A market dictatorship meets people power in Zim

Come to Zimbabwe and witness the fall of a dictatorship. People power works. The market had gotten used to abusing the suffering masses of Zimbabweans untill early this week when government simply dictated that prices of all commodities raging from foodstuffs to clothing should be cut by 50%, and pandemonium broke loose. Hordes of shoppers literally invaded shops to buy up everything they could lay their hands on. suits meat bread sugar you name it were grabed of shop shelves faster than retailers could restock. In fact is no longer clear whether it is the work of customers whose purchasing power has suddenly been boosted and who are on a buying craze or the shopowners themselves who are taking goods back into their warehouses resulting in the empty shelves.

In Gweru, the midlands capital where Midlands State University is situated transport crisis is looming as commuter transport operators have literally withdrawn their vehicles from the roads in apparent protest against the price freez. people generally are euphoric about the forced price reduction.

"If you compare Mugabe and the so called faceless 'market forces' you find that Mugabe is the more benign dictator of the two," remarked one shopper who had managed to buy 8kgs of beef from a butcher in the city centre. Meat prices had recently climbed out of reach of many average income earners in Zimbabwe. Others interviewed on this recent government policy expressed scepticism about whether the victory over market dictatorship can be sustainable in the long run but said they will celebrate for as long as it lasts.

By the Oracle

The girl child in the context of HIV and AIDS

In Zimbabwe, cases of rape are on the increase, in particular rape of children and minors. Somehow no one seems to be worried about the HIV infection in a country whose HIV prevalence statistics stand at one in every four adults. Currently the country is fighting to bring down these statistics and the main focus is adult infection and infection to children at birth. Rarely is the subject of rape and newer infections tabled. This story follows a report of about 88 pupils who were sexually abused between January and March this year in the Manicaland province (83 girls and 5 boys). The cases of the boys who were sodomised though, is a separate issue that requires a separate debate. Thus considering that this has happened in one province alone, then one wonders about the larger picture. One is reminded of the Macheke saga, not to mention the numerous stories that are carried in Zimbabwean newspapers.

The girl child thus is one of the most vulnerable regarding newer infections amongst children who were to previously HIV-free children through sexual assault. What makes it worse is the fact that the girl child has traditionally served as a sacrificial lamb, capable of cleansing the clan of any evil or avenging spirits. The AIDS pandemic becomes a newer evil, that in the eyes of rogue traditional healers, requires cleansing before whole clans are wiped out. Consequently, these traditional healers have prescribed virgins as an antidote to HIV/AIDS. Although the percentage of children who fall victim through this is not known, the percentage of rape victims in Zimbabwean society is cause for alarm.

While the media warns children and teenagers of possible abuse, nothing is said of the drastic consequences of infection, HIV infection. To add to this, rapists who infect children get away with light sentences whose levels do not match the magnitude of their crime. The sentence for rape or an indecent act of a minor by an infected adult is not less than ten years. This is reflected in one case carried in The Herald (10 January 2007) of a man who got 12 years for raping a four year old. This is subject to possible parole, meaning that culprits can rejoin society and pose more risks for potential victims. The sentence is ridiculous and worse still, there was no indication that the victim was tested for HIV. This shows a society that appears to be insensitive and oblivious of the wider implications of HIV to the plight of children.


Poverty is also another aspect that is forcing girl children into sexual encounters detrimental to their health. While some girls run away into the harsh environment of the streets, others often become victims of prostitution in a bid to save siblings in dire need of a livelihood. Forced marriage is another phenomenon still rife particularly in the Eastern parts of Zimbabwe amongst some African Apostolic churches; a practice that has its roots in traditional culture. In times of famine, girls could be exchanged for as little as bags of maize meal. In another twist of fate, the girl child falls prey to the cultural practice of chiramu where a younger sister could be ‘wife’ to her sister’s husband.

Whichever way, the girl child happens to carry the extra burden of the world. In families where the parent(s) are bedridden AIDS patients, the girl child usually drops out of school to nurse the sick parent(s); again aggravating the possibility of getting infected. She assumes the responsibility of the family’s needs denying her any hope of a good education. With no help in sight, these children often get the easiest way out- using their bodies for survival; a situation that has resulted in a vicious cycle that is hard to break.

The shocking story of the orphan Tambudzai also highlights another dimension of newer
infections- coerced prostitution (“Four-year-long night-mare” The Sunday Mail, September 24, 2006). The story recounts how she was forced into prostitution by her stepmother and for four years slept with ‘hundreds of men.’ Chances are high she could be infected. All this expresses the vulnerability of the girl child in the HIV and AIDS environment, factors that require special emphasis regarding newer infections in children.

The question, which remains, is, what should be done? It is a fact in this case that the plight of children hinges on the behaviour of adults, which if not changed could result in more unnecessary deaths of children. Stiffer prison terms could see cases of child abuse going down, a fact that can be substantiated by low HIV and AIDS prevalence in Islamic states where any incidence of adultery, fornication and misdemeanors are met with harsh consequences. Media focus should reorient itself to the spread of awareness amongst children, especially very young children of the wider implications of abuse and rid society of behaviour that facilitates their falling prey to pedophilias.

By Angeline Madongonda

(PgDip in Media and Society Studies)

Does the ZBC also listen?

Interactivity between the communicators and the audiences is a very welcome development and is the in thing especially between the mass media and their audiences in this day and age of media convergence.

This has the advantage of providing the necessary feedback the communicators need if they will not feel removed from the audiences. Musical programmes aired through the national broadcaster from time to time invite and receive the audiences’ opinions on the programmes. Sometimes listeners vote for certain musical pieces ratings on the top 40 or 20 are received and aired.

From this feedback, the broadcaster gets a confirmation that out there, there are some people listening to their programmes. On the other hand, the viewers/listeners feel that their participation on the radio or television programmes are taken into consideration.

However, I have wondered whether the presenters on ZBC TV newsnet are at all serious about their call for comments from news viewers. Presenters go to the extent of supplying telephone numbers, fax numbers and the e-mail address. Of course the presentation of this advert has been carefully done – the text of the telephone and fax numbers as well as the e-mail address being dramatically articulated in keeping with the screening of the figures or letters on the screen.

But if there are any people responding to the invitation for comments “to these and other stories” we are yet to hear of such views from audiences being reported on. Is it because there are no people sending their views/comments on news items? One can only wonder. If there are none why should not the invitation be either stopped altogether, or at least changed as it seems not to have any effect. If people have indeed sent in comments what happens to those comments.

By Elikana Shoko

Big Brother says ICU.

The Interception of Communications Bill (ICB) has now sailed through Zimbabwe's House of Assembly, going to the upper house will just be a formality reports Newzimbabwe.com. (see link):

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/email19.16541.html.

