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Weekly Media Update 2009-16
Monday April 20th - Sunday April 26th 2009
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
May 01, 2009

General comment

As the world commemorates the World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Zimbabwe has little reason to celebrate the occasion, as the inclusive government is yet to fulfil its promise to institute democratic media reforms.

As a result, repressive media and security laws such as Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Broadcasting Services Act, Public Order and Security Act and the Interception of Communications Act, remain a threat to media freedom and Zimbabweans' right to free expression and information. These despotic laws continue to impose severe restrictions on the establishment of alternative news sources, making Zimbabwe the only country in the region without private daily newspapers and locally-based private broadcasting stations.

Worse, there is still no committee in place to regulate media activity almost three weeks after the government promised to establish the Zimbabwe Media Commission before the end of April.

The delays in democratising the media appears to be stemming from ZANU PF's paranoia of a free and robust media that would not only keep the government in check but also provide alternative information to the daily propaganda most Zimbabweans have been subjected to for years.

Recent activities and statements by the ZANU PF-run Information and Publicity ministry, which is responsible for media activity, clearly illustrate this.

For example, ZTV (24/4, 8pm) and the official weeklies (26/4) reported Information Minister Webster Shamu issuing a veiled threat against "defiant news organisations" that publicised "Cabinet deliberations without authorisation" saying they "risk being punished".

This followed the Zimbabwe Independent (26/4)'s publication of a report exposing a "fierce row" in Cabinet following Finance Minister Tendai Biti's motion calling for the investigation of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's alleged unauthorised borrowing of more than US$1 billion.

Without interpreting this as yet another indicator of the country's harsh media environment and an attempt to intimidate the media into self-censorship, the official media, simply allowed Shamu to dress his threat as normal international practice saying it was a "worldwide rule for both governments and the media".

No attempt was made to establish the veracity of these claims.

Neither did the official media critically examine the agenda of the planned Nyanga media reform conference organised by the ministry of information, which some members of the media fraternity have roundly dismissed as a charade.

The Independent, for example, noted that the planned conference to be addressed mainly by individuals who have contributed to the decimation of free media exposed "any pretensions by Zanu PF that it is on the path of reform" and concurred with the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe that the topics for discussions as outlined in the programme were "fatally compromised and anathema to media freedom and the principles of the Global Political Agreement".

The Standard raised similar views.

ZBC and private radio stations

Widening cracks in the coalition government, which have greatly crippled its reconstruction momentum, and the fierce civic opposition to the authorities' controversial constitutional reform exercise continued to hog the limelight in the electronic media (Fig. 1).

Fig 1: Topical issues on ZBC and private stations

ZBC gave a grossly distorted picture of these fierce battles for supremacy in the inclusive government. It either censored or papered over their destabilisation impact on the country's drive towards political and socio-economic transformation.

Rather, it continued to give a narrow view of the inclusive government, simplistically presenting it as a success story that had already halted Zimbabwe's political and economic slide, including softening international approach towards the country.

Germany's decision to lift its travel restrictions on the country, Australia's pledge to support Zimbabwe's recovery programmes and Britain's promise to help Zimbabwe get assistance from international financial institutions were selectively used to support this perception.

However, it suffocated the West's pre-conditions for the crucial budgetary support, among them the need to restore the rule of law and the resolution of all outstanding issues. Neither did it reconcile its portrayal of a cohesive government with intense disagreements by the coalition partners over, among others, continued farm invasions, detentions of MDC activists and the failure to resolve outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

It was against this background that Spot FM (26/4, 8pm) did not view Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's warning against "those committing criminal activities on farms" as a direct challenge to President Mugabe and his ZANU PF, who have encouraged the chaos in the name of instituting land reforms. In fact, the national broadcaster censored series of crisis meetings held by the coalition partners' principals to resolve these issues, including their failure to do so.

ZBC's coverage of the contentious constitutional review programme was equally inadequate. Its two stories on the matter merely regurgitated official pronouncements without balancing them with alternative views.

Private radio stations were robust in their coverage of these issues.

Not only did they trace the source of the new government's problems to ZANU PF intransigence, they also viewed the coalition partners' failure to break the impasse on the violations of the GPA and their continued differences on how to implement change as indicative of serious political problems haunting the new administration. In addition, they quoted analysts predicting the possible collapse of the government due to lack of Western budgetary support.

The private radio stations provided balanced coverage of the raging dispute between the government and civic organizations, led by the NCA, over the drafting of the new constitution by publicising both parties' opinions on the matter. Besides, they gave updates on Zimbabwe's precarious economy, reflected by student protests against high tuition fees and an imminent strike by teachers over poor salaries.

The stations carried nine fresh incidents of rights violations, which stemmed from renewed attacks on white commercial farmers in Chegutu and the arrest of 13 protesting university students in Masvingo.

