October 26^th – November 1^st 2009

Comment

The state media’s coverage of the deportation of UN Special Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak, and the acquittal of two MDC-T legislators during the week further exposed the adverse effects of ZANU PF’s continued stranglehold on these media, which not only negates the spirit of inclusivity enshrined in the political deal, but vindicates widespread cynicism over the authorities’ pledge to encourage professional practice in the public media.

Instead of giving an honest account of the circumstances surrounding Nowak’s itinerary, the official media simply distorted the matter, which they then used to contrive conspiracies justifying the ZANU PF component of government’s deportation of the UN envoy. This was despite the fact that Nowak was deported while on an official visit in the country, albeit no longer as the Justice Minister’s guest, but that of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Herald (29/10), for example, claimed the authorities had “foiled” the UN envoy’s attempt to “gatecrash into the country,” ignoring government “communication” with him rescheduling his human rights fact-finding mission because “the State was presently hosting foreign ministers from the SADC organ on Politics, Defence and Security.”

The point that Nowak was no longer coming as Chinamasa’s guest after his invitation was rescinded while en-route to the country, but that of Tsvangirai, who had made alternative arrangements to host him, was deliberately suffocated. The only time the paper hinted at this was in the context of dismissing Tsvangirai’s invitation to Nowak as a baseless excuse Nowak had conjured up in an attempt to get cleared at Harare International Airport where he was detained overnight before being sent back to South Africa. No verification of this was made with the Prime Minister’s office.

And instead of viewing the development as yet another indicator of the authorities’ paranoia over an independent assessment of their human rights record, the paper (30/10) then portrayed the UN envoy as being part of a plot by the “country’s detractors” to tarnish Zimbabwe’s image.

It cited faceless “observers” who claimed that a “glut of news reports in the foreign Press of state-sponsored attacks on MDC-T supporters”, which was “timed to coincide with Mr Nowak’s visit”, were “well-orchestrated and created in conjunction” with some “political” NGOs bent on tarnishing the country’s image in an attempt to “drag the United Nations into Zimbabwe’s internal politics”.

These ‘observers’ did not provide a shred of evidence to support this hare-brained claim. Neither did the paper ask them to.

Although the paper cited the envoy’s reaction to his deportation, it was in the context of dismissing his criticism of ZANU PF’s role in his treatment. ZBC (30/10, 8pm) adopted a similar slant.

A fairly balanced version of Nowak’s deportation only appeared in the private media.

In another example of unprofessionalism, The Herald (3/11) buried in its inner pages a report on the acquittal of MDC-T MPs Thamsanqa Mahlangu and Heya Shoko on theft and corruption charges respectively. ZBC ignored the acquittals altogether.

This contrasted sharply with the headline status these media gave their arrests.

Such blatant disregard for honest, professional journalistic practice distorts the truth in the service of ZANU PF and is evidently likely to continue as long as the party refuses to relinquish its grip on the public media as envisaged in the terms of the Global Political Agreement and international instruments on freedom of expression.

The Print Media

Summary

A SADC fact-finding mission to the country, which coincided with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s regional lobby for mediation following his party’s partial withdrawal from the inclusive government, was the most intensely debated issue in the Press during the week. This was despite the fact that these papers devoted the bulk of their 211 stories on the inclusive government (government-controlled papers [119] and private Press [92]) to the coalition’s socio-economic recovery plans. (See Fig 1).

Fifty-seven of the official papers’ stories focused on problems afflicting the alliance; 52 highlighted its successes and the rest were general reports of its activities.

The private papers emphasised problems threatening the coalition in 68 stories. Six recorded progress in the implementation of the political accord, while government’s general operations were reported in 18 stories.

Fig 1: Topical news distribution in the print media

Publication	Political developments in government	Socio-economic issues	Human rights abuses
The Herald	21	54	6
Chronicle	11	11	3
The Manica Post	1	3	0
The Sunday Mail	5	1	0
Sunday News	1	2	0
The Financial Gazette	7	9	1
The Zimbabwean	6	16	6
Zimbabwe Independent	14	5	2
The Standard	3	4	3
Zimbabwean On Sunday	6	3	7
Total	75	108	28

a) Threats to the GPA

The government papers continue to provide a severely distorted and biased account of the country’s fresh political crisis.