The only hope left is that the good President will take his time to append his signature to it like he did with the NGO Bill. Meanwhile, we can continue with our harmless childish pranks on the President or even sellout to the country's ditractors through the Internet or the cellphone. Very soon the thought police will catch up with all thought criminals like Talkmedia and others in Zimbabwe.

What will be the possible implications of this new law on those of us who live by peddling juicy tit-bits on the unfolding tragedy and its main protagonists in Zimbabwe?

1, Imagine how we shall all miss the unsavoury SMSs cartooning our hitherto good natured President through our cellphones.

2, How we shall all be relieved to have no more silly little jokes lampooning His Excellency, spamming our e-mail boxes.

3, Rumour mongers bent on tarnishing the image of our beloved country, its leaders and its sacrosanct institutions by pretending they were privy to juicy details of scandals will be no longer at ease to pass on their blatant lies to journalists via SMSs, or e-mails since no journalists can guarantee their anonymity anymore.

4, Our media shall be sanitised of all unpatriotic confabs.

5, Critical blogsites like Talkmedia will have to tone down criticism especially if directed to government policies.

Isn't that double plus good in Orwellian Newspeak terms?

By the Oracle.

Was Ankomah doing it for the money?

The truth is not for consumption by those of a weak nervous disposition, otherwise people wouldn’t get paid to write it. That is not what journalism schools are there for, to train people to write it. The truth can be found anywhere else but in the news. Just as physicians live by the hypocritic oath so also journalism’s professional ethic enjoins them to avoid the truth like the plague. Just musing.

It is for this reason that anybody who reads the May edition of the New African magazine’s reporting of the March 11 civil disturbances in Zimbabwe should do so with extreme caution.

Running across the first two pages of the supplement is a three word banner headline “Zimbabwe The Truth” writ large and in bold typeface suggesting to the reader that what they are about to read in the next 73 pages is nothing but the truth about what is going on in a country so deep in political and economic turmoil. Two portrait pictures one of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and the other of a female police officer both victims of the low keyed political conflict in the country. the one with a wounded scalp, the other with a scalded face, face each other across the page as if to accentuate the unbridgeable divide that separates the political parties they represent, the MDC and Zanu PF respectively.

The headline Ankomah pens for his intro to the supplement “When truth takes a holiday” immediately puts one on their guard never mind the assurances and protestations made about how this collection of stories is going to be different. The appellation ‘Sponsored Supplement’ that marks each of the 26 odd stories on Zimbabwe further reinforces the premonition that truth might be as absent from this collection as it is alleged to have been from the discredited reports by western media.

The reader becomes acutely aware that Baffour Ankomah, the magazine’s editor, was doing it for the money. What the reader has in front of him is not the simple truth but a ‘sponsored version of it’. The point Ankomah’s constructed truth tries to make, that western media has misrepresented the reality on the ground in Zimbabwe is itself much less convincing given the official sources he relies on.

A case in point is the interview with Mr Godwin Matanga the Deputy Police Commissioner whose rationalization of his charges' brutal assault on Mr Tsvangirai insults the reader’s intelligence. How a single man, unarmed, could possibly have attempted to overrun a whole police camp, ends up with a cracked scull without him inflicting a scratch on any policeman boggles the mind.

The truth probably lies in all that hasn’t been said or written about the Zimbabwean situation in general and the events of 11 March in particular. Is the truth so disquieting that no journalist dares write about it and no newspaper publish it?

One is reminded of John Pilger's remark that real truth is always subversive, that truth comes from the ground up, almost never from the top down.

How do Ankomah’s stories on Zimbabwe's disturbances of March 11 measure up to this standard of truthfulness?

By the Oracle

Opinion: Zimbabwe government paranoid about private press

Government’s hard line stance against the private media smacks of paranoia. This unfortunate development, on close examination is a result of government’s excessive desire to control and influence the formulation of opinion. The private media on the other hand has responded by attacking government whenever they get the chance.

The privately owned media are accused of being western funded and the government believes that they are being used by the west to champion a regime change agenda in the country. This seems to be a lame excuse used by authorities to persecute the private media. The media are supposed to report truthfully and it is unfortunate that our government views alternative views as views of its enemy. Alternative views are treated with suspicion even if they are constructive.

The independent media has not helped either, some of the articles, especially on Internet based publications like Zimdaily and NewZimbabwe have probably given the government some reason to be paranoid and heavy handed. A case in point is a story published on Zimdaily a few weeks ago that dwelt on President Mugabe’s manhood. Although the editors defended the story arguing that the issue was of public interest the story seemed to be inspired more by malice and not by a genuine need to inform.

Furthermore, there seems to be a relentless attack on government by the private media. Snap surveys of most of the ‘independent’ papers show that most of the stories are blatantly anti-government. Whether this is so because government always fails or the private media has an ulterior motive is not clear. This polarization where we have pro government and anti-government media has all but sealed the fate of objectivity within our media.

There is also a situation where the media are now paying more and more attention to political issues and neglecting all other issues that maybe of equal if not of more importance to their audiences. This can be attributed to the prevailing situation where politics has penetrated all spheres of our social life. Instead of taking a different route to government, the private media also seem to have developed a habit of reporting mostly politics albeit with a biased tone.

The hostile legislation in the form of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (2002) was the beginning of a nasty crusade against press freedom in the country. This restrictive piece of legislation underlined government’s suspicion and paranoia against the private media. Shortly after AIPPA was passed into law, The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday were closed down and other publications like The Tribune have been closed down mostly because they were perceived to be too critical of government.

The coming of AIPPA also brought the criminalization of journalism as well as sustained government brutality against journalists in the private media. Government has shown little or no remorse over these alarming levels of intolerance and recently the Minister of State Security Cde Didymus Mutasa was quoted in The Standard as saying that he wished that these pieces of legislation would be there forever. This arrogance from a government official just goes to show how low our leaders have stooped in their quest to restrict media freedom.

Access to public information is also restricted especially to the private media. Most government officials refuse to speak to journalists perceived to be working for the “opposition” press and this leaves the private media with no sources with which they can verify facts. This issue has led to disenchantment within the private media and it has further fueled the already rife suspicion of mismanagement on the part of government.

The detention and torture of journalists by state security agents is another pointer towards government’s intolerance. It has contributed to the frosty relations between the government and the private media. Journalists are not allowed to carry out their work freely unless they subscribe to government’s populist ideology.Consequently,freedom of expression is curtailed and there is a persistent threat of violence against journalists who portray views perceived to be detrimental to government policy. The inhuman treatment of media practitioners by the government is not doing any good to the government whose international human rights record is, to say the least, unimpressive.

