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MISA stages free the media concert
MISA-Zimbabwe
May 12, 2010
MISA-Zimbabwe
on 10 May 2010 partnered with Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe
Trust (ADZ Trust), Savanna
Trust and Media
Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) in staging a concert titled "Free
our Media Now!
The concert
which was held at Machipisa shopping centre in Highfield, Harare,
was attended by more than 1 300 people in line with MISA-Zimbabwe's
2010 Word Press Freedom Day (WPFD) theme: Media Freedom & Access
to Information should be Constitutional Rights. The concert was
part of the belated WPFD commemorations aimed at raising awareness
on the importance of explicitly guaranteeing media freedom and citizens'
right to access to information.
Interludes of
poetry, song, dance and theatre were punctuated by calls for more
players in the media industry especially in the broadcasting sector
where the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation continues
to monopolise the airwaves.
Artists who
took part in the concert included: Winky D, Sniper, Magesh, Stanner,
Amanandoz Theatre, Explosive Poetry, Sulumani Chimbetu and Rooftop
Promotions.
MISA-Zimbabwe
advocacy chairperson for Harare, Kumbirai Mafunda reiterated the
importance of multiple players in the media sector and lamented
the continued existence of media restriction. Mafunda attributed
the repressive media environment to draconian laws such AIPPA,
the Broadcasting
Services Act (BSA) and the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA).
Mafunda urged
Highfield residents to turn out in large numbers and raise the need
for constitutional provisions that guarantee media freedom and the
right to access to information. He deplored the continued harassment
and arrests of journalists saying this was designed to stifle freedom
of expression and free flow of information.
In a related
development, MAZ took opportunity of the concert in partnership
with Rooftop Promotions to showcase the play: Waiting
for the Constitution. The play poses questions pertaining to
the constitution making process and whether citizens will be able
to freely input into the envisaged draft constitution.
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