Print this page

Media Coverage During Crises : Muffled Drums

David Masunda, Chairperson, Voice of the People

A colleague has described the Zimbabwean media as 'muffled drums'. What she meant was that although in Zimbabwe the constitution guarantees freedom of expression; the right to receive, impart, and hold ideas and information without interference is often relegated to the backdrop as political and self-interests ride roughshod over the public’s right to untainted information.

Press censorship and government control, dating back from the pre-independence era continue to pervade both print and broadcast media. Ian Smith’s Rhodesian regime exercised effective control over all airwaves, denying African opposition on-air access. The Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) was woven into Smith’s misinformation extravaganza, and punitive measures such as the imposition of fines or imprisonment on any person allowing antagonistic broadcasts to sail through kept the lid on dissenting voices.

Apart from its pivotal role in informing, educating and entertaining, media promotes a common culture by proliferating, among others, the country’s political, economic and cultural ideas. The media should also allow those in power to practice gatekeeping. It was for this reason that the ZANU PF ruling party government, on the very eve of Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, swiftly took control of the electronic and print media. In one swift move, the country’s sole broadcaster – RBC – moved from one State owner to another without becoming a public broadcaster.

A board of governors was promptly appointed by the ruling party to oversee the newly-renamed Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), an approach borrowed from the Smith regime. The ZANU PF government also established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust, whose board has been condensed over the years to include only government apologists. The ZBC board is handpicked by the Minister of Information and Publicity in consultation with the President, which runs against the grain of the principles of the African Charter on Broadcasting.

The new government received a six million American dollar donation from the Nigerian government to acquire all private newspapers then owned by a South African based company, and the largest news agency. A number of smaller newspapers remained in private hands. In 1998, the Daily News - founded by a new player, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, became the main daily newspaper in Zimbabwe, challenging the government’s Herald head on.

By 2002, the government’s assault on the independent media was heating up and became more pronounced with the resuscitation of the hated, colonial Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA), used by the former Rhodesian government to suppress nationalists. This time it was buttressed by additional sections to become the monster that it has become, the dreaded Public Order and Security Act (POSA). This law makes it a criminal offence to criticize the President, or to hold meetings or rallies without police clearance, and gives extra powers to police to detain perceived ‘enemies of the State’ for days without having to go to court.

In 2002, Zimbabwe’s then Information and Publicity Minister, Jonathan Moyo, was repeatedly threatening to deal with all ‘mercenary’ journalists, a term he reserved for those freelancing for the international press. He was daily accusing the independent press of defiling Mugabe’s administration. With the government-ordered closing down of the Daily News in 2003, closely followed by that of another newspaper, the Tribune in 2004, an open war had been declared by government on the operations of the independent media.

Government broadcasters, who only a few years back, had been under orders to refer to Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo as ‘terrorist leaders’ were now referring to opponents of Mugabe as ‘bandits’, ‘thugs’ and even ‘terrorists’.

Through Jonathan Moyo’s efforts a Broadcasting Services Act was passed through the Presidential decree in 2001. This was after it had been shot down by a Parliamentary legal committee which had pointed out that in a democratic society, government had no greater right to be heard than anyone else and that the imposition of government’s views on every broadcaster was an unconstitutional infringement on the right to freedom of expression.

Under this new act, the government only issued one license to a national radio broadcaster and one license to a national television broadcaster, which inevitably was ZBC/TV. The act effectively reversed a ruling by the Supreme Court that had tried to end the 43-year monopoly of the state-owned ZBC, formerly Smith’s RBC.
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), promulgated in 2003, allows the government to license and accredit journalists. Those who violate its provisions, primarily in the private media or foreign journalists, face fines and up to two years imprisonment. AIPPA deems it criminal to ‘spread rumours or falsehoods’ or publish ‘unauthorised’ reports from government bodies, including parastatals.

On February 3, 2006 the General Laws Amendment Act, which tightens the Presidential insult laws and communication of falsehoods under the Public Order and Security Act, was signed into law by Acting President Joice Mujuru. The amendment increases the fine, imposed under Section 16 of POSA – which deals with undermining the authority of the President – from Z$20 000 to Z$2 million or one year imprisonment or both. In the same vein those convicted under Section 15 of POSA, which deals with publishing or the communication of statements prejudicial to the State, are now liable to a fine of Z$10 million or five years imprisonment – up from Z$100 000.