Another blatant display of paranoia by the government is its desire to influence and control media training institutions. Recently, there was an unconfimed story in The Independent that alleged that prospective students in The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the Harare Polytechnic needed to have undergone National Service Training. Due to the fact that national service training centres are said to be indoctrination bases, this initiative shows government’s desire to produce a journalist cddre devoid of objectivity.

Whether it is government paranoia or the private media’s recklessness that has led to the polarization of our media, one thing is certain. We need coorperation from both parties to build a vibrant and objective media whose agenda is to enhance the well being of the nation. There is an urgent need for the media to rise above trivial sectoral interests in order to play a truly informative role.

By Innocent Yekeye,

Bsc Honours in Media and Society Studies Level 2.2

Western embassies snub MSU World Press Freedom Day commemmorations

The United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Dr Christopher Dell and his British counterpart Dr Andrew Pocock failed to show up at a belated World Press Freedom Day function organised by Midlands State University’s Media Department, last week Thursday.

The two had been invited to take part in a five-panel presentation on the role the media has played in shaping relations between Zimbabwe and the two western nations. Invited to speak on the same subject were the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Mr George Charamba, the CEO of the Media and Information Commission Dr Tafataona Mahoso and Mr Bornwell Chakaodza, former editor of The Standard.

Of the five invited guests only Mr Charamba and Dr Mahoso turned up for the function which kicked off almost an hour later than the scheduled time as the hosts were kept waiting for the arrival of the full panel of guest speakers who had all confirmed they were coming.

It ended up being a one sided debate as both the Permsec and MIC CEO presented government’s view on the topic. Presentations by the two ambassadors and from Mr Chakaodza representing civil society were expected to give alternative views helping to enrich the debate. But it was not to be.

No apologies or explanations were given for this last minute change of heart and cancellation and it left the gathered students wondering whether this was a sign that even those who were wont to preach the virtues of plurality of views and tolerance of dissenting opinions were after all not so tolerant themselves in practice.

Probably they felt that they could not share the same platform with representatives of a regime widely blamed for a poor human rights record. For the British Ambassador it could be understandable as it later emerged that there were probably more pressing issues at home with Prime Minister Tony Blair resigning on the same day.

In fact what happened on Thursday had been ironically captured in the very title of the debate: “The perceived role played by the media in the con(de)struction of bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and Britain and the USA: The case of what ought to be and what is”.

What could more clearly and emphatically demonstrate the gulf that exists between the ideal and reality? Ideally that all opinions should be given an equal opportunity to compete in the market place of ideas forms the bedrock of democratic liberalism but this has probably not happened anywhere else in the world, no not even in the so called cradles of democracy in the west. In fact Mr Charamba dismissed as fiction the argument that there was any free press in the world and that the watchdog role the press claims for itself was inherently compromised as media are always pandering to the interests of those who own them.

Mr Charamba said he did not find any problem with both Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Broadcasting Services Act and state regulation of the media in general since every state has a legitimate interest in the opinion formation process of its people.

"Press freedom may be the ideal but it has remained exactly that - a case of what ought to be. The reality is that western governments exercise the same if not much more insidious control on their media by simply going to bed with media owners. Otherwise, how does one explain the phenomenon of embedded journalism so popularised in the western media's coverage of the invasion of Iraqi," said Mr Charamba.

He went on to say it was more important to talk about freedom of expression which the Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees in Section 20, rather than on the narrow interests of the press in a country that is largely rural and where much of the communication takes place by means other than solely through the press.

By the Oracle

Perception management key to success of RBZ's social contract

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s Social Contract faces a crisis of public acceptance if the central bank fails to undertake an active public awareness campaign.

What the general populace perceive of the social contract is the escalation of prices, the run away inflation now hovering above 2200%, stagnant salaries accompanied by an ever deteriorating standard of living. At the present moment, according to the Central Statistics Office figures, the Poverty Datum Line has skipped to $1,7 million for a family of five.

As the central bank mooted the idea of the social contract, firms have been on the offensive as they tried to preemptively run away from frozen prices before the March deadline. However, as the date came and went, nothing has happened except the ever riding up of prices much to the detriment of those unfortunate to be price takers.

Manufacturers have raised prices without raising wages for their employees. The government has not intervened, neither has the RBZ. This has created distrust between the parties to the social contract idea.

Initially, the social contract idea was not well marketed to the various publics with some of the participants having the suspicion that they might be the loser in the program. This has not helped the worker whose representation is sharply divided along political faultlines.

When the RBZ Governor visited the Midlands State University, quite a number of students interviewed before and after his address either did not know or had a vague understanding of the social contract idea. If university students fail to understand this then a different story will have to be told for the odinary man on the street - another case of the media shortchanging the Zimbabwean audience.

The majority of the Zimbabweans understand the Social Contract as an economic blueprint that has nothing to do with the ‘social’ that it claims to be. Now the tallest question is ‘how social is the contract?’ This question hovers in the minds of all affected Zimbabweans since the hardest hit part of their lives is the economic side.

However, this social contract has to be made up of various social partners that have the mandate to sit down and negotiate the way forward. The main partners are Government, Business and Labour. To act on the sidelines as advisors should be the church, the academia, the civic groups, political parties and the international community. The media sould obviously play a catalytic role by providing the public space for open debate on the issues.

It is the duty of every negotiating partner to negotiate in good faith, act responsibly, shun selfishness, put Zimbabwe first and have confidence with the other stakeholders, urged Dr Gono addressing the students. But these basic requirements will remain lacking in the absents of information.

What have we? Business is hiking prices and suppressing wages, labor is calling for higher wages, unity among workers is fragmented, civil servants salaries are pityable, political intolerance is rife and cooperation between government and civil society is frictional. Opposition parties and the ruling party do not see eye to eye. The church itself no longer speaks with one voice, in fact men and women of the cloth speak in many tounges. The academia seems to have a hazy understanding of the issues at hand.

It remains a tall order for the central bank to consolidate its efforts to bring the intended result. Since March, prices have been on the loose, political competition has been bloody, industrial action has been the order of industry following suppressed wages. Consumer rights groups have been and still are taking an infinite nap while communication of the idea has not been fully executed. Nowhere near Zimbabwe has a social contract been employed to heal the ills suffered by a people.

The central bank has to go back to the drawing board and come up with a more vigorous percetion management strategy to drill people into supporting this otherwise noble idea. With the current (mis)understanding of the idea, the general public's perception is that a social contract is a catalyst of inflation and a declining standard of living.

By Precious Chibhira Bsc Hons Media and Society Studies, Level 2.2 MSU

Whatever has happened to humour in our media?

