Page 36 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013

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he Zimbabwean

daily

The Herald

mouthpiece of

President Robert

Mugabe’s Zanu PF,

does not mince its

words when it

attacks the independent media as

“appendages of our erstwhile

colonisers”. Commentators of

private newspapers like

NewsDay

use similarly strong language when

retaliating: “Mugabe knows that

free and fair elections will not only

expose his diamond cronies but

also subject Zanu PF’s primeval

dictatorship to retributive justice.

Mugabe’s political empire is

tottering on the brink of a deep

political ravine.”

Quotes like these show the

extent to which media in

Zimbabwe are polarised– and the

situation is likely to deteriorate in

the run‐up to the elections, due in

2013. This polarisation which is

standard in daily and weekly

newspapers can also be observed in

broadcasting. Here, the state

monopoly continues to prevail. In

November 2011 the first licences

were granted to independent radio

stations. The winners of the

officially competitive bid are all

closely aligned to Zanu PF.

ILLUSIONOF FREEDOM

On the other hand, there are truly

independent newspapers on the

market. In allowing papers such as

the British based weekly

The

Zimbabwean

to circulate the

authorities nurture the illusion of

media freedom whilst keeping

overall control – a shrewd move.

The average income in

Zimbabwe is $200 a month – the US

dollar was introduced as domestic

currency after the hyper inflation of

the Zim dollar in 2009. For a large

section of the population, however,

the monthly income lies more in the

region of $100 or less. It doesn’t

take much calculating to

understand that these poor people

are unlikely to spend what little

money they have on a newspaper

costing one dollar. The regular

readers are from a wealthier and

more educated section of society –

one that tends to be critical of the

government but is largely isolated

from the masses. So itʹs no great

risk for the establishment to grant

the intellectual minority freedom of

expression, knowing these

independent publications will only

be bought by like‐minded people

anyway.

DOINGDAMAGE

Radio – which is easily available to

the masses – could do a lot more

damage and that’s where Zanu PF

has kept its control, practically

undiminished since the formation

of the Government of National

Unity in 2009. The radio stations of

ZBC (Zimbabwe Broadcasting

Corporation) still sing the praise of

“the Head of State and Government

and Commander‐in‐Chief of the

Zimbabwean Defence Forces,

President Robert Mugabe”.

Likewise, the so‐called Liberation

War Heroes are commemorated

almost on a daily basis for having

rescued the Zimbabwean people

from “colonial yoke”. And in the

same vein, the West is heavily

criticised for having imposed

“illegal sanctions” on Zimbabwe.

The new commercial stations Star

FM and ZiFM donʹt offer much of

an alternative view – but then most

people listen to radio only for the

music. Opposition radio stations

like Voice of the People and Short

Wave Radio Africa spread their

messages from neighbouring

countries in a rather martial

language, too, castigating “the

brutal and oppressive regime in

Harare”. One of the few stations

without such a blatant bias is

Studio 7 which is operated by Voice

of America.

“DEAD TV”

State television ZTV is not much

different from state radio ZBC. The

praise of the Liberation War Heroes

echoes through news and current

affairs programmes. The

entertainment part features mainly

old soap operas of the ʹ70s and ʹ80s

– earning ZTV the name of “Dead

TV”. People who can afford it buy a

satellite dish and subscribe to South

African channels. Like with the

newspapers, it’s a question of

money whether you get

independent information from your

TV channel and more up‐market

entertainment as well.

While power games thus

dominate the Zimbabwean media,

another power is equally vital to

the broadcasting sector – electricity.

In Zimbabwe daily power cuts are

the norm. So if you don’t have a

generator or an inverter, regardless

of your choice of TV channel you

will still be a victim of these

blackouts which often occur at

prime viewing time. Itʹs yet another

form of polarisation in this

Southern African country – you

either have a bright TV screen and

lights around you or you sit in

absolute darkness.

■

“As we are making a countdown to

elections, Zimbabweans are now

being bombarded on a daily and

weekly basis by the Western