Zambian Television Accused of Being Biased Towards Ruling MMD
Report by MISA-Zambia

Hundreds of thousands of went to polling stations on 28 September 2006 morning to vote their national leader, law-makers and local government officials, kicking off the tripartite elections.
The elections, the fourth since the country resumed multiparty democracy in early 1990s, will see incumbent President Levy Mwanawasa, who will seek a second term, challenged by four opposition leaders.

MISA-Zambia has expressed disappointment at the unfair coverage of political parties taking part in this year’s tripartite election by Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) during their main news.

Speaking at a press briefing, MISA Zambia board Chairperson Fr Frank Bwalya said this situation was saddening because the Electoral Code of Conduct clearly calls for equitable coverage of all contesting parties.

Fr Bwalya said according to the research finding conducted by MISA Zambia for the past two months which involved monitoring ZNBC news for 19:00 hrs and 13:15 hrs on both Television and Radio, the public broadcasters gave over 70 percent coverage to the ruling MMD.

Evidence from the last three weeks shows the ruling MMD, particularly President Levy Mwanawasa, enjoyed longer coverage and more headline treatment compared to other political parties and their leaders.

Results show the Government had a whooping 75 percent of the ZNBC radio news hole, compared to 6.3 percent for the Patriotic Front (PF), 10.4 percent for United Democratic Alliance (UDA), and 4.2 percent each for Heritage party (HP) and All People?s (APC).? Fr Bwalya said.

He said ZNBC television main news also showed a similar trend where 57.9 percent of news items were related to Government and the MMD, 15.7 per cent went to PF and 14.3 percent to the UDA, 2.9 per cent went to HP while 5.7 percent coverage was given to APC.

He however said ZNBC remained ethical in the majority of stories they carried. He said MISA Zambia recognises the efforts made in conjunction with other partners to provide discussion programmes featuring all contesting parties.

Fr Bwalya said the biased reporting on ZNBC news was retrogressive because it hindered electorates from accessing vital information concerning persons and parties taking part in this year?s elections which hindered free and fair elections.

He called on Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to stop the trend by ZNBC immediately and also urged ZNBC to follow what the Electoral Code of Conduct for 2006 stipulates.

ZNBC is the only electronic media that has the widest coverage in Zambia and braodcasts in local language as well as English and has three radio channels aired in Zambia and one Television channel.
ZimJournalists Arise Does Not Take Responsibility For The Content Of This Report