The lack of or the absence of humour in the Zimbabwean mass media is reflective of how far intolerant of opposing views we have become as a society.

The depiction of social ills in a humorous way is limited to cartoon sections and a few columns like the Financial Gazette’s Cabinet files, the few satiric expositions remain insufficient in fostering democratic debate through the mass media.

In progressive democracies humour or satire is a common feature used by commentators in addressing social vices and in playing the watchdog role on those in authority. The lack of humour in our mass media tells a lot about the culture of intolerance of oppositional views in the Zimbabwean society.

“Unrestrained liberty which is critical to democracy means being able to tell people what they do not want to hear” says Takura Zhangazha of MISA Zimbabwe.

The South African media is a stride ahead of Zimbabwe in promoting democracy and pluralism and this is also shown by the presence of humour within their mass media. Chenjerai Hove’s Article in the Mail and Guardian of 25 February to 4 March initialled “In the Mind of a Dictator” is an example of a satiric expose of tyrant leaders.

Because of ownership patterns in our mass media, legislation such as POSA and AIPPA and the threat of victimisation, the use of humour is compromised.

The Public Order and Security Act (POSA) section 16 cripples the potential of the media to satirise the President in person or his office.

The Offences Against Constitutional Government and Public Security section criminalizes the Undermining of authority or insulting President in whatever way.

Such immunity does not have a place in a true democracy because it provides unnecessary cover to politicians who ironically are supposed to be answerable to the public.

Bill Saidi the acting Editor of The Standard bore witness on how certain sections of our society fail to tolerate humour as a way of commenting on certain social issues.

A cartoon of Monkeys laughing at the Zimbabwean Army personnel’s pay slips carried in The Standard culminated in Saidi receiving a bullet in a brown envelope and a threat to “watch out”.

As a reaction to these threats Saidi went on to give sound opinions on how leaders who are intolerant towards humour have the tendency of becoming dictators.

Contrary to satiric exposure the public media adopts what can be termed as “hate speech” which demonstrates immense hatred of those who hold opposed views to our own or which are not inclined to the dominant ideology we seek to promote. It is important to point out that in Zimbabwe experience on the ground clearly show that the government has no monopoly over this intolerance.

In columns such as Nathaniel Manheru’s “The Other Side” and Dr Mahoso’s “African Focus” and much of Caesar Zvayi’s articles these elements of hate speech are predominant. Labelling is a common feature within these columns; the opposition are often dubbed “puppets” and the civil society “evil”

Referring to the former minister of information and publicity Prof Jonathan Moyo, Nathaniel Manheru had such malice in the The Saturday Herald, July 8, 2006 “Now he dares tell anyone about Zimbabwe’s politics, which have vomited him to fringes, set to be buried come next poll? Come on!” Such is the common use of hate speech.

This hate speech does not promote public debate where ideas are supposed to fight each other with the weaker ones dying a natural death but instead it promotes hatred between people of different views.

Satiric commentary should be a tradition in a true democracy and unpopular speech should not be criminalised, as it remains vital to the health of public opinion.

In promoting democracy the mass media has to be more accommodative to humour and understand that the debate about public affairs is not always done with evil motives.

Satire remains critical to freedom of expression that is not only an aspect of individual liberty but essential for the quest for truth and vitality of society as a whole.

By Darlington Muyambwa, Bsc Honours Media and Society Studies Level 2.2, MSU

Indigenous language press afflicted by self denial complex

The indigenous language media-scape is a seriously neglected area in any debate on the operations of the media in Zimbabwe. The impression created is that they are a forgotten lot and are a victim of the psycho-existential complex with its roots in colonial Rhodesia and given impetus by the state of neo-imperialism in Zimbabwe.

A critical analysis of the pertinent issues around this area and the rate of approximatetly 5000 and 2000 copies being bought a week for Kwayedza and Umthunywa respectively poses serious questions about the misconceptions that many people have about the indigenous papers.

Perhaps, it is logical to begin by positing the theory that most Zimbabweans have a psycho-existential complex affecting their attitude towards the newspapers that use indigenous languages as medium of communication.

Frantz Fanon in his famous book Black Skin White Mask defines the psycho-existential complex as a state of inferiority within an individual to the extent that the individual always lives in the shadow of those whom he/she views as superior. In other words the individual is absent in his /her presence, has a voice yet voiceless and lives behind the scenes of whatever realm. There is a tendency for the psychologically plundered individual to look at reality through the complex segregative spectacles of those deemed to be superior. The result is the denial of the ‘other’ which is the self in preference of the ‘one’ who is believed to be superior quite apparent in the way people relate to the Kwayedza and Umthunywa on the one hand versus for instance The Herald or The Chronicle.

So, colonialism taught the African to look down upon his /her language in order to facilitate the plundering processes that was colonialism .The African people were taught that their language was a language for the uncivilized ,the uncouth, the barbarians of the dark content . This became a culture and was passed from generation to generation. In postmodern Africa, the desire to look down upon the self is quite prominent.

The point being made here is that the content of Kwayedza and the Bulawayo produced Umthunywa confirm this position of a psycho-existential complex. Most of the stories deal with the mystic, bizarre and the grotesque as if the functions of the indigenous languages can only be used to capture the weird and the bizarre that happen in our society. The editorial thrust of the concerned papers need a radical overhaul with the view to making the paper deal with topical national issues obtaining at that particular time rather than concentrate on petty jealousy issues, bestiality, and other mundane issues of a peasantry nature at a time for instance, when the Central Bank Governor is announcing the national monetary policy.

The mundane position of the content of the papers crystallize the existing negative conceptions about indigenous language and African culture and in some way entrench the exclusion of these indigenous papers in any serious debate.

Indigenous languages are not by nature baren and incapable of use as transimitters of creative and serious thought. For instance, an Italian, Antonio Gramsci who was imprisoned for political activism wrote using Italian language, his mother tounge, to critically attack the cannibalistic tendencies of despotism in Italy and elsewhere. Therefore indigenous languages can be grounded in the frame of the critical and help transform society. If the two indigenous papers move out of their psycho-existential cocoons and deal with pertinent issues, they would help fight the psycho-existential complex within the readership.

Be that as it may, the elite move out of their crevices and secretly buy these indigenous products, which they hide in their bags or inside other newspapers written in English, as association with newspapers, which use English language as a medium of communication is perceived as sophistication and civilization. Thus an attempt to deny the public existence of these newspapers by hiding or stuffing them somewhere is a manifestation of the psycho-existential complex deposited into his /her bones by the neo-imperial condition whose tentacles are spreading fast.