Their editorial agenda appears designed to downplay the political crisis triggered by the MDC-T’s disengagement from ZANU PF over sharp differences in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), thereby portraying the party’s action as inconsequential and not worthy of SADC attention.

The Herald’s “SADC team’s visit not linked to Tsvangirai’s tour” (26/10) summed up the official papers’ thrust. Citing “informed government sources”, the paper claimed the visit had “nothing to do with” the MDC-T leader’s regional initiative, but was recommended by the last SADC summit held in Kinshasa.

In this context, The Herald (31/10) passively reported the SADC mission as having resolved to refer the stalemate to the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security – specifically mandated by the Kinshasa meeting to oversee implementation of the internal settlement – without interpreting the move as an acknowledgement of the gravity of the crisis. Instead, it tried to downplay this reality by emphasising diplomatic etiquette by the SADC team commending the coalition for having “expressed commitment to continue working together” and President Mugabe and Tsvangirai for having “good and cordial” working relations.

Although The Herald (30/10) reported on the separate meetings held between the SADC team and the coalition parties, it did not adequately explain what transpired at the meetings, or what evidence had been presented to the SADC team. It only amplified ZANU PF’s position on the standoff.

Neither did the government-controlled papers correlate Mugabe’s attacks on the MDC-T while addressing his party’s central committee meeting (The Herald, 31/10) with his seemingly conciliatory tone at the burial of national hero Misheck Chando (The Sunday Mail, 1/11). While The Herald quoted him reiterating his party’s position that the MDC-T’s disengagement would not “affect State operations”, saying the party was “dishonest” and an agent of Western imperialism, The Sunday Mail cited him expressing gratitude over ongoing dialogue among the parties.

However, there appeared to be no relenting in the weekly paper, whose story, PM plays golf as nation mourns, was clearly calculated to invoke hostility towards the Prime Minister by depicting him as insensitive and unpatriotic without addressing the reasons why he had not attended Chando’s funeral. This was especially the case as Chando’s death re-ignited the controversy surrounding the selection of national heroes, which remains the preserve of ZANU PF despite the formation of the inclusive government.

Although the government papers carried nine stories on human rights issues, these were mainly piecemeal and in isolation of the heavy-handed manner in which state security agents continue to execute their duties, which contributed to the country’s poor human rights record.

Notable this week were two incidents the papers carried; one relating to the deportation of the UN Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, for attempting to “gate-crash” his way into the country; while the second reported the arrest of two civic leaders in Victoria Falls for holding an “unsanctioned” meeting, which these paper presented as perfectly normal law enforcement.

The official papers’ sourcing patterns on political developments betrayed their bias towards ZANU PF, which it quoted 19 times compared to its coalition partners [MDC-T (nine) and MDC-M (2)]. Their alternative voices were almost exclusively used in the context of praising the alliance while they used unnamed sources to attack the MDC-T and civic society as agents of Western imperialism.

Although the private papers gave space to more divergent views on the issue, they discriminated against ZANU PF by under-sourcing it. (See Fig 2).

Fig. 2: Voice distribution in the print media

Publication	Govt	ZANU PF	MDC-T	MDC-M	Alternative	Foreign diplomats	Unnamed
The Herald	3	11	4	0	1	14	8
Chronicle	1	6	5	2	0	2	3
The Manica Post	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
The Sunday Mail	0	1	0	0	0	0	3
Sunday News	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
The Financial Gazette	2	0	2	0	7	0	0
The Zimbabwean	0	0	3	2	1	0	0
Zimbabwe Independent	2	1	3	0	9	1	0
The Standard	0	1	3	0	1	0	3
The Zimbabwean On Sunday	0	0	1	0	1	2	0

The private papers critically examined the country’s socio-political and economic crises, although they also failed to give an insight into what exactly had prompted the SADC mission.

