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Deregulation of the airwaves in Zimbabwe: Reality or fiction
Takura Zhangazha, Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe
October 11, 2012

Presentation to the Alpha Media Holdings Independent Dialogue Meeting, Thursday 11 October 2012, Meikles Hotel Harare.

Let me begin by expressing the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe's gratitude to the Zimbabwe Independent for inviting us to this important Independent Dialogue breakfast meeting. Gratitude must also be expressed to the organizers for their noble intention of bringing to public debate the issue of the 'deregulation' of the airwaves in Zimbabwe.

This is particularly so due to the fact that our national airwaves remain an integral part of the continuing struggles of all Zimbabweans to fully enjoy their rights to freedom of expression, access to information and media freedom as articulated in our current constitution as well as in international conventions on human and people's rights.

This is even more important when we consider the relatively recent licensing of two national free to air radio stations by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) toward the end of last year. This development perhaps has made today's topic more relevant and potentially more engaging.

The topic itself is also indicative of potential doubts as to whether the licensing of two national radio stations can be adequately referred to as 'deregulation'.

The truth of the matter is that this recent development cannot be viewed in that particular manner as all electronic media are regulated across the world.

The key issue is whether the airwaves have been democratized or liberalized in the best public interest as well as in the interests of freedom of expression and media freedom.

In this vein, the question that arises is whether the licensing of new players is indicative of the beginning of the liberalization of Zimbabwe's airwaves in a holistic and transparent manner.

This is because there is still a lot of work to be done around our broadcasting media, with respect to not only national free to air radio and television stations but also with specific regard to community radio and television as well as the digitization of our airwaves.

Therefore, it would be important for me to begin by stating that which may seem obvious but is important from the onset. There has been no outright democratization of the airwaves in Zimbabwe. What has come to obtain can only be viewed as a tentative move towards liberalised airwaves and this, in a somewhat contested manner.

I have used the word 'contested' because of the politicisation of the broadcast media regulatory framework by both the inclusive government and the Parliament of Zimbabwe.

As some of you may be aware, before the new radio stations were both licensed and eventually started broadcasting, there were publicly evident disputes in the inclusive government about the composition of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).

Parliament also waded into the controversy by seeking a role in the replacement of the current BAZ board members with new ones or at least to have the incumbent members undergo a new appointment process. As it has turned out, the BAZ board was not changed nor reviewed, a development, which meant that when license applications were called for, and vetted, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the same.

Indeed some potential broadcasters who had also applied for the national free to air licenses have since filed court applications either questioning the legality of the new licenses or asking for information on how BAZ made its final determinations.

This is an important point to make in that there is probably still some outstanding business around 'deregulation' of the airwaves particularly where one looks at the law that enables BAZ to do so.

It is my view that a democratic broadcasting law would not have led to such controversies and it is therefore necessary for me to advise that the government, through the relevant ministry, must act with urgency to replace the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) with a much more democratic one.

This is a point that perhaps was missed by both government and Parliament in their disputes over BAZ. Both arms of the state would well advised that it was never so much about the personalities who comprise BAZ but more about measuring the democratic quality of the enabling act, seeking to repeal it or amend it further.

A second issue that I would like to raise is that of the necessity of dealing with our media realities. As I have said earlier, in considering democratisation of the airwaves, we now have to deal with the reality that indeed that the process has begun, albeit controversially, with the licensing of two private radio stations.

That is perhaps why the focus of this discussion includes the question of whether the move to have these two national free to air radio stations outside of government control has brought 'genuine change' to the media environment.

Well, its hard to define what one can call 'genuine' but suffice to say, the move has basically had an initial quantitative impact on the number of radio stations one can tune in to.

On the qualitative side, it has definitely led to robust debates on various topics including political ones that would not have been easily aired by the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

So to answer the question of whether it is genuine or not, I would simply argue that it has brought marginally incremental change to the broadcast media in the country.

It is an argument that some in the inclusive government have tended to also make about other areas of change in the country and even though I do not agree with the idea of undemocratic and unprincipled incremental change, I have come to partly accept it as a reality of our current media environment.

A point that I must however make is that which relates to the journalistic aspect of the new radio stations.

There has been a significant debate in media circles that there are more similarities than differences in the manner in which news is reported by the new radio stations when compared with ZBC's radio stations.

This is a key aspect that cannot be overlooked and it is therefore imperative that the radio stations, apart from seeking markets and profits, should be well advised to take note of.

It would be expected that the general news content of the new radio stations should be seen to serve the best public interest and adhere to professional media ethics and standards, as is the case for the print media.

This is because radio stations are not just there to entertain, but also to inform the public on matters of public concern and bring public officials to account.

Further still, it would be of importance that the new stations join their print media colleagues in seeking the repeal of undemocratic media laws that directly affect the work of journalists and demonstrate media public accountability by joining the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe.

This would bring me to my penultimate point over and about whether privately owned radio stations are commercially viable. This is an issue relating to the capacity of the private stations to be able to attract loyal listeners on the basis of their content as well as advertisers based on their market reach.

Unfortunately, for private commercial players in Zimbabwe's nascent radio industry, their viability depends also on the performance of the national economy as well as on the political environment that we operate in.

Journalists who work for these stations must be confident in working for the new stations without the spectre of criminal charges for reporting on the goings on in the country hanging over their heads.

In fact, to make any media body viable, the government must move to repeal repressive pieces of legislation that undermine media freedom, freedom of expression and access to information. Only in such a free media environment would any media house be completely viable.

In conclusion, I would like to make three very clear points. The airwaves of Zimbabwe have not been liberalised. They have merely had two private radio stations added to them.

Liberalisation of the airwaves would mean democratic and wholesale reforms to our national telecommunications laws (with a view to have a converged and democratic regulation of all electronic media). This is why the points made by media stakeholders such as the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Zimbabwe Chapter) remain valid and should be taken seriously.

Secondly, it is also important that we do not view any new radio stations within the ambit of their 'entertainment' purposes only. They must also serve the all important function of journalistic work in the greatest public interest without fear, favour or censorship by the state or be hindered by currently existing criminal defamation laws.

Thirdly and finally, there should be an understanding that the media does not exist based on government benevolence, but on the basis of the right of all Zimbabweans to freedom of expression. It is when we fully understand this, that we can safely argue that things have changed.

*Takura Zhangazha is Executive Director of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe

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