Weekly Media Update 2008-37

The government media’s unreliability as trustworthy sources of information was underlined by their reluctance to inform their audiences on issues that reflected badly on the ZANU PF government. 
This week, they again turned a blind eye to state rights violations, which continued to expose ZANU PF’s insincerity in upholding provisions of the power-sharing deal whose main cornerstone is political tolerance.
But this was hardly surprising as it suited their on-going attempts to blame the deal deadlock on the MDC, which they have repeatedly projected as repulsing ZANU PF’s magnanimity by irrationally shifting positions on the formation of an inclusive government in order to sabotage the agreement on behalf of its alleged Western sponsors.    
Only the few remaining private media exposed the continued political intolerance, largely marked by violent infringement on Zimbabweans’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of association and assembly, whose victims were mainly MDC and civic activists. 
They carried 12 stories on rights violations and recorded five fresh incidents of political violence. All but one of the cases fingered state security agents as perpetrators of the violence against MDC and civic activists and ordinary people. The remainder stemmed from clashes between ZANU PF and MDC supporters at the venue of the SADC meeting in South Africa tasked with finding a breakthrough to the country’s power-sharing stalemate.
Otherwise, the rest of the rights abuse stories were general assessments of the country’s worsening human rights record.
In one of the incidents of state viciousness, The Standard (16/11) reported that police officers in “riot gear and armed with AK 47 assault rifles” had swooped on a Masvingo nightclub and “severely assaulted” its “defenceless patrons” accusing them of buying alcohol in foreign currency before ordering an early closure of the club.
Earlier, private radio stations (11&12/11) and The Financial Gazette (13/11) reported on police heavy-handedness in dealing with largely peaceful protests by civic activists demanding a new constitution and the establishment of a transitional authority to steer Zimbabwe out of its political crisis and pave way for fresh elections, further highlighting the extent to which the country has plunged into a police state.
Also, it was only the private media that openly reported on ZANU PF’s in-fighting as mirrored by the decision by former PF ZAPU leaders to renounce the unity agreement between the two parties and revive their old party (Zimbabwe Independent, 14/11); and the growing discord over the succession issue ahead of ZANU PF’s conference next month (The Gazette, 13/11).
Although the official Press reported on former PF ZAPU leaders’ discontent, they glossed over the matter by dishonestly presenting it as a minor disagreement that ZANU PF still had control over.  
It is such unprofessional practice by the public media that justifies calls for the repeal of the country’s totalitarian media laws and their replacement with more democratic legislation that would facilitate the establishment of more news outlets, which would satisfy Zimbabweans’ diverse information needs. 
 
The government and private Press
Concerns over the fate of the troubled ZANU PF/MDC power-sharing talks after a weekend SADC meeting again failed to resolve the impasse dominated Press coverage ahead of the country’s health and food security problems. See Fig. 1.
Fig 1: Topical news distribution in the Press
Publication
Political deal
Health & cholera
Food security
Political
Violence
The Herald
9
8
2
0
Chronicle
 
11
2
5
0
The Manica Post
3
0
1
0
The Sunday Mail
2
1
2
0
Sunday News
4
0
1
0
The Financial Gazette
 