However, they widely reported the outcome of the team’s visit, revealing how President Mugabe and his party were under pressure from the region to fulfil their obligations under the political agreement.

The Standard (1/11), for instance, claimed that Mugabe had been obliged to accept the SADC communiqué, released in January, as a binding document. The communiqué, which paved the way for the formation of the inclusive government, reportedly stipulated, among others, that disputes over the unilateral appointment by Mugabe of some senior government officials should be addressed by the new government immediately after its formation.

The private papers continued to attribute the political stalemate to ZANU PF’s obstinacy, which had again been illustrated by the irrational deportation of Nowak who had been invited by government to probe Zimbabwe’s human rights record. These papers reported that his sudden deportation added to the perception that his deportation coincided with media reports of an increase in human rights violations against ZANU PF’s perceived opponents in the wake of the MDC-T’s partial withdrawal from government.

The papers published 19 stories on rights-related abuses, 10 of which were fresh incidents. These included:

• The shooting of five farm workers at Louis Fick’s Chinhoyi farm by thugs allegedly hired by Reserve Bank deputy governor Edward Mashiringwani (The Standard & Zimbabwean On Sunday);
• The arrest and detention of two MDC MPs in Bulawayo accused of using their car to ferry weapons allegedly stolen form Pomona Barracks in Harare (The Zimbabwean);
• The arrest of four civic activists in Dete and Victoria Falls for holding an ‘unsanctioned’ meetings (Zimbabwe Independent); and,
• The deportation of the UN special Rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak.

b) Progress in the GPA

In spite of the political crisis engulfing government the official papers portrayed progress in the implementation of the GPA highlighted by:

• Praise from the SADC Troika and the IMF on the coalition’s achievements;
• The signing of a memorandum of understanding on trade and investment between Zimbabwe and Namibia; and
• Increased investor confidence.

However, these were reported in isolation of other symptoms of economic distress, such as a new cholera outbreak, poor service delivery and high service charges. Moreover, some of the official papers alleged progress appeared based on distortions. This was exemplified by The Herald’s story (30/10) portraying an IMF report advising government to budget for the RBZ “to ensure lasting stability and confidence in the country’s financial sector” as signifying praise while, in actual fact, it exposed the RBZ’s continued channelling of “statutory reserves to finance quasi-fiscal projects” and rendering it “incapable of backing up banks”,  (Zimbabwe Independent 5/11).

The Independent report reflected the critical manner in which the private Press examined the coalition’s modest progress, which they warned risked being derailed by the current political crisis.

The electronic media

Summary

The crisis in government, underscored by the visiting SADC Troika’s decision to call for a summit on Zimbabwe, remained the most debated topic in the electronic media, overshadowing other issues related to the coalition. Fig. 3 illustrates this.

Of the 261 reports, 168 appeared on ZBC, while 93 featured in the private electronic media [radio (63) and online agencies (30)].

Sixty-seven of ZBC’s reports highlighted tensions in government, which they blamed on the MDC-T and alleged Western interference; 77 promoted positive signs of government’s implementation of the agreement, while the remainder were general stories on the coalition’s activities.

In contrast, the private electronic media gave more emphasis to the problems plaguing the coalition, which they largely blamed on ZANU PF’s reluctance to reform. Consequently, 73 of their 93 stories were on the tension in government compared to only five on its tentative achievements. The rest were general reports on government operations.

Fig 3: Topical news distribution in the electronic media

Station	Political developments in government	Socio-economic issues	Human rights violations
ZTV	23	62	0
Spot FM	32	18	5
Radio Zimbabwe	20	6	2
Studio 7	18	0	9
SW	8	1	11
New Zimbabwe.com	10	2	2
ZimOnline	12	1	6
The Zimbabwe Times	8	0	5
Total	131	90	40

a) Threats to the GPA

In line with its crusade to project the MDC-T’s disengagement from its ZANU PF partner as an inconsequential attempt to court regional intervention in the resolution of the problems plaguing government, ZBC detached visits by DRC President Joseph Kabila and the SADC ministerial team from this matter.