It is interesting to note that the elite do no want to be seen carrying around either Kwayedza or Umthunywa but this does not mean that they do not read them. Notably, they do buy and read them in their private crevices. It is quite painful to note that even in their offices they place these indigenous papers inside those newspapers perceived as carrying a superior status in the event that someone walks into their office they would pretend that they are reading the so called prestigious papers.

The advent of The Zimbabwean on the streets of Zimbabwe makes the discussion very interesting .The use of Shona, Ndebele and English to communicate the content is probably a realization of the importance of the indigenous languages in news dissemination of course not withstanding the questionable character of some of the stories. It is however saddening to note that people read the English version of the story when in public and would not want to be seen reading stories in the indigenous languages in that same paper. Surprisingly, they would read the stories written in the indigenous languages in the private corners of their homes. What hypocrisy!. An attitudinal adjustment is needed towards the indigenous languages and the content should be accurate and critical..

By Oscar Mlilo PgDip inMedia and Society Studies, MSU

To regulate or not to regulate, that's the question

The emerging alliance between civil society organizations such as MISA, MMPZ, FAMWEZ, known for their virulent anti-statism on any subject involving the state and the media on the one hand, and quazi neutral to pro-state professional associations such as ZUJ and the hither-to defunct Media Lecturers Association to push a common agenda for media policy reform in Zimbabwe is an interesting development which every patriotic Zimbabwean can only wish well.

The reform, among other things, advocates the establishment of a voluntary media council to operate alongside but independently of statutory media regulatory authorities like the MIC.

But hark, like many well-intentioned initiatives in this country which have suffered a still birth this process may well meet a similar fate.

A bit of context: The initiative to establish a self-regulatory body for the media comes in the wake of what has been widely condemned as a repressive regime of media laws and statutory frameworks put in place since 2000 by government to clamp down on dissenting voices in the media.

It is beyond question that there has largely been a negative backlash to the state’s attempt to keep the media under its leash.

Privately owned newspapers critical to the powers that be were shut down forcing hundreds of journalists out of employment and into exile where (in their new diasporic havens beyond the surveillance range of Tafataona Mahoso’s Media and Information Commission) they went on to establish a new brand of ‘guerrilla’ media platforms from which they launched a much more sustained blistering attack on the government.

Etched firmly on Zimbabwe’s post 2000 media physiognomy, like stubborn pimples, are such media realities as The Zimbabwean, Studio 7, SW Radio Africa in addition to Internet based news websites; Zimonline.com; Zimdaily.com; Newzimbabwe.com to mention only a few, hosted in foreign lands, anonymous weblogs all peddling what they claim to be the hottest news on developments in Zimbabwe but invariably damning to the country’s image internationally (witness the hate speech and obscenities that are freely hurled at Zimbabwean personalities left right and center with impunity).

It is against this backdrop that many people are beginning to ask uncomfortable questions about whether state regulation of the media has served Zimbabwe well.

Which is better to have the rubble rousers in your own backyard and where they can always be made to account for their actions in the full knowledge that we share a common destiny for better or for worse, or force them to get sanctuary with your detractors beyond your jurisdiction and where the long arms of the law can’t even reach them?

Even more devastating has been the scorching effect of state regulation on the media market a situation that makes continuous training of journalists paradoxical as the new graduates soon experience a rude awakening when they realise that there is no such industry in demand of their skills in this country. They are faced with the choice to join the great trek into the diaspora as professional government bashers in exchange for the dirty dollars or stay home and starve.

It is in this mold of thinking that some in MAZ may be sincerely searching for a solution to the Zimbabwe media question.

Others among them no doubt may just be spoiling for a fight against the government and it is the existence of such elements, which often puts government on the defensive and unwilling to cooperate.

Unfortunately for us in this country however, the donor dollar has tended to favour those whose approach is unabashedly confrontational with state actors. The moderates who advocate a win-win approach to negotiation with government are often not so favoured and in the process often loose the initiative to those with the money who then highjack the agenda.

This often gives ammunition to those in government circles who quickly and conveniently misconstrue the discourse of self-regulation for the media as attempts to smuggle the hated ultra-neo-liberal agenda of rolling back the state through the backdoor.

They would thus take it as their patriotic duty to ensure that the triumphal march of what to them is a neo-liberal project whose object is to delegitimate state institutions like the MIC so that saintly civil society can fill in the vacuum created is prevented.

They often charge that anyone who calls for the disbanding of inefficient state institutions no matter how justified are mere pawns caught up in larger global ideological battles whose scope goes well beyond the alibi of a mere concern with safeguarding of some universal rights and liberties of the local population.

In the meantime we all await with abated breath for the triumph of reason, to see an end to the acrimonious mutual suspicion that has characterised relationships between state and non state actors in Zimbabwe.

Self-regulation and statutory regulation of the Zimbabwean media should not be viewed in terms of the one replacing the other, rather as playing a complimentary role.

Thus, it is in this spirit that true patriotic sentiment counsels tolerance of new and progressive ideas like the setting up of an all inclusive, nondiscriminatory voluntary media council in Zimbabwe.

Dr Obediah Mazombwe could not have put it more aptly when he argues in an article published in The Sunday Mail on 6 May 2007, that the idea of self-regulation resonates with our own African values and norms.

Media trainers face hard choices when they meet this Saturday, to support or to oppose self-regulation for the media.

Their decision either way is bound to have far reaching ramifications on the future shape and direction of Zimbabwe’s mediascape.

By the Oracle

"When it happens we will NOT be there!" is more apt

Ztv news motto "When it happens we will be there", captures one of the characteristics of news, that is, timeliness. It implies that events will be relayed to the audience as they happen. But is this what they are doing?

The answer can be both yes and no. Ztv can be said to be living up to its motto when one looks at the coverage of news events within Harare and its environs. These are relayed to the audience immediately. However, the same cannot be said of events outside Harare.

Viewers only get to know of events outside Harare a day or two after they have occurred. In some cases Ztv would have been overtaken by the rumour mill and by then the news would have ceased to be news. In other words, the news would be stale news.

In cases where they manage to cover the news immediately the viewers only get to hear a voice recording of the reporter over the telephone and for visuals they are shown the face of the reporter or a file tape from the archives. This again shows that Ztv is failing to live up to its motto because news is a total package hence the need for the report to be accompanied by relevant video footage.

In addition to the above, it appears that sometimes they deliberately ignore some newsworthy stories. The strike by health professionals at government hospitals, teachers and university lecturers at the beginning of this year is a case in point. Ztv deliberately ignored it as if to say it was not a newsworthy event despite the fact that it stretched over a number of days and caused serious disruptions in service delivery. In other words the coverage it was given was minimal and not worthy of an event of such magnitude. This again shows how Ztv’s practices are not in tandem with its motto.