8
1
1
1
The Zimbabwean
12
0
0
4
Zimbabwe Independent
8
2
0
0
The Standard
5
4
3
1
Total
62
18
15
6
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Despite this, the government papers failed to give useful updates on the power-sharing deal, whose drawn out deadlock over the allocation of the security ministries (especially that of Home Affairs) between ZANU PF and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, have dramatically increased the possibility of its collapse.
For example, the official papers only provided approving coverage to ZANU PF and the breakaway MDC led by Arthur Mutambara’s support and compliance with the SADC directive for the co-ministering of the Home Affairs portfolio while trivialising reservations on the matter by MDC (Tsvangirai).
The Herald and Chronicle (13/11), for example, glowingly reported the ZANU PF Politburo as having “unanimously” approved the SADC resolution and urged President Mugabe to “proceed to form an inclusive government immediately” while MDC (Mutambara) “also called for MDC-T to comply with the SADC position”.
Consequently, none of the papers’ reports assessed the prudence of the region’s verdict or gave clear expression to the reasons why the Tsvangirai-led MDC formation was opposed to it.
Such superficial coverage of the matter ballooned into blatant misrepresentations at the weekend when the papers distorted the decision by the MDC (Tsvangirai) national council to reject the SADC calls for the co-management of the ministry, including their resolve not to join the proposed inclusive government until all other outstanding issues such as the appointment of provincial governors and principal government officials, were addressed.
For example, The Herald (15/11) report: MDC-T okays unity Govt, selectively cited the third item of the council’s 11-point resolutions pledging participation in the proposed government “once Constitutional Amendment No. 19 has been passed and effected into law” out of context.
There was no improvement in the official papers’ coverage of other topical issues like the escalating cholera disaster, fostered by the crumbling health sector and the critical poor service delivery. For example, the papers understated the prevalence of the cholera outbreak in the country while simultaneously praising government interventions to stem it without any critical examination of their sufficiency.
The Sunday Mail (16/11) reported the disease as having killed 37 people in Harare since its outbreak while earlier, The Herald (14/11) announced that the pandemic had been detected in other parts of the capital like Glen View 3 and Mashonaland West and Mashonaland East without attempting to explain or investigate whether the disease had become a national epidemic.
The private Press gave a critical assessment of the power-sharing deal.
They interpreted SADC’s calls for the co-ministering of Home Affairs as illogical, unprecedented and in favour of ZANU PF, especially as the party had already unilaterally grabbed all other national security portfolios.
In addition, the papers reported the ZANU government as still intolerant of dissent as evidenced by further attacks on suspected government opponents mostly by state security agents. They carried six stories on the matter, recording three incidents
The private Press highlighted problems bedevilling the health sector, including acute shortages of resources, which they argued made it difficult for the government to eradicate the cholera scourge.
Despite this, the private papers were unable to carry independent investigations on the national cholera casualties, relying exclusively on figures provided by aid agencies, which estimated the fatalities at over 100. However, they quoted health experts accusing government of downplaying the crisis and warning of a worse catastrophe if it continued dodging addressing the root causes of the outbreak.
They painted a grim picture of the country’s food situation too.
The Standard (16/11), for example, reported of worsening food crisis with some people in rural areas reportedly dying of constipation after eating wild fruits normally eaten by animals. It cited medical authorities as saying in Lupane alone, about 10 people had died after they ate meat from cattle-infected with anthrax.
Although the official Press seemed to have extensively sourced MDC voices as shown in Fig. 2, these were mostly quoted in the context of portraying them as confused while other alternative voices were predominantly used to reinforce government’s position on the country’s political and socio-economic issues.
 
Fig 2: Voice distribution in the Press
Publication
Govt
ZANU PF
MDC
Alt
Foreign diplomats
Ordinary people
The Herald
8
3
7
5
3
10
Chronicle
5
1
6
1
3
0
The Manica Post
 
0
0
0
1
0
3
The Sunday Mail
 
2
0
2
2
0
0
Sunday News
2
1
4
2
1
0
The Financial Gazette
 
2
0
3
6
9
1
The Zimbabwean
0
2
5
10
14
0
Zimbabwe Independent
0
3
7
4
2
0
The Standard
3
2
4
7
8
3
 
ZBC and private radio stations
Like the print media, ZBC and the private stations gave considerable attention to the SADC’s failure to resolve ZANU PF/MDC differences over power sharing as compared to other topical issues of the week. See Fig 1.
Fig 1: Topical stories on ZBC and private stations
Station
Political deal
Health &
Cholera
Food security
Political violence
ZTV
33
4
2
0
Spot FM
13
0
0
0
Radio Zimbabwe
19
2
2
0
SW Radio Africa
8
1
2
3
Studio 7
10
1
5
3
Total
83
8
11
6
 