The tabling of the Interception of Communications Bill in 2006 to spy into telephone and e-mail messages was published in a Government Gazette released on May 26 2006. The Bill, if passed into law, empowers State agencies to open mail passing through the post and through licensed courier service providers. This came despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2004 which declared unconstitutional certain sections of the Posts and Telecommunications Act because they violated the Constitution

News reports can be intercepted in the course of transmission thereby making it impossible or difficult for journalists to operate freely and unhindered. If passed in its present form, the Act will adversely restrict even ordinary citizens’ rights to receive and impart information without hindrance. To its credit though, the government revised the Interception of Communications Bill on November 3 2006 following strong objections from the Parliamentary Legal Committee on the constitutionality of its provisions. The revised version though still falls far short of meeting the required constitutional and democratic benchmarks, and largely ignores the inputs and concerns of civic society organisations and business.

The private media has struggled to survive under difficult conditions in Zimbabwe. Independent journalists have tried to play a watchdog role by holding the government accountable for its actions. The government media, on the other hand, has become a praise singer and in the process has lost credibility, resulting in reduced advertising and circulation revenue.

Because of its fear of the impact of radio on marginalized communities, the government has made it impossible for private companies to start radio stations. As far back as 1999, a group calling itself ‘Capital Radio’ applied for a broadcast licence. Although the application was denied, they appealed to the Supreme Court and won. But up to today, they are still not allowed to broadcast.

We at Voice of the People Communications Trust have since 2000 been trying to broadcast factual and impartial news from Zimbabwe to Zimbabweans. We are a Zimbabwean operation, run and managed by Zimbabweans, with a board made up of Zimbabweans and all our reporters are properly trained and qualified Zimbabwean journalists. Despite that, in August 2002, our studios and offices in central Harare were bombed by unknown people whom we suspect were government agents but are yet to be arrested.

In December 2004 we applied for a license to start an FM radio station based in Harare, the capital city. Our application was turned down on a ‘technicality’ that we needed to widen our shareholding and then re-apply. A few months down the line, in December 2005 a warrant of arrest was issued against me, three members of staff and five other members of the board of Voice of the People.

We spent Christmas 2005 in hiding and surrendered ourselves to police after the holidays. We were arrested and released from police custody after paying bail and the bail conditions included reporting to a police station every Friday. In September last year, a Harare magistrate – after many court appearances – threw out the State case against us and described our arrest and incarceration as a ‘circus'. We could, however, not get back our computers and recording equipment that had been confiscated by State agents.

Since then, the regulations regarding media licensing have become even more complex - foreign investment in media is controlled almost to the point of prohibition; owners of media companies can’t have more than 10% of the shares of the business, forcing companies to build large consortia of investors. And no independent station has yet been licensed. All the stations that actually broadcast inside the country have to be part of the national broadcaster, ZBC.

The three private radio stations broadcasting to Zimbabweans are now doing so from outside the country and on short-wave. But even this has been met by frequent jamming and the confiscation of short-wave radio sets found in the private possession of listeners, particularly in the rural areas.

The three private stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe are our station, Radio Voice of the People; SW Radio, based in London, and Studio 7, a US-government funded radio which is part of Voice of America. The effect of government harassment like the case against us at Voice of the People is to scare anyone who might be tempted to start a radio or TV station. Innovators are, however, still testing boundaries. Unable to get a license for a community radio station, Radio Dialogue in Bulawayo is creating programming and disseminating it on cassette tapes, which they hand out to drivers of minibuses.

The government’s assault on the media has not been limited to organizations perceived as ‘enemies of State’, such as private radio stations. Only recently, the chairman of the State-controlled Media and Information Commission, Dr Tafataona Mahoso, asked the government to investigate the leadership of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists for what he described as its ‘anti-government propaganda’. The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists’ membership includes those from both the private and government media.

Since the closure of the Daily News, there is no alternative daily newspaper; and with government control of the print, radio and TV, there’s little opportunity for the ordinary Zimbabwean, the opposition and the civic society to counter official accounts of events.

New technology however, has come to the rescue, for those who have access to computers. There has been a proliferation of new news websites edited by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. Unfortunately most of the foreign published websites have allowed their hatred of Mugabe and his regime to cloud their news judgement.

But it must be noted that even if companies were to be suddenly given a license to broadcast or publish a paper today, there could still be obstacles. The Zimbabwean economy is so fragile that there’s very little advertising support possible for new players. The history of harassment, imprisonment and torture of journalists makes many journalists and writers fearful to report certain stories.

Criminal libel law means that libel can carry jail term as well as fines, which helps prevent attacks on government and public figures sympathetic to the ruling ZANU PF government. The fact that journalists must be licensed and must renew their accreditation every two years helps keep pens down as well.