Besides the above, Ztv’s attempts to report regional and international news from a Zimbabwean perspective is proving is fraught with many challenges due to lack of the necessary wherewithal to send their own correspondents to the various African and world regions so they can literally be there when it happens. As a result they have to rely on the western news reports and video footage themselves packaged from an ideologically specific perspective which a voice over by often inexperienced Ztv reporters won’t do much to change.

It is also here where Ztv’s failure to live up to its motto is exposed. In most cases western or regional news stories are accompanied by old video footage. This is most evident in stories to do with Iraq and Somalia. Concerning the recent heavy fighting in Somalia between the Ethiopian backed Interim government forces and the Islamists, Ztv continues to use the same video footage of gun totting militias day in and day out. The story would be recent, which is fine, but the video footage would be old. Recent news stories must be accompanied by recent video footage to make a total news package. Those pictures by western news agencies portray Africa from the western-centric viewpoint using often condescending if not denigratory metaphors that the Ztv news would be trying to subvert by putting its voiceovers. The gun totting militias send out the message that Africa in the absence of the west’s civilizing influence is a continent of civil strife and disorder and by using the same footage Ztv actually capitulates to the West’s largely negative portrayal of Africa.

It can therefore be said that due to a plethora of challenges ranging from lack of adequate financial resources to lack of skill and expertise, the Ztv has largely failed to live up to its motto and it has also failed in its effort to give regional and western news a Zimbabwean perspective.

By Albert Chibuwe- PgDip in Media and Society Studies student-MSU.

Reporting disasters minus context serves entrenched interests

Media products work to compel audience attention, to entertain and create lasting impressions as well as produce negative reactions from viewers . When covering disasters journalists select news angles and visual images which they assume will compel audience attention. For example news on the Dzivarasekwa bus disaster featured scenes of destruction, chaos, visuals of the damaged bus, train. These became the basic themes of the disaster coverage in the state press. But there was very little said on the antecedents of this crisis or about what it meant to the society other than it being simply a horrific occurrence.

There was no attempt to locate the event within its larger social political and economic context. For example, it wouldn't it be more revealing and informationally enriching to provide context by providing a trend chart to show whether our roads and rails are becoming safer places or more dangerous and try to find explanations for the patterns? What was the situation before? What has changed? How does this link up with the general economic hardships the country faces in the wake of economic sanctions? Could this be just one example of how economic sanctions are hurting the ordinary people? Is it traceable to bad governance and poor economic policies?

There was nothing said on the impact of the bus disaster on the Dzivarasekwa residents or the long-term economic outcomes on household incomes. This does not mean that journalists should avoid reporting the terrible human occurrences. The problem arises when these are the only themes in the coverage and they become routinised and shorn of any context each time there is a similar disaster .

By John Sibanda, PgDip in Media and Society Studies student, MSU.

MAZ consults with media trainers on voluntary media council

Trainers from different Journalism schools in the country said they agree in principle to the idea of establishing a self-regulatory body to regulate the media in Zimbabwe at a meeting organized by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) in Redcliff recently.

A coalition of media professional associations and civil society organizations formed the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe some time towards the end of last year which they tasked to drive the process of establishing the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe. MAZ immediately embarked on a broad-based consultative and lobbying process with all key stakeholders in the media sector of Zimbabwe in order to secure their buy-in. It was then that MAZ realized the need to engage media trainers on this subject and organized a workshop to bring them together. Editor of the Sunday Standard Mr. Bill Saidi, ZUJ president Mr.Mathew Takaona and fellow journalists took the trainers to task on deficiencies in what they considered basic writing skills, which they noted among journalism graduates from some training institutions. Mr. Bornwell Chakaodza, former editor of the Sunday Standard who was chairing the workshop however, urged a spirit of cooperation and partnership among both trainers and practicing journalists in initiating the new entrants into the profession.

The trainers agreed that they would need to reconvene soon as an association to consider the constitution and the code of ethics as well as their role in the envisaged VMCZ. Participants at the workshop agreed on the desirability of self-regulation for the media in Zimbabwe as an alternative to statutory regulation, which they blamed for the closure of five different newspaper titles since its establishment in 2002. It is expected that the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe will be launched any time soon after media trainers have ratified its constitution and code of ethics at a meeting scheduled to take place before May end. It remains to be seen however, how the two regulatory bodies the MIC and the MCZ would work and whether this would not result in the media being over-regulated.

Speaking at the same meeting Mr Henry Muradzikwa CEO of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) said he had not met any Government Minister opposed to the idea that Media should self-regulate. He urged all journalists to be guided by the highest ethical standards in conducting their business cognizant of the fact that through their pen scribes wield immense power over people’s lives.

By The Oracle

Fuzzy reporting on fake fizzy drinks

The newspaper article authored by Josephine Mude entitled Fake Fizzy Drinks Flood Market appeared on page 2 of The Times of 23-29 March 2007.

The article was based on the making of fake fizzy drinks at Kudzanayi bus terminus in Gweru. A snap survey carried out by The Times shows that most fizzy drinks sold at the terminus are not originals as the bottle labelling might imply. Vendors are making fruit juice mixtures, which are made out of milk, fizzy drinks, water and orange juice. These fake mixtures are turning out to be a favourite for some who believe they taste better than the real fizzy drinks.

This report was newsworthy because it was about an illegal operation, which is flooding the market. It becomes a national issue because vendors are selling to the public whose health is at risk food staffs and mixtures, which are not properly prepared and bottled. This activity is of concern, since this juice making is being carried out at a terminus, which is a national road junction and a major meeting place for different people.

The readers would have benefited more from a balanced report that includes the response of the vendors who are said to be making the drinks and a comment from the street kids who have been implicated as suppliers of the empty bottles. A balanced presentation would have made the article more informative to the readers. This is of public interest since the government is making frantic efforts to curb illegal activities, which are rampant in country. The reporter also seems to take the “street kids” phenomenon that they are a nuisance, that they are vermin as a given, absolving society of any blame for making some people live on the streets.

The reporter has a social responsibility of presenting news, which should be truthful. For this reason the reporter should have made an effort to get comment from the vendors but the reporter seems to know what the drinks are made of and only states that the juices look and taste like originals. What if they were in fact originals?

Vendors have resorted to manufacturing and selling “fake” juices as a means of earning a living. Implied in the report is the view that this is criminal and that the government should do something to stop it. Poor government policies and the macro-economic environment resulting from them are conveniently elided in this story. It is the poor vendors who are to blame for their poverty – in “blame the victim style”.

By Siphiwe Pagiwa, PgDip Media and Society Studies - MSU.