Fig 2: Voice distribution on ZBC and private radios

Online Publications

Private online agencies also devoted most attention to infighting in the inclusive government. See Fig. 3.

Fig 3: Topical stories on online news agencies

Like their private media counterparts, they interpreted the impasse between ZANU PF and the MDC as greatly undermining the transitional government. It was in this light that they questioned the source of Tsvangirai's optimism that there would be no going back on the inclusive government despite clear evidence of its paralysis.

The agencies recorded two new incidents of rights abuses. One was on an alleged attack on a white commercial farmer in Chegutu by suspected ZANU PF supporters and the other emanated from the police's ransacking of the home of freelance journalist Shadreck Manyere (facing banditry and terrorism charges) in an attempt to re-arrest him following his release on bail by the High Court.

Fig 4: Online agencies - Voice distribution

The public and private Press

Unending power struggles that threaten the durability of the fragile coalition government and fierce civic opposition to its proposed constitutional reform took centre stage once again in the print media, almost eclipsing other pertinent issues during the week. See Fig 5..

Fig 5: Topical news distribution in the Press

But rather than articulate on the disharmony in the inclusive government mainly stemming from ZANU PF's unilateralism and intransigence, the official papers deceitfully presented a picture of a stable and purposeful administration working hard to address the country's myriad problems.

Consequently, they censored the holding of several but unsuccessful crisis meetings by the principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to mend these rifts. Neither did they openly report on external impediments to the new authority's effective implementation of its programmes such as the donor community's insistence on wholesale democratic reforms as a precondition for financial support and the civic society's threats to campaign against a parliamentary-driven constitutional reform process.

They suffocated these issues with stories that projected the new government's 10 weeks in office as an incontrovertible success, citing Germany's removal of travel warnings on Zimbabwe and Britain's pledge not to block an IMF resolution to bail out the new government as proof that even the previously sceptical international community now had confidence in the new authority.

Against this backdrop, the government papers avoided interrogating Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's claims that there was "no stalemate" between him and his ZANU PF partners over the resolution of the outstanding issues in the GPA (The Herald, 23/4).

Otherwise, they gave space to pro-ZANU PF commentators such as Reason Wafawarova and Tafataona Mahoso to defend the party's obduracy, which threaten to destabilise the new government. For example, The Herald's Wafawarova (25/4) slammed the private media and civic organisations as "sullen rhetoricians of gloom" for accusing ZANU PF of breaching the GPA while The Sunday Mail's Mahoso (26/4) depicted Finance Minister Tendai Biti's disapproval of central bank governor Gideon Gono's quasi-fiscal activities, particularly his unlawful allocation of vehicles to MPs, as part of the MDC's illegal regime change strategy. He did not clearly explain how attempts to rein in the central bank and ensure that it did not overstep its mandate translated into a campaign for illegal regime change.

Except for The Sunday Mail, which published independent MP Jonathan Moyo's article criticizing government's proposed constitutional reform exercise, the public Press' coverage of the issue remained in favour of government's position and dismissive of the civic society's reservations.

The official papers' slavish support for government also resulted in them avoiding interpreting indicators of persisting socio-economic distress mirrored by the cholera epidemic; infrastructural decay; poor service delivery and labour unrest as indicative of the overwhelming mess the new authority is still faced with.

Similarly, their 10 stories on human rights violations, which included three fresh incidents emanating from the arrest of 23 university students in Masvingo for protesting against high tuition fees and clashes in the faction-ridden Anglican Church, were divorced from the government's pledge to restore and protect Zimbabweans' liberties.

A critical examination of these issues only appeared in the private papers.

They highlighted the continued power struggles in government, mayhem on white-owned farms and the detention of MDC activists, which they attributed to ZANU PF's disdain for the GPA, as further evidence of the fragile nature of the coalition authority and stumbling blocks to its effectiveness.

Zimbabwe Independent (24/4), for example, revealed that the conflict within government had manifested themselves in a "fierce row" in Cabinet after Biti moved a motion to investigate Gono for allegedly borrowing more than US$1,2 billion without relevant authority while The Standard (26/4) reported the same minister as having proposed to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to "put an end to quasi-fiscal operations".

All the private papers also gave space to civic society's objections to the government-proposed constitutional reform process. In addition, they reported indicators of the country's economic decline and rights violations in the context of government failures.

This week they published 14 stories on human rights violations, five of which were new incidents while the rest were follow-ups on previous cases. The incidents comprised the re-arrest of two MDC-T officials Gandhi Mudzingwa and Chris Dhlamini soon after their release on bail by the courts, the arrest of three other MDC-T activists in Chimanimani for allegedly committing acts of political violence last year and the alleged assault of a vendor by soldiers in Bulawayo.

Fig 6: Voice distribution in the Press

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