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.
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
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