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