It simply restricted itself to official rhetoric delinking the developments by projecting the visits as routine and having been arranged prior the MDC-T’s actions. As a result, there was no coherent detail on the SADC team’s meetings with the coalition principals, or the import of Kabila’s visit.

In fact, ZBC audiences only learnt about the ministerial team’s recommendation to SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security to call for a meeting on Zimbabwe through President Mugabe’s dismissal as “MDC-T’s cheap propaganda and politicking” reports that SADC was to convene a special summit at the party’s request (Spot FM, 31/10, 8am).

Otherwise, most of ZBC’s stories on political developments continued to vilify the MDC-T as the sole obstacle to the full implementation of the political agreement by ZANU PF officials and their loyalists.

For example, ZBC stations (30/10, 8pm) passively reported President Mugabe “lambasting” the MDC-T for allegedly “lacking sincerity in the GPA” while ZTV (27/10, 8pm) cited MP Jonathan Moyo describing it as “a front for the colonialists.”

To reinforce the notion that the MDC-T was unpatriotic and disdainful of the unity deal, Spot FM (31/10, 8pm) selectively quoted members of the public criticising Tsvangirai for boycotting Misheck Chando’s funeral at the National Heroes Acre, preferring to “play golf” instead. They claimed this exposed his “lack of respect” for national events.

However, there was no attempt to reconcile Mugabe’s calls for “engagement” between the parties “to find a lasting solution” to the disagreements during Chando’s burial (ZBC, 31/10, 8pm) with his previous belligerent position that ZANU PF had fully complied with the agreement and would therefore not make any more concessions.

Only the private electronic media provided an analytical perspective to the issue. For example, they disclosed the purpose and outcome of the SADC team’s visit; quoted analysts assessing its capacity to break the political impasse; examined the negative repercussions of the political deadlock on the country’s economic renewal; captured regional sentiment on the matter and highlighted evidence of ZANU PF’s anti-reformist attitude as reflected by the increasing number of incidents of human rights violations.

They carried 31 stories on rights abuses, eight of which were also reported in the private Press. ZBC ignored these incidents except for Nowak’s deportation, which it presented as normal government procedure.

Progress in GPA

Despite evident government paralysis, ZBC still projected the coalition as making significant headway in rejuvenating the country’s ailing socio-economic sectors. It cited as proof:

• Improvement in health service delivery and government’s promise to increase health workers’ salaries;
• The National Railways’ plans to rehabilitate its dilapidated infrastructure;
• Government’s plans to provide low cost housing to the less privileged;
• The provision of agricultural inputs to farmers;
• The ongoing rural electrification programme; and,
• An alleged improvement in the country’s global image.

Although the private electronic media viewed some of these developments as part of government’s achievements, they doubted their sustainability in the absence of government unity and full compliance with the GPA.

Stories censored by ZBC

While ZBC preoccupied itself with protecting ZANU PF’s public image or attacking the MDC, it censored topical issues, especially those that cast ZANU PF in a bad light. These included;

• The Kimberley Process’ final report on Zimbabwe’s Chiadzwa diamond mining operations, which calls for a six-month ban (Zimonline, 29/10);
• The IMF’s visit and its calls for political consensus to buttress economic recovery (Zimonline, 30/10);
• Nowak’s Press conference in South Africa (The Zimbabwe Times, 29/10);
• President Kabila’s acknowledgement of the problems in government (SW Radio Africa 30/10);
• The alleged arrest of 236 soldiers and the alleged death of 12 of them following the theft of arms from Pomona Barracks (The Zimbabwean on Sunday, 1/11);
• The attempted kidnapping of MDC-T security administrator Edith Mashayire by suspected security agents (SW Radio Africa, 27/10); and,
• The jailing of eight ZANU PF activists for terrorizing Bikita West villagers in last year’s elections (The Zimbabwe Times, 26/10).