Civil society in the Zimbabwean media

As the report will show, there was a clear division in the coverage of the matter between the private and the government-controlled media. While the private media gave space to organisations that were critical of the country’s governance and demanded protection of Zimbabwean’s basic rights, the government-controlled national broadcaster, ZBC and ZIMPAPERS (The Herald, Chronicle, The Sunday Mail, Sunday News and The Manica Post) selectively reported on civic groups that either defended government policies or supported ZANU PF. These included pro-government trade unions, the war veterans association and little known groupings of youths, lawyers and wives of army generals. In the few cases that they covered critical organisations, they either distorted their comments in order to make them appear in support of government and ZANU PF or reported them in the context of attacking them.

A clear expression of their concerns and positions on a range of pertinent issues was only found in the private media. These media reported them objecting to their exclusion from the SADC mediated talks, exposing and condemning rights violations and the uneven electoral field.

Below is a monthly breakdown of both the print and electronic media coverage of civil society in Zimbabwe. 

 

As ZANU PF government intensified its repression, manifested in the banning of all political gatherings and the subsequent brutal crushing of the opposition’s defiance in March 2007, civil society became even more vocal in their condemnation of the country’s governance. This was reflected in the wide coverage of civic organizations in the private Press as highlighted in Fig 1. But while the private papers gave space to civic society’s criticism of ZANU PF’s intolerance of dissent, the government papers simply ignored it and quoted some church groupings that seemed to echo the authorities’ attempts to blame the opposition and its civic allies for the country’s political instability marked by arrests, detention, beating and, in some cases, torture of opposition leaders and civic activists. These included the Ecumenical Peace Initiative, Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Council of Churches.

In contrast, the private Press quoted civil society organisations such as the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights and ZIMRIGHTS condemning the beatings and torture of opposition and civic leaders following the violent crushing of their rally on March 11 2007 and the general rights violations in the country.

 

As shown in Fig. 2, trade unions received more coverage in April 2007 as compared to other organisations. This was largely due to the ZCTU-organized protest against worsening living standards and government’s violent response to the attempt to hold a public gathering in Highfield in March by the political opposition and civil society. Although all unions were given space in the official papers, the ZCTU was largely quoted in the context of dismissing its actions while pro-government bodies like the ZFTU, which was used to vilify mass action organisers, were reported in favourable light.

 

The pattern remained largely the same in May with trade unions receiving more coverage during the month. This was due to the Workers’ Day commemorations traditionally held in May. As in April, the government papers used the ZFTU to malign the ZCTU, projecting it as pursuing a political agenda at the expense of workers’ rights. The ZCTU was only quoted in the context of such attacks.

Although the private papers also covered the Workers’ Day commemorations and the unions’ different positions, they continued to give space to other civic organisations’ concerns on worsening rights violations in the country and their lobby of regional bodies such as the African Commission on Human and People Rights to censure Zimbabwe. Examples are; NGOs make silent stand at Africa meet (The Financial Gazette, 24/5/07) and Govt threats derail efforts to expose Zim (Zimbabwe Independent 24/5/07). In addition, the private papers quoted civic bodies such as the SADC Lawyers Association and ZLHR condemning the assault of lawyers. Media bodies were also quoted bemoaning hindrances to freedom of expression.

 

 

While the private papers continued to give civic organisations space to express their views on various topical matters, the official papers either distorted their positions or simply sought comment from pro-government organisations to dismiss their statements. For example, The Sunday Mail (24/6/07) used, out of context, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum’s findings on the rights violations during the land reform programme and claimed the Forum had openly acknowledged that farm workers were behind the displacement of commercial farmers in contrast to its earlier reports that violence was government sponsored. A clearer picture of the findings appeared in the private Press, which reported the Forum as having noted that the state security agents and government officials were at the forefront of land reform rights abuses. In addition, the private papers quoted several organisations expressing their disappointment over their exclusion from the SADC mediated talks to find a political settlement to Zimbabwe’s myriad problems.

 

 

The month of July saw the heightening of government’s price clampdown, widely condemned as economically illogical. Typically, to lend support to government’s controversial attempts to stem the country’s economic meltdown, the official Press quoted obscure organisations like the Tehillar Christian Network and the African Pastors Association hailing the move as the right remedy for the country’s economic ills. While the private papers quoted several commentators highlighting the economic imprudence of price controls, they also gave more emphasis to concerns by civic organisations such as the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) raising concerns over piecemeal amendments to the country’s Constitution as planned by the country’s three main political parties engaged in the SADC mediated talks. They demanded a complete constitutional reform as a solution to the country’s crises.

 

The enactment of the Interception of Communications Act giving government powers to snoop on private communications was one of the main news events in August 2007. The development drew widespread regional and local criticism, mainly fronted by the civil society. It is largely for this reason that media and human rights civic organisations were visible in the media in the same month. Organizations such as MISA and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights were quoted in the private Press considering going to court to seek the nullification of the law. The private papers also reported civic groups questioning the transparency of voter registration, which was under way. ZESN was reported condemning the exercise as fraudulent. They also quoted organisations like the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum exposing the fallacy of government’s propaganda report on violence, which it had used to try and mislead SADC leaders on the source of political violence in the country and events of surrounding March 11 attacks of opposition leaders.

The government-controlled papers avoided covering organisations that addressed these issues. Instead, they merely reported organisations such as the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust and ZESN urging the public to register to vote. Similarly, NANGO was only reported talking about the importance of women’s participation in the economy.

