Latest Media Monitoring Report

(for week ending November 19)

THIS week the Zimbabwe Independent (17/11) exposed the authorities’ determination to stifle critical journalism in the country by flooding the media industry with toothless journalists. The paper revealed that government had ordered the country’s main journalist training institution, the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Harare Polytechnic, to recruit “only students” who are aged above 21 and have “undergone” government’s controversial National Youth Service training.
Reportedly, the polytechnic’s vice-principal, Runyararo Magadzire, had then instructed the media school to enrol students who are “able to prove their national consciousness by way of civic issues and other related issues of national interest”.

To make matters worse, the paper also revealed that the panel of selectors comprises a “senior lecturer from the department of National Strategic Studies and two external selectors, one from the Media and Information Commission (MIC) and the other one from a ‘reputable’ media house recommended by the MIC”. Although the paper did not get comment from government on why issues such as “national consciousness” and “national interest” – previously defined narrowly along ZANU PF lines – should be prerequisites for journalism enrolment, it quoted two commentators exposing the underlying intentions of the move.

While Bill Saidi viewed the development as an attempt to “instil a wrong type of patriotism in trainee journalists”, an unnamed journalism lecturer observed that government was “trying to militarise media schools” and “entice youths to join the National Service” because “age and national service have no correspondence with one’s performance as a journalist”. The lecturer also noted that the move would further erode the students’ academic freedom because most of the national service graduands have previously been “used as classroom spies who report to the principal’s office on the happenings at the college”.
The government media ignored this development, which further exposes the authorities’ resolve to completely corrupt the country’s media space, and by extension, free expression.


2. Economy and corruption
THE government media papered over the root causes of Zimbabwe’s economic ruin with simplistic stories projecting government as succeeding in turning around the fortunes of the economy. This was reflected in most of the 97 stories these media carried on the subject (ZBH [64] and official papers [33]). For example, 26 of the stories that government papers carried on the economic meltdown painted a rosy picture of the country’s economic outlook or just highlighted symptoms of economic decline in isolation of government’s poor management.
The official media ignored following up alleged corruption by senior ruling party officials at the ailing government owned steel-making giant, Ziscosteel (Zisco). They also failed to expose the authorities’ policy contradictions, which have sometimes resulted in the promulgation of retrogressive economic legislation. Only the private media appeared interested in these issues. In fact, the official media were guilty of diverting attention from the authorities’ reported involvement in graft, especially at Zisco, by presenting them as fighting tenaciously to eradicate the vice. The Herald (15/11), for example, simply quoted Anti-corruption Minister Paul Mangwana lambasting corrupt civil servants for contributing to the country’s economic decay without probing why government had not acted against them.

The next day the paper carried a cartoon passively reinforcing Mangwana’s statements by describing civil servants as “evil servants”. Radio Zimbabwe and ZTV (15/11,8pm) also illustrated this professional hypocrisy. Rather than test the authorities’ commitment to fighting corruption in higher places, the two merely claimed: “Zimbabweans have come out in full support of government efforts to fight corruption, which is undermining economic turnaround initiatives.”
Notably, the Ziscosteel sleaze was not remotely mentioned. As a result, the government media’s audiences remained oblivious to the authorities’ reported attempts to keep the report away from public view. Neither were they apprised on their sudden defence of the alleged pillaging, especially in light of their rhetorical promises to fight all forms of corruption through the much-publicised anti-corruption drive.

However, The Herald (15/11) unwittingly exposed the duplicity of this anti-corruption drive. It cited Anti-corruption Principal Director Sylvester Mawunganidze revealing that most ministries were refusing to cooperate with the anti-corruption commission while Deputy Chief Secretary of the President, Ray Ndhuluka, noted that there was a “fragmented anti-corruption policy that allows the continuance of the vice”.
Why government has not addressed such hindrances was not discussed. Instead, the official media simply resorted to overplaying the economic benefits of otherwise routine events such as trade fairs, including even the advent of time-honoured occurrences like the onset of the rainy season, as indicators of economic recovery.

Radio Zimbabwe and Spot FM (13/11,8pm), for example, publicised the Import Substitution and Value Addition Expo in Harare, which the authorities used as a manifestation of their efforts to stave off economic decline. While the stations, for example, reported the Industry and Trade Ministry boasting about how its “mission to conscientise (sic) industry on the benefits of value addition and import substitution is bearing fruit as evidenced by the number of deals clinched at the Expo”, they did not ask him to detail the deals or how much they were worth.
The next day, ZTV (14/11,8pm) devoted 11minutes of its one-hour bulletin (excluding sports) to report approvingly about the onset of the rains. The Herald (15/11) even allowed Mangwana to thank God for the rains, saying civil servants now “have no excuse for corruption”. It did not explain how the rains would be a solution to widespread corruption. Instead, the government Press carried seven superficial stories that glossed over the causes of the economic crisis.

For example, The Sunday Mail (19/11) criticised the decision by the Reserve Bank to cancel the seven-year Economic Stabilisation Bonds barely a month after introducing them, but avoided interpreting this as indicative of the confusion and policy contradictions by government. It merely quoted an unnamed analyst noting that the move would cause a “decline” in investor confidence. Earlier, Spot FM (18/11,8pm) found nothing controversial about government’s drafting of the “National Indigenisation and Empowerment Policy…aimed at compelling all foreign-owned companies across all economic spectrums to surrender 50% shareholding to local entrepreneurs…” As a result, no professional analysts were sought to debate the economic prudence of such a law, especially on investor confidence.
The government media’s reluctance to frankly diagnose the country’s economic ills was illustrated by their reliance on official voices. Although they gave significant space to business, ordinary people and alternative views, their comments were either drowned with official claims or used to endorse government measures.