Local censure, global award for local hotel - case of media equivocating

A reporter purportedly reporting from Gweru by the name Chris Tabvura writes about how the Midlands Hotel’s CEO, Patrick Kombai, received an award given to the hotel in Spain – The Zimbabwean 1-7 March 2007.

This award was at the 32 International awards for Tourism, Hotel and Catering Industry in Spain. The Midlands Hotel’s CEO Patrick Hamutendi Kombai was given a certificate and a global badge was awarded to the hotel for business excellence and quality management. All this took place at a glittering ceremony in Madrid, Spain.

What I find difficult to understand is that not so long ago this same hotel was said to be operating below standard. It was alleged that the hotel had been closed so that necessary renovations could be made to improve standards. What boggles the mind is that the same hotel was condemned by the Hoteliers Association of Zimbabwe Quality Insurers over its “deplorable” state and it was dropped from its, is it two or three star status. How then could the same condemned hotel receive a global badge for excellence? This raises more questions than answers. One can only wonder, is it a clash of the global versus the local in hotel standards?

Through this report, the journalist is indirectly asking the readers to question the closure of the Midlands Hotel as substandard. Could it be on political grounds or was it a genuine inspection that took place a few weeks ago? In the report Kombai, owner of the Midlands Hotel, is quoted to have said a group of government officials “known as the Kaseke- Tabengwa group” had traveled around the country purporting to inspect hotels, restaurants and lodges in the name of Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. There was no comment from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority or Hoteliers Association of Zimbabwe. However, for some of us who live in Gweru and often make a deliberate effort to avoid walking along the hotel’s pavement on the western side to avoid the not so very enticing and aromatic smell of human waste know better whose standards to believe.

By Beauty Muromo PgDip in Media and Society Studies - MSU

Elements of tabloidisation evident in Zim media

The Zimbabwean print media is slowly but surely trudging towards tabloidisation. By tabloiddisation I mean the tendency to focus on sensational and sometimes trivial stories. This is a feature of most western newspapers which focus on the lifestyles of celebrities such as members of the royal family, David Beckham; Nicole Kidman; and Naomi Campbell to mention but a few. The launching of The Trends magazine; Sunday Mail Entertainment, Sunday News Leisure magazine and even the inclusion of some sensational stories in the main newspapers point towards tabloidisation.

Another feature of tabloidisation is the absence of public interest in most or all of these stories. The Sunday Mail of 15-21 April and The Herald of 13 April 2007 carried stories on World Bank President Wolfowitz’s scandalous promotion of his girlfriend and the subsequent pressure on him to quit. Of what interest is this information to the Zimbabwean audience? In what way does it impact on them? Other stories that quickly come to mind are in the same issues mentioned above on David Beckham’s wife drinking alcohol as a way of gaining appetite and, Prince William’s split from his girlfriend Kate Middleton. Again these stories though interesting are surely not of public interest if they have any relevance at all to the Zimbabwean audience.

Apart from instances cited above, the wide coverage given to Studio 263’s Denzel Burutsa’s (Jabulani Jari) relationship with and marriage to Chipo Bizure (Eve), their subsequent divorce and confrontations drives home my point. The way the story was covered in the local media reminds one of the O J Simpson saga and the hounding of the late Princess Diana by the paparazzi which eventually led to her tragic death. Of what value was this story to the audience? Was this not an invasion of the two’s private life? The coverage was so thorough especially, one of the episodes in which they allegedly had an altercation such that one wonders whether the two were ever left to enjoy their privacy. This leaves one with more questions than answers: In what ways did the media contribute to their divorce? Had they been left alone from the onset, would they have split up? The case of Tinopona Katsande and her boyfriend also testifies to my assertions.

In Katsande’s case the media started speculating about their split after Katsande moved back to Harare. In The Herald of 13 April Katsande and her boyfriend ridicule the media speculations. What effect is media coverage likely to have on their relationship? The case of Burutsa and Bizure, Rocqui and Pauline (who divorced) leaves one wondering whether Katsande and Ncube’s relationship, Selma Mtukudzi’s relationship with the younger Manatsa and Muwengwa’s (Nevernay Chinyanga) marriage will withstand this intense media gaze, (in Chinyanga’s case the Sunday Mail reported that his wife had an altercation with her husband’s alleged girlfriend in a supermarket)
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Media voyeurism is also evident in Makanaka’s case. The media created her by giving her prominence. And now the same media is mercilessly destroying her and committing infanticide with impunity despite the fact that she is just a teenager who happens to have fallen out with the same media, which “created” her. This merciless predatory tendency was evident in the cartoons of Makanaka in The Sunday Mail of 11 March in which she was shown taking a swipe at the Girl Child Network.
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The Zimbabwean media should instead focus on matters of public interest. The stories cited in this article had no value in them, that is, in relation to the generality of the audience. It is high time the media redefine its role in the Zimbabwean society and start focusing on pertinent issues such as ways of improving the economy and society’s well being. In addition they should help break up the polarization of the Zimbabwean society rather than help in the further division of society, and focusing on trivial issues.

By Albert Chibuwe PgDip in Media and Society Studies –MSU.

Why new radio station without national coverage?

Nearly 45% of the rural areas in Zimbabwe do not have access to radio signals and the assertion that radio is the medium of Africa seems to hold very little, if any water if the situation in Zimbabwe is anything to go by. However, the Minister of Information, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndhlovu, on the 6th of April, announced that the government has released $8.5bn for the establishment of a short-wave radio station in Gweru, which will tell the Zimbabwean story to Zimbabweans

Areas that do not receive local radio transmission are those close to the borders, like for example the whole stretch of area from Lupane to Victoria Falls, Beitbridge, Plumtree, Nyamapanda, Binga, Chiredzi and parts of Mberengwa. People in these areas listen to foreign stations, for instance, people in Lupane listen to ZambeziFM and other short-wave radio stations whose content are likely to compromise our territorial sovereignty and integrity.

These short-wave radio stations have been at the receiving end of government criticism, e.g. Studio 7, Short-wave radio Africa, Voice of the People, as imperialist, anti-government and western propaganda machines. The attacks however, leave many commentators wondering at the logic of increasing the number of stations in the country when there is no nationwide coverage. There have also been talks of why the government is busy attacking foreign radio stations for “telling our story in their own way,” instead of doing their homework and make sure that they (the government), “tell our story in our own way,” and tell it to everyone.

Currently there are four radio stations in the country i.e. Radio Zimbabwe, National FM, Spot FM, and Power FM, all of which are under the national broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation directly controlled by government. Recently there have been talks of a proposed fifth radio station to be launched in Gweru.
This station according to the Minister of Information, Doctor Sikhanyiso Ndhlovu should tell the Zimbabwean story to Zimbabweans, but the question is how can you tell the Zimbabwean story to Zimbabweans when you cannot access them?

