Download - Media Institute of Southern Africa

State of the media in Southern Africa 2002
Zimbabwe
By Irene Petras.
Petras is lawyer by profession and a human rights activist. Presently she is
working for the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights as a Coordinator. She
also works as a consultant for various organisations in Zimbabwe.
“... Negative publicity has damaged the economy of this country... The
negative reports that were relied upon by the international community
were mostly fabricated or exaggerated or sensationalised stories of violence...
In the interest of protecting public security and economic well-being
it is necessary ... to make such potentially disastrous journalistic practices
criminal at the strict liability level.”
Affidavit of Minister of Information and Publicity, Jonathan Moyo,
in Association of Independent Journalists of Zimbabwe & 2 Ors -v-
Minister of State for Information and Publicity & 2 Ors SC 252/02)
Such statements were indicative of the government’s attitude in handling the
private media in 2002. Independent media practitioners strove to expose corruption,
maladministration and socio-economic decay in Zimbabwe. The State,
however, refused to tolerate critical analysis of a disputed electoral process,
state-sponsored political violence and a flawed land reform programme; it
utilised publicly owned information machinery to apologise for its policies
and often misled its readers/listeners.
The private media was threatened and attacked throughout 2002, particularly
by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, the Army-General, the police and
even President Mugabe, who accused the sector of “peddling lies, exaggerations
and manufacturing news” (Alert Update 18/03/02). This occurred usually
as a result of articles considered detrimental to the respectability and
authority of the ruling party and State organs.
2002
Journalists’ homes were raided; several were barred from, or assaulted whilst,
covering public events. The violence did not spare public media journalists
who were on some occasions harassed by opposition party supporters and a
ZBC cameraperson was once severely beaten by soldiers. Several foreign
journalists were denied accreditation to cover the presidential elections in
March. The Daily News offices and community radio stations Voice of the
People (VOP) and Radio Dialogue were raided; documentation and tapes were
illegally removed. Most seriously the Daily News’ Bulawayo offices were
petrol-bombed, as was the printing press of a company that produced opposition
campaign material. A bomb destroyed the entire VOP premises in August.
Police have failed to charge a single person in any attack.
During 2002 the private media was forced to operate in the most restrictive
168 So This Is Democracy?