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Weekly Media Update 2010-7
Monday February 22nd - Sunday February 28th 2010
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
March 05, 2010

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The recent furore over Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's sanctions comments reignited debate over the power of television to selectively quote politicians and the weakness of politicians who make public statements that can be used to support issues they do not necessarily agree with.

MMPZ was attracted to this issue following attempts by the Prime Minister's Office to "clarify" government media reports that quoted Tsvangirai calling for the lifting of Western sanctions while addressing journalists soon after meeting Danish Minister for Development Co-operation Soren Pind.

SW Radio Africa (3/2) quoted the PM's spokesman, James Maridadi, denying Tsvangirai had called for the removal of sanctions, saying: "Never did the Prime Minister refer to them as sanctions, but restrictive measures. The media quoted him out of context, but he reiterated that the West should acknowledge the progress of the government by lifting restrictive measures, once certain prerequisites have been met." However, a ZTV report (1/3, 8pm) clearly showed Tsvangirai declaring: "Well, the issue of sanctions debate is a very contentious one in Zimbabwe. We want all sanctions removed" (1/3, 8pm).

What is not in dispute however, as pointed out by Maridadi, was the station's selective portrayal of Tsvangirai's comments to suit a particular editorial slant by omitting the context in which he made his comments.

A lengthier clip of Tsvangirai's "offending" statement, carried in a subsequent report on ZTV (3/3, 8pm) angled on analysts' commendation of the Prime Minister's stance, provided the proper context for his remarks.

It showed Tsvangirai qualifying his call for the removal of sanctions, saying: " . . . but you see the thing is that it's not up to us, it's not up to what we say here in Zimbabwe but what we do that will convince those who have imposed those sanctions; that they have their own benchmarks to assess whether we have made progress or not.

The EU has got its benchmarks; we believe there is progress in the country to be rewarded, therefore . . . rewarding it would have to be about removing any sort of impediments that will allow the country to move forward. Any support that will come to the country will be welcome."

MMPZ advises political spokespersons to be honest in repackaging statements made by their bosses, and for the government media to desist from selectively quoting sources to satisfy their partisan editorial slant.

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