What then is wrong in listening to foreign stations if one cannot access local stations?

By Mufudzi Shumba (Level 2, semester 2, Bsc Media and Society Studies, MSU)

Zim media, faithful mirror image of its colonial forerunner

Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980. Before we attained Uhuru the white regime or elites in the economic sector sympathetic to it controlled all the means of mental production including the media. Media played an hegemonic role in upholding a philosophy of white supremacy and the subjugation of the black majority at that time. Come 1980 the current ruling regime took it as it was with a few cosmetic adjustments to it. In present day Zimbabwe 27 years after independence and ‘majority rule’ the media remains an instrument of alienation of the vast majority black population still living in the margins.

In our country a lot of the issues such as the current economic condition is normalized such that readers, listeners and viewers continue to see it as normal. The seriousness of the issues is not brought up for public debate. Each time the Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono addresses the nation the media is upbeat about it as ‘the’ solution to the prevailing socio-economic crisis when in actual fact people continue to suffer. Very little space is given to dissenting views. The introduction of bearer cheques in 2004, operation sunrise and the striking down of zeroes, and now the social contract, all are welcomed and praised as if final panacea to our problems. But there is very little to show for it except the spiralling four digit inflation.
The media continue to be tools for mental domination better still a propaganda tool whereby those with political and economic power promote and legitimate their interests.
On TV programmes such as Murimi wanhasi, Face the Nation provide restricted forum where like-minded supporters of the ruling party take turns and compete to hip praises on the national leadership and its policies, one supposes for their ‘undertaker’ role over this declining economy. This means the ideas of the ruling elite dominate even today years after colonization. Even where the so called Private Press is supposed to provide a counter to rulling party monologues it does so from an ultra elitist view point often unrepresentative of the marjority marginalised groups. They represent capital and speak on its behalf. The same techniques used by the oppressive colonial regime continue to be used. Thus, it is my contention that the media still needs to be liberated in Zimbabwe today if it is to serve the true interests and aspirations of the majority, For example talk about something as basic as availability and access to so called mainstream media whether print or electronic less than 30% of the population is reached by either newspapers or radio or TV signals from Pockets Hill, the rest must fend for themselves by listening to TV and radio stations in neighbouring countries like South Africa, Botswana, Zambia etc. Talk of defending of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Where are we getting it all wrong fellow Zimbabweans?

By Gamuchirai Mudimu, Bsc Media and Society Studies, (Level 2 semester2) - MSU

To question the "Official" truth

The newspaper article authored by the Harare Bureau was headlined, ‘Don’t hold Govt to ransom’, and appeared on page 2 of The Chronicle of 15 Mach 2007.

The article was based on the remarks made by the Reserve Bank Governor, Doctor Gideon Gono, on the occasion of his tour of Operation Maguta projects in Mashonaland East Province, on Tuesday, 13 March 2007.

The Governor was reported to have sounded a stern warning to tobacco farmers who had not heeded the invitation to bring their produce, tobacco, to the auction floors. This major foreign currency earner is sold in US dollars with the farmers being paid in local currency at the official exchange rate. The farmers appeared to have been on a trade boycott over the price they were being offered for their crop as well as the rate at which the Zimbabwean dollar was pegged against the US dollar. The Governor’s contention was that the tobacco had been raised through government support and so the growers should consider the national interest ahead of profiteering.

COMMENT

The event was newsworthy since it was about an activity and a commodity that is the mainstay of Zimbabwe's economy – namely farming and tobacco. However, the article seemed mainly concerned with presenting the governor’s point of view. Since the subject was of national concern, the readers would have benefited more from a balanced report that included the response of the tobacco farmers. A balanced presentation would have made the article more factually accurate and more informative to the readers. As it was the governor, who is a senior civil servant, could have been seeking political mileage for the government by placing the blame for the failure to deliver tobacco to the auction floors on the farmers who, according to him, had benefited from government subsidized inputs throughout the production of the tobacco.

The presentation of the article would have been different had the reporter taken the trouble to cross check the Governor’s claims with the explanation from the farmers’ representatives on their reasons for the alleged boycott. But it seems this was not to be, the paper had to give the "official" interpretation of reality.

This one-sided presentation could have been influenced by the fact that the Chronicle newspaper is government owned. Unfortunately, in a scenario where government is in disagreement with another party, newspaper editorial policy always tends to take the side of the owners of the paper. The same policy would constrain the reporter and the editor to deliberately exclude the views of the farmers who were most likely to challenge the assertions of the governor.

Instead of the Reserve bank governor’s remarks being the sole basis of the story, they should have only acted as a stimulus. The real story, which this reporter denies his/her readers, should have been on what the accused farmers had to say in their own defense. In this process, the story manipulates or "rigs" the readers’ opinion against the tobacco farmers. Public opinion may very likely have been swayed against them as a greedy, selfish and unpatriotic lot who want to benefit all the way.

The article appeared in a government owned paper whose journalists/reporters enjoy unlimited access to the diaries and itinerary of government officials. This privilege may not always be easily available to other newspapers. This monopoly over government information sources sometimes leads to the complacency of speech reporting and an attitude that what the paper has reported on could not be challenged since rival papers (such as the so called independent papers in this case) cannot always easily access the information on the activities of top government officials.

This comment questions the implicit argument that there can only be one truth and that that truth coincides with the official view. It calls for balanced reporting in articles to be published in national newspapers. To this end, reporters are encouraged to scrupulously cross check facts with the concerned parties before rushing to press. Finally, in a democracy is it not the duty of the press to provide a forum for the articulation of all the diverse shades of opinion and competing views and interests in society so that citizens can make informed decisions and judgments on issues that affect them?

By Elikana Shoko.
PgDip Student at MSU.

About the Blog

Welcome to this blog spot which seeks to provide an (Indaba) forum on Zimbabwe mediascapes. This is a group weblog started 3 March 2007, by the Post-Graduate Diploma in Media and Society Studies class at Midlands State University, Gweru in Zimbabwe as part of their Practical journalism course.

Its main aim is to provide a forum for critical reflexivity on the media practices in Zimbabwe, taking into account the prevailing legal, technological, political as well as economic environment within which the media operate in the country. Apart from presenting the class with an opportunity to participate in this frontier type medium, this blog hopes to attract incisive commentary on what is going wrong or right with our media from all its readers. It keeps in focus the question how and why are our scribes reporting the Zimbabwean 'reality' the way they do. Debate on this forum shall be unregulated and free from any form of prior censorship. So welcome aboard.