characterized its coverage of the cholera epidemic, government's economic turnaround programmes and the continued human rights violations against mostly MDC activists. For example, they did not provide the context in which detained human rights activist Jestina Mukoko and MDC supporters, facing charges of banditry and terrorism, were finally granted bail following months of political negotiations between ZANU PF and the MDC and the implications of such a move. Neither was there, for example, any interpretation of, nor debate on the soundness of government's new fees structure for colleges and the City of Harare's US$185m budget, to be raised mostly by rate-paying residents and supplementary charges.

Critical examination of these issues only appeared in private papers.

Not only did they continue to highlight the power struggles in the inclusive government and how these were distracting it from fully attending to the humanitarian crisis in the country and the flagging economy, they also reported on some of the authorities' political compromises. These included the release on bail of Mukoko and her MDC co-accused and Mugabe's reversal of his recent unilateral appointments of permanent secretaries after protestations from the MDC.

The Financial Gazette (5/3), for example, noted how the "wheels of justice finally buckled to political pressure" after Mugabe and the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) struck a deal for the release of Mukoko and her fellow political prisoners on condition they "withdraw all applications and/or appeals in the Supreme and High Courts".

Despite this however, the private Press carried five fresh incidents that exposed on-going human rights abuses against MDC supporters, farmers and teachers by ZANU PF loyalists, which they viewed as violations of the spirit of tolerance expected of the new administration.

For all their shortcomings, the government papers gave more equitable coverage to the parties in the inclusive government than the private Press (Fig 2).

Fig 2: Voice distribution in the Press

3. ZBC and Private Radio Stations

Zimbabweans' interest in the activities of the inclusive government was mirrored by the continued dominance of news reports on the three-week-old transitional government in the electronic media. See Fig. 3.

Fig 3: Topical stories on ZBC and private stations

However, despite evident indicators of discord in the new government underpinned by policy contradictions and power struggles, almost all 50 stories ZBC aired on the matter continued to project the new authority as working harmoniously in addressing the country's myriad socio-economic problems. In conformity with this slant, it depicted the new government interventions as already having a positive impact with many sections of the formerly sceptical international community allegedly now willing to unconditionally support the country.

Spot FM (4/3, 8pm), for example, merely quoted the Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) claiming that international investors were "invading the country" following the formation of the inclusive government without asking the body to substantiate its claims or independently verifying them.

Such professional ineptitude designed to gloss over the instability of the new government resulted in ZBC misrepresenting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's inaugural parliamentary address in order to make him appear as if he was in accord with ZANU PF's calls for the lifting of sanctions against the party's leaders and their colleagues.

For example, all stations (5/3, 7am) selectively emphasized his calls on the West to remove "restrictive measures" against the country while censoring his appeal for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe.

It was in this light that Spot FM (6/3, 8am) deceitfully portrayed America's extension of its targeted sanctions against ZANU PF's leadership as part of Western machinations to sabotage the inclusive government without relating it to the party's tyrannical policies.

ZBC's stories on the country's socio-economic problems lacked incisive analysis on their root causes and scale and used them instead to reinforce the notion that the inclusive government was succeeding in reversing the country's calamities as evidenced by price reductions; the return of most civil servants to work; and the alleged decline in cholera infections. As a result, ZTV (4 /3, 8pm) failed to reconcile Deputy Health Minister Douglas Mombeshora's contradictory claims that cholera cases were "going down" despite the existence of "some sporadic outbreaks" across the country. The broadcaster also understated by half the number of cholera fatalities by claiming that the disease had killed 2,000 people so far, quoting old WHO statistics.

The private radio stations provided a different perspective to these issues. For instance, they continued to raise doubts on the stability of the inclusive government, highlighting power struggles, policy conflicts and ongoing human rights violations as symptoms of its fragile nature. And unlike the government media, they quoted independent observers generally doubting if SADC's pledge to mobilize aid for Zimbabwe would yield results. SW Radio Africa (3&6/3), for example, recorded analysts contending that Mugabe's presence in the government and the continued state-sponsored rights abuses would "deter" foreign direct investment in Zimbabwe.
In addition, they belied ZBC's attempts to sanitize the decay in the country's socio-economic sectors by highlighting the spreading cholera outbreak and the collapse in service delivery as reflected by persistent water and power cuts.

Studio 7 & SW Radio Africa (3, & 4/3), for example, reported WHO saying the cholera epidemic had claimed 3 900 lives since its outbreak last August and warning about an increase in infections. The same stations (5/3) cited Tsvangirai doubting the authenticity of the official cholera infection figures saying there was a possibility of "many cases" in rural areas going unreported.

The private radio stations recorded four fresh incidents of rights violations in their 20 stories on the matter. These included the invasion of two farms in Chegutu and the arrests of a Mutare magistrate for granting MDC minister-designate Roy Bennett bail and three Bindura University student leaders on allegations of organising a students' demonstration against high tuition fees.

Fig 4: Voice distribution on ZBC and private radio stations

4. Online Publications

The private online agencies also attached importance to the inclusive government's efforts to tackle manifold problems afflicting Zimbabweans. See Fig. 5.

Fig 5: Topical news distribution in the online news agencies

Like the other private media, the agencies highlighted threats to the success of the inclusive government, condemned the blatant rights violations of detained civic and MDC activists, whom they noted were eventually released on bail following sustained domestic and international pressure.

Their stories on the socio-economic issues were mainly used to underline the gravity of the crises that faced the inclusive government.

Fig 6: Voice distribution on online agencies

What they said . . .

"I was tortured continuously around my private parts. At one point they put me in a fridge and that's when I got to know that ice is hot", MDC-T member Fidelis Chiramba on his ordeal after his abduction - Zimbabwe Times (2/3)

"Once someone is remanded in custody they are just as good as forgotten because their chances of being brought back to court are nil", Provincial magistrate for Matabeleland North, John Masimba - Chronicle (3/3)

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