The private media openly debated the subject in 36 reports on the matter, 27 of which appeared in private papers and nine in the private electronic media.
Twenty-three of the stories highlighted the country’s economic troubles while the remaining 13 exposed the fallacy of the authorities’ fight against corruption, which they depicted as endemic in government itself. For example, The Daily Mirror (13/11), the online news agency NewZim.com (15&17/11), The Financial Gazette (16/11) and the Zimbabwe Independent (17/11) all carried stories showing Cabinet ministers’ involvement in alleged corruption at ZUPCO and Zisco.

The Mirror and Gazette also revealed alleged harassment of police officers and court officials dealing with the corruption cases. For example, the Gazette disclosed that a police officer investigating the alleged involvement of Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo in the ZUPCO scandal had been transferred from Harare to Manicaland as a way of “getting him out of the way.” Similarly, the Mirror reported that senior prosecutor William Gandanzara had resigned while a junior colleague and a magistrate were interrogated by the police for allegedly waiving the bail conditions for Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga, also implicated in the ZUPCO corruption. It reported Gandanzara as saying he resigned because he was displeased with the manner in which the police handled the matter, which he claimed “was tantamount to not having confidence in the office of the area prosecutor”.
And despite recent official denials of top government officials’ involvement in the corruption at Zisco, the Independent continued to provide details linking them to the sleaze.

This week the paper named Vice-President Joice Mujuru as one of the beneficiaries of the pillaging. Reportedly, it was her determination to keep the plundering secret that resulted in Industry Minister Obert Mpofu retracting his claims that government officials had looted the government-owned enterprise. In addition, it noted that while Science and Technology Minister Olivia Muchena denied any involvement in the Zisco goings-on, evidence – which the paper published – showed otherwise.
The official media ignored these matters.
The private Press’ candidness was reflected by their sourcing pattern as captured.


3. Agriculture
THE government media carried 57 stories on agricultural issues during the week: ZBH (35) and government papers (22). However, none of them gave a holistic picture of the agricultural difficulties facing the country as they largely painted a picture of normalcy in the sector while censoring information showing otherwise. For example, 18 of the stories the official papers carried on agriculture glossed over the problems bedevilling the sector while only four highlighted them. It was against this background that the government media just ended up endorsing almost every government interventionist move in the sector without question.

For instance, there was no attempt to give an informed analysis on the fairness and logistics of government’s importation and distribution of agricultural equipment worth US$25m under the “Revolution in Agriculture Mechanisation” programme, and the arrival of part of the of the 200 000 tonnes of fertiliser from China. Instead, The Herald and Chronicle (16/11) seemed more interested in celebrating the fertiliser’s shipment on the basis that it signalled the first delivery of aid the Asian country had promised Africa during the Sino-Africa summit earlier this month. Moreover, the papers paraded the development as reflecting the success of government’s Look East policy. Consequently, there was no verification on the suitability of the fertiliser and whether it would satisfy national needs.
Besides, there was no attempt to reconcile the authorities’ attempts to sanitise the situation in the agricultural sector with their few reports on the projected low wheat yields, shortage of inputs and farming equipment. Spot FM (14/11,8pm), for example, just noted: “Prospects for a wheat bumper harvest could be dealt a blow as farmers battle to secure combine harvesters in an attempt to save their crops from the rains…” Otherwise, the broadcaster was awash with ministerial pronouncements - some of which did not even qualify as news - such as the one inviting “farmers wishing to join Operation Maguta/Inala…to approach the AREX offices for application forms” (Spot FM, 16/11,8am).

The government media’s voice sourcing pattern is shown in Fig 3 and 4. Although ZBH’s sourcing seemed diverse, the broadcaster’s coverage of the issues remained piecemeal.

Fig. 3 Voice Distribution on ZBH

Except for the five stories that appeared in the Mirror stable, which took the official media stance, the rest of the other 19 stories the private media carried (private electronic media [eight] and private papers [11]) continued to question government’s seriousness in reviving farming. For example, the Gazette did not find anything amusing about the government conducting “yet another land audit” on land utilisation and take-up, to be completed by the end of the month. It wondered whether the audit would make any difference as similar exercises – whose findings “have gathered dust in government offices” – have not been used to address the farming problems.
The paper and the Independent also criticized government’s chaotic planning, seen as the reason behind the country’s recent importation of low quality fertiliser from South Africa. Noted the Independent: “The fertilizer saga is an apt reference to the fact that agriculture will not recover through piecemeal (central bank) interventions and public posturing but by ensuring that there is a holistic plan that ensures that all support industries are functioning”. In fact, NewZim.com (15/11) reported that hunger was still stalking the country with aid agencies still “feeding hungry Zimbabweans after appeals from government”. Despite this, however, it revealed (16/11) that the WFP had decided to “scale back food distribution…to 1. 4 million Zimbabweans” due to donor fatigue, a development MDC officials Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube said would have “tragic consequences”.

Although the private papers quoted more official voices, they tried to balance their comments with other sources outside government.
Edited