Monday 25 June to Sunday 1st July, 2001

1. SUMMARY

·
· The private press reported renewed efforts by the
international community to persuade the government to
restore the rule of law. But this was ignored by ZBC, and
Zimpapers merely reported government’s official reaction,
which described the pressure without directly reporting it,
as threats to Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.

· Having ignored the first anniversary of the death of national
hero, Joshua Nkomo, the State media this year devoted
extensive coverage to the man and the ZANU-PF
organized commemoration of the second anniversary at
the International Conference Centre.

· The staff of MMPZ would like to express their deep sorrow
at the death in the week of a greatly valued friend and
colleague, Julius Zava. He was a sharp and tireless
investigative reporter who refused to be intimidated by
numerous crude and violent threats against him. MMPZ
extends our sincere condolences to Julius’ family; he will
be sorely missed by Zimbabwe’s media community.

2. THE NATIONAL STRIKE

The last-minute postponement of the two-day national strike by the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions (ZCTU) gave the state media
the opportunity to declare that the stay-away had failed to gain
union consensus [The Sunday Mail (1/7) and ZBC Radio (1/3, 1pm)
the same day]. Notably, ZBCTV ignored the story altogether in its
8 pm bulletin on Sunday.
Although The Sunday Mail and radio quoted a ZCTU statement
confirming the postponement by one day, neither of the state
media provided a shred of evidence that the delay was a result of a
lack of consensus beyond vague reference to “sources” within the
ZCTU general council. The state-owned paper merely attributed the
postponement to the labour organization’s effort to “…shore up
support for what is otherwise a very unpopular decision”, and
quoted Joseph Chinotimba in his role as ZFTU vice-president, as
saying the ZCTU’s “about-turn” reflected the lack of support for the
labour movement.
Only The Standard (1/7) provided any context for the
postponement, quoting the ZCTU’s secretary-general, Wellington
Chibhebhe saying that the industrial action had been delayed by a
day at the request of workers who had asked for time to prepare for
the strike.
He was also reported to have dismissed the government’s
announcement on the Friday declaring the two-day strike illegal.
This was given prominence in the state media, as Zimpapers’ lead
story it its Saturday editions (30/6) and on Radio 1/3 (6am and
8am bulletins).
In its efforts to discredit the ZCTU, The Herald’s comment (29/6)
headlined, ZCTU Out to Destroy Economy, echoed the sentiments
of a story first carried by ZBC (8pm 27/6). The paper accused the
ZCTU of ignoring the plight of workers while extolling the virtues of
Chinotimba’s ZFTU. Referring to the story, which the paper had
carried the previous day (28/6), about pay increases the ZFTU had
extracted from the management of one farm, the comment read in
part: “The ZFTU is showing the way, after having successfully
negotiated…salary increments averaging 200% for its
members. That is what trade unions should be preoccupied
with instead of protests.”
It didn’t think to ask what effect the size of this increase might have
on the economy if it was implemented throughout industry. The
story itself noted the ZCTU had only managed to negotiate pay
increases averaging 65% and quoted Chinotimba as saying: “We
are also moving into commercial farms and mines. Our advice
to all those who were awarded increments around 68% is that
they should come to our union…”
But the story didn’t seek any comment from the farm’s
management.
The Herald (29/6) also carried a front page story reporting that the
police would be on full alert…protecting people who want to go to
work during the proposed stay-away, and followed it up the next
day with another ministerial statement from July Moyo declaring
the strike illegal and threatening workers and employers who
participated in the stay-away.
By contrast, the private Press only carried three stories in the
countdown to the strike. The first two appeared in The Daily News
and The Financial Gazette (28/6) merely acknowledging that the
ZCTU had declared that the strike would go ahead. The third story
appeared in The Standard.

3. POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Only The Zimbabwe Independent (29/6) reported a new spate of
company “invasions” (15) under the auspices of the ZFTU,
describing them as “state-sanctioned extortion”.
Only the Press reported incidents of political violence, but coverage
appeared to be piecemeal and polarized.
The Herald reported just one incident in which commercial farmers
were accused of instigating the violence (30/6). But no voices were
quoted in the report, which contributed to the state-propagated
impression that white farmers were the cause of violence on the
farms. This was reinforced by a report in the same edition of
President Mugabe’s remarks to the Central Committee criticizing
farmers for attacking land occupiers and using these incidents to
discredit efforts for dialogue by the CFU. The state media only
carried one other report of alleged political violence (The Herald
28/6), a court case about an alleged attack by MDC youths on a
ruling party supporter.
On the other hand, the private Press coverage of the violence
exclusively portrayed the MDC, private companies and white
farmers as being the victims of political violence perpetrated by
ruling party supporters and war veterans.
The Daily News (25/6) carried at least seven stories relating to
political violence during the week, including an attack on a bottle
store owned by an MDC MP and widespread violence in villages
within the Bindura parliamentary constituency where a by-election
is due to be held at the end of July. But the paper (30/6) also
carried a story about violence at Shamva Mine that first appeared in
The Financial Gazette (28/6) and tagged on a new report of more
violence against teachers, MDC activists and NCA members in the
Mt Darwin area. An unnamed teacher and headmaster were
reported as saying teaching staff in the area were living in fear of
losing their jobs.
The Standard reported widespread violence in the Nyamandlovu
area of Matabeleland North. The extraordinary eye-witness account
quoted villagers and war veterans who “arrested” the reporter, and
contained a statement saying that the police in the area had
refused to talk to The Standard because they had been
“…instructed not to talk to journalists from the independent
media.”
This is not the first time that the private Press have reported being
hampered by the police in their investigation of stories, especially
those related to political violence. Such partisan selectivity in
providing information undermines every Zimbabwean’s right to
unhampered access to fair and accurate information of public
interest and concern. MMPZ condemns the suppression and
censorship of this information by the police and the state-controlled
media.

4. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The state media failed to report renewed efforts by the European
Union to force Zimbabwe to restore the rule of law in the country,
preferring to drown its audiences with President Mugabe’s
comments to the outgoing British High Commissioner that
Zimbabwe won’t yield to threats of sanctions [ZBC, 28/6, 8pm and
Zimpapers (29/6)]. ZBC ignored the EU decision, first reported in
The Financial Gazette, and The Herald only reported it in the
context of a wildly emotional attack on the “hypocritical” position of
the EU by the president of the Indigenous Business Development
Centre, Ben Mucheche.
And in its edition the next day (30/6), The Herald only reported
additional pressure from the American administration in the context
of a vehement rebuff from Information Minister Jonathan Moyo,
echoing President Mugabe’s remarks.
However, the story did quote the comments of the American
administration’s spokesman for Africa as saying: “We cannot
have normal relations (with Zimbabwe) until the violence and
intimidation are ended and the rule of law is restored.”
But it put his remarks in the context of a recent visit to the US by
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, “who is facing charges of
inciting the violent ouster of President Mugabe…” thus giving
the impression that the MDC and its leader are to blame for the
present state of violence and lawlessness.
In the same vein, The Herald’s comment that day criticized the
EU’s threat of sanctions and accused the MDC of instigating
violence.
Against this background of growing international censure, which
included a demand from the EU to scrap curbs on freedom of the
media, The Herald (27/6) carried a follow-up story to the expulsion
of the London Daily Telegraph’s correspondent in Zimbabwe, David
Blair, which willfully misrepresented the comments contained in a
letter to Moyo from Blair’s foreign editor. It declared that the foreign
editor had threatened “a tirade of bad publicity from the
international media” if Zimbabwe did not renew Blair’s work
permit, when, in fact, the letter merely pointed out that this would
be the reaction from the international community if Zimbabwe
expelled the reporter. The story was followed up by The Daily News
(29/6) reporting Britain’s Foreign Secretary urging the government
to reconsider Blair’s expulsion:
“The international community will not be impressed by any
actions of the government of Zimbabwe which make it more
difficult for the international media to report what is
happening there,” the paper quoted the British politician as
saying. Precisely the point The Telegraph’s foreign editor was
trying to make.

5. VOTER EDUCATION

Only the state-controlled Press published a ZIANA agency report of
an announcement by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, that
Government was working on a new law that would prohibit civic
groups from conducting any voter education among Zimbabwean
communities. No alternative and/or independent opinions were
sought on the issue. The Herald (26/6) simply quoted Moyo as
saying the policy would “…be expected to spell out that voter
education be carried out by the Electoral Supervisory Commission
and political parties only, not churches, aid agencies or civic
organizations”. Moyo was also quoted accusing some NGOs of
campaigning for political parties using money from donor countries
contrary to Zimbabwean laws. This theme was amplified in the
Sunday Mail’s question-and-answer with the minister on the topic.
The announcement was made as 15 local civic organisations were
about to embark on a coordinated voter education campaign, and
The Daily News (27/6) carried a response from some civic groups
condemning government’s plan to restrict the activities of civil
society. The civic groups said the measure would deny citizens
their constitutional right to freedom of expression, association and
information.
The Zimbabwe Mirror (29/6) reported that civic organizations had
threatened to defy the plan, but ZBC ignored the issue altogether.
MMPZ condemns the public broadcaster for failing to inform its
audiences of the government’s intention to deprive the Zimbabwean
population of their basic democratic rights to receive and impart
information freely, especially that relating to electoral issues, the
very foundation of democratic society.

6. COMMEMORATION OF JOSHUA NKOMO

As The Daily News (27/6) and The Financial Gazette (28/6)
reported ZANU PF cadres meeting to thrash out a strategy that will
win it the upcoming Bulawayo mayoral election, the state media
swamped its audiences with articles glorifying the late national
hero, Joshua Nkomo (The Herald (30/6) and The Sunday Mail).
Zimpapers dailies (30/6) also announced it would serialize
Nkomo’s book, “The Story of my Life” which, according to the
public media, was “allegedly” banned by the government. Both
papers actually carried the first edition of the serial although The
Chronicle edited a chunk out of the first chapter. The Standard on
the other hand, featured an article that appeared to reflect the
sentiments of the private Press in which political commentators
and civic leaders dismissed government interest in Nkomo, saying
his ideals had been “corrupted” and “prostituted” by the ruling
party which was trying to use his memory as a “trump card” to
win back its waning political support.

Over the weekend ZBCTV (30/6) gave live coverage to Nkomo’s
commemoration gala. ZBCTV even rescheduled and cut its ‘News
Hour’ to 30 minutes and dropped all its evening programmes to
make way for Nkomo’s commemoration, which was broadcast from
8 pm till 12.30 am. Questions about why ZANU PF and the state
media suddenly decided to pay so much tribute to Nkomo two
years after his death and after Matabeleland people resoundingly
voted against the ruling party in last year’s general elections,
remain unanswered, raising suspicion that the sudden glorification
of the late ZAPU leader was nothing but a campaign gimmick.
Ends

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