However, ZBC’s extensive coverage of these topics did not result in an insightful presentation of the subjects. Rather, almost all its stories were hinged on official standpoints, which it supinely approved.
For example, the broadcaster passively endorsed SADC’s ruling on the co-management of the contested Home Affairs Ministry by ZANU PF and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, while projecting the MDC’s rejection of the proposal as further indication of its alleged lack of commitment to the agreement.
No coherent discussion about the MDC’s reservations on the SADC ruling was made. Rather, ZBC suffocated the party’s position with ZANU PF’s endorsement of the regional body’s resolution and used its favourite pro-government commentators and selected members of the public to attack the MDC as the stumbling block to the formation of the proposed inclusive government. 
Such disinformation campaign heightened at the weekend when Radio Zimbabwe and ZTV (14/11, 8pm) distorted the MDC-T national council’s response to the SADC resolutions. The stations reported out of context the council’s communiqué to give the impression that the party will unreservedly join the planned government once Constitutional Amendment No. 19 was enacted to legalize the political deal. The fact that the enactment of the amendment was just but one of several outstanding issues the party wanted resolved before co-running the country with ZANU PF was conveniently ignored. 
Similarly, the broadcaster’s reports on the worsening cholera outbreak and the country’s dire food situation were inadequate. It simply restricted its coverage of these issues to insipid official statements depicting government as in control without relating them to the realities on the ground. Consequently, there was no independent investigation on the extent of these problems, including the exact figures of cholera casualties.
Only the private radio stations enlightened their audiences on the limitations of the SADC resolution and the extent of the country’s health and food crises.
For instance, they generally viewed SADC’s decision on power sharing as indicative of the region’s lack of capacity and leverage to reign in President Mugabe and address the country’s prolonged crises. Contrary to ZBC reports, they gave holistic reasons behind the MDC’s rejection of the regional bodies’ proposed resolution of the deal deadlock, among which was the continued persecution of perceived MDC opponents.
As if to vindicate the MDC’s arguments, the private stations recorded three new incidents of political violence by state security agents against government opponents, which they noted belied ZANU PF’s self-proclaimed commitment to the political settlement.
They also continued to highlight the country’s worsening food shortages and the collapsing health delivery system, evidenced by the cholera epidemic, which they interpreted as indicative of government’s failure to arrest the country’s socio-political and economic slide.
Although ZBC widely cited alternative sources in their reports as shown in Fig. 2, they were mainly used to endorse official positions on the country’s crises.
 
 Fig 2: Voice distribution on ZBC and private stations
Station
ZANU PF
MDC
Alt
Foreign diplomats
Ordinary people
ZTV
9
2
11
10
19
Spot FM
0
0
6
0
0
Radio Zimbabwe
3
4
13
1
0
Studio 7
2
7
13
4
0
SW Radio Africa
0
8
13
2
0
 
 
Online news agencies
The online news agencies also duly covered regional attempts to salvage the country’s power sharing deal. See Fig. 3.
Fig 3: Topical stories on Online agencies
Agency
 
Political deal
 Health & cholera
 Food shortages
Political violence
ZimOnline
12
3
1
0
The Zimbabwe Times
14
1
3
3
New Zimbabwe.com
12
0
2
0
Zimdaily
8
0
0
0
Total
46
4
6
3
 
Like private radio stations, they denounced SADC’s resolution recommending the co-management of the Home Affairs Ministry, arguing that the decision reinforced their views that the region sympathized with Mugabe, putting into serious doubt its capacity to impartially resolve Zimbabwe’s political impasse.
They also reported the country’s socio-economic crises as worsening as reflected by severe food and water shortages. ZimOnline (12/11), for example, reported that Parliament and High Court buildings were “forced to close” during the week due to persistent severe water shortages in the capital.
Besides, they carried similar incidents of political violence as those recorded by other private media.
Their critical examination of these issues was mirrored by their attempts to balance ZANU PF’s views with those of the MDC and independent observers as illustrated in Fig. 4.
 
Fig 4: Online agencies - Voice distribution
Agency
 
ZANU PF
MDC
Alt
Professional
Foreign diplomats
Ordinary people

ZimOnline
5
9
6
0
2
0

The Zimbabwe Times

5
12
6
4
5
10

New
Zimbabwe.com
6
8
2
0
6
0

Zimdaily
1
3
1
0
1
0
 
 
What they said…
“The political paralysis (in Zimbabwe) is shifting the burden of feeding an ever growing number of hungry people from the government to NGOs while the starving death toll rises”– Christian Alliance director Useni Sibanda commenting on the country’s worsening food security situation. Studio 7, 10/11.
 “This issue of co-sharing does not work. We have said so ourselves, we have rejected it, and that’s the position. There is no agreement to co-sharing, to rotation, to swapping of ministries.” – MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai criticizing SADC’s ruling on co-ministering Home Affairs. The Herald,10/11
 “As far as we are concerned government will be formed with or without Tsvangirai at the end of this week or early next week. There is a country to be run and services to be provided and we can’t wait for people who are undecided about what to do” – Presidential spokesman George Charamba. The Financial Gazette, 13/11.
 

Ends/ 

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