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MISA-Zimbabwe holds community radio discussion
MISA-Zimbabwe
September 24, 2009

On Friday the 18th of September 2009 MISA-Zimbabwe in conjunction with United State Embassy Public Affairs section held a public discussion on the imperative need for the government of Zimbabwe to facilitate the development of community radio stations in the country. The discussion, which was held at the Book Café is part of the MISA-Zimbabwe's "free the airwaves campaign" which is aimed at putting closure to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) monopoly in the broadcasting sector with the special focus being on community radios as a platform for popular participation by the communities country wide. The meeting was facilitated by Kumbirai Mafunda, MISA-Zimbabwe Harare Advocacy Committee chairperson.

In his opening remarks, Mafunda argued that, "Although Zimbabwe got its independence in 1980 its constitutional claims of being a democracy have been dented by government's failure to facilitate the licensing of private players including community radios on the electronic scene." The Harare Advocacy Committee Chairperson further deplored the lack of political will on the part of the government in addressing the perennial concern of freeing the airwaves.

The guest speaker, Stephen Coon, Emeritus Associate Professor at Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University, said that promoting low power Frequency Modulation (FM) stations is critical because it responds to particular interests in a free and democratic society. He said that in the United States there are more than 860 radio stations which are owned, funded and controlled by the communities.

He however underscored the position that the development of community radios should also remain true to the ideals of media ethics which includes fairness, balanced and credible media outlets in serving the public and the marginalized communities in the country.

Mr. Nyasha Nyakunu MISA-Zimbabwe's Senior Programmes Officer asked the professor how the viability of Community radio stations can be achieved in Zimbabwe as the case in the USA. The professor said even in weak economies people can manage to establish community radios through selling airtime for announcements, renting the studios or even fundraising from the public.

Canoon however underscored the fact that such creativity in raising funds for the community radios can only come to fruition when their country's broadcasting industry is being supported by an enabling legislative environment. Since the enactment of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) in 2001, which established the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) as an administrative body, the authority has not issued out any license to new players in the industry.

This is irrespective of the fact that Zimbabwe is a state part to the African Charter on Broadcasting (ACB) which states that, "The legal framework for broadcasting should include a clear statement of the principles underpinning broadcast regulation, including promoting respect for freedom of expression, diversity, and the free flow of information and ideas, as well as a three-tier system for broadcasting: public service, commercial and community." The government of Zimbabwe has been defiant since the year 2001 as shown by the failure to call for license applications in respect to the requirements of community radio registration.

However, Musavengana Nyasha, a journalist was against the idea of having community radio stations and reduced them to a "mere luxury" considering the current socio-economic and political climate in the country. Instead he said that we should have more mainstream media than focusing on community media. The professor acknowledged this idea but still clarified the fact that unheard voices must be reached. Therefore community radio stations should be used to inform people largely in remote areas in order to promote the free flow of information and to allow for diverse opinions. In Zimbabwe, Community radio stations should have played an important role in informing people during the time of the cholera outbreak that killed hundreds of people because they did not have information on how to prevent the disease from spreading.

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