 

 

 

Most of the civic organizations quoted in the government-controlled papers in September such as the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa, Women Against Sanctions and Women in the Houses supported government’s calls for the removal of sanctions. Other organizations were featured expressing their support for President Mugabe. These comprised the war veterans association and the December 12 Movement, which held demonstrations in New York in solidarity with Mugabe, who was attending the UN summit.

Civil society concerns over the drafting of the controversial Constitutional Amendment No. 18 Bill got attention from the private Press. In fact, the NCA appeared several times rejecting the inadequacy of the Bill while slamming the accusing MDC for endorsing it. The Standard (09/09/07), for example, reported civic organizations describing the Bill as an “unacceptable threat to democracy which could have dramatic consequences on voters rights.”

 

 

Following the drafting of the controversial Constitutional Amendment No. 18, which provided for the harmonization of the local government, parliamentary and presidential elections among other provisions, the government-controlled papers selectively covered civic groups that endorsed the amendment while criticizing those that were against it. For example, the Centre for the Advancement of Dialogue and Democracy was quoted praising the amendments saying they would help in coming up with a homegrown constitution to replace the Lancaster House Constitution.

As illustrated in the Fig 8 above, war veterans’ associations featured prominently in both the official and private papers as they made efforts to mobilize support for President Mugabe’s candidature in the 2008 presidential elections through demonstrations. While the official papers quoted the war veterans simply endorsing Mugabe’s candidature, the private papers reported civic organisations questioning the abuse of war veterans in ZANU PF’s succession battles.

 

 

As the country started preparing for the 2008 elections, ZESN received more coverage in November lamenting the lack of resources for the elections following the increase in the number of constituencies. Other civic organizations were quoted in the private Press bemoaning the MDC in-fighting that manifested itself in the ousting of Lucia Matibenga as head of the party’s Women’s Assembly saying it showed a lack of preparedness by the opposition for the elections. The Matibenga case enticed comments from Women in Politics Support Unit and Feminist Political Education Project who criticized the manner in which the MDC leadership handled the matter.

 

 

War veterans got more space in the government papers as compared to other civic organisations in December as they were the most vocal group that expressed its views ahead of ZANU PF’s congress dominated the party’s succession squabbles.

In the same month, the private papers gave more attention to civic groups that raised concerns over the fast-tracked amendments to AIPPA and POSA, which Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition described as cosmetic (The Zimbabwean, 20/12/07). Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Zimbabwe Union of Journalists cited the exclusion of civil society and journalists in drafting the amendments, which were agreed by parties to the SADC mediated negotiations.

 

The government Press continued to only accommodate civic organisations that supported government. As shown in Fig 11, these included Youth for Zimbabwe Association and war veterans grouping. Organisations that are normally critical of government were only accommodated when they appeared to be commenting positively about ZANU PF. For example, the Sunday Mail (27/1/08) gave prominence to the NCA’s projections that ZANU PF would win the March elections resoundingly and claimed this represented a “dramatic U-turn” by the organization.It suppressed the fact that the NCA had based its observations on the country’s flawed constitution and uneven electoral playing field.  

The private papers gave wider coverage to civil society lamenting the country’s lack of preparedness for the March 29 elections. For example, the Standard (13/1/08) quoted the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN) saying there was inadequate time to put in place all the logistical requirements for the elections between January and March.

 

 

The number of civic organisations in the print media increased towards the elections. The government controlled press continued to give favourable coverage to civic groups that were sympathetic to ZANU PF. Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Association and the Zimbabwe Liberation War Veterans Association were all quoted campaigning for ZANU PF ahead of the elections.

The private press quoted organisations that were critical of the country’s electoral process, particularly Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)’s capacity to administer the elections. For example, The Zimbabwean (07/2/08) reported ZESN raising concerns over lack of transparency on voter registration and inadequate voter education.

 

 

The pattern remained the same as March 29 Election Day drew close. The government papers continued to give more space to pro-ZANU PF civic organisations such as the war veterans association, ZFTU and Destiny of Africa Network. Although they also quoted critical organisations such as ZESN, the papers only chose stories in which the organisations commended some aspects of the electoral process. For instance, The Manica Post (14/3/08) selectively reported ZESN hailing ZEC for publishing the location of polling stations but remained silent on the organization and other civic groups’ criticism of the general administration of the elections.

These only appeared in the private Press, which quoted several civic bodies expressing concerns on ZANU PF’s clandestine schemes to tilt the poll outcome in its favour and the inadequacy of amendments to the electoral laws.

 

 

The country’s electoral crisis was apparent in April as ZEC delayed releasing the presidential election results after ZANU PF lost its parliamentary majority. A violent campaign of retribution against MDC activists and their suspected supporters erupted during the month. In light of this, the government Press tried to gloss over the electoral crisis by selectively recording some civic groups such as the little known Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice commending the administration of the elections, which it claimed were free and fair. As public anxiety over the presidential election results increased, the papers sought to calm readers by quoting groups such as Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, Centre for Peace Initiative in Africa and church organisations calling on Zimbabweans to remain peaceful.

 

In contrast, the private Press quoted civic society condemning and protesting against the delay in the announcement of the presidential results. The number of civic organisations quoted in the private Press increased during the month as pressure mounted on ZEC to release the results. The Zimbabwe Independent (25/4/08), for example, reported a coalition of 18 civic organisations, including Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Save Zimbabwe Campaign and MISA as having petitioned the African Union and SADC heads of state to “exert pressure on ZEC to release the presidential elections results”.