This NPR story that was broadcast on today's All
Things Considered might interest members of the
SWLfest mailing list. You can download and
listen to the audio at the URL below, or read the full text posted below.
-Ed Cummings
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/13/152521669/in-zimbabwes-media-its-all-about-robert-mugabe
In Zimbabwe's Media, It's All About Robert Mugabe
by Anders Kelto
May 13, 2012
All Things Considered
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Zimbabwe's government has exercised control over
most of the media. Here, workers sort out copies
of The Daily News, one of the few independent
newspapers. It was allowed to reopen in March
2011 after being shut down for years because it was critical of the government.
When you turn on the morning news in Zimbabwe
or the afternoon news, or the evening news
there's a virtual guarantee you'll hear about
President Robert Mugabe, or even his actual voice.
Even when there's a song by the Zimbabwean group
Born Free Crew, it features a voice-over of none
other than Mugabe, who's been leader since independence in 1980.
In the song, he talks about Zimbabwe's
colonization by the British, and how his ZANU PF
party led the country to freedom. The jingle airs
constantly on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation, a station run by the Ministry of
Information. In fact, it's the only television station in Zimbabwe.
"It's actually not journalism, it's propaganda. I
mean, it's straightforward propaganda," says Andy
Moyse, the director of the Media Monitoring
Project of Zimbabwe, a private group based in Harare.
Under a 2009 agreement, Zimbabwe is now supposed
to be opening the airwaves and implementing media
reforms. But that hasn't happened.
Enlarge Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is the focus
of attention in the state-run media. He is shown
here in February in Mutare, speaking at a rally marking his 88th birthday.
Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is the focus
of attention in the state-run media. He is shown
here in February in Mutare, speaking at a rally marking his 88th birthday.
Moyse says almost nothing has changed. The
government hasn't granted any new broadcast
licenses to radio or television stations, and
only a handful of nongovernment print publications have sprung up.
An Editor Is Prosecuted
Across town, printing presses churn out copies of
NewsDay, Zimbabwe's largest independent
newspaper. It's one of the few publications to have appeared since 2009.
NewsDay's editor, Constantine Chimakure, says
they aim to be the country's most objective paper.
"We are not pro-government, we are not
anti-government. We try to maintain a balance, to
give real facts without spinning them," he says.
NewsDay's circulation numbers are not made
public. Chimakure says that from a financial
standpoint, things are going relatively well. But
he acknowledges that advertising revenue is thin
in Zimbabwe, and it's hard to get people to spend
a dollar on a newspaper when so many are struggling to survive.
"With a dollar, you can buy two loaves of bread," he says.
Now, with elections on the horizon, Chimakure
says the government has begun cracking down on journalists.
He was recently charged with undermining the
authority of the president for publishing a story
about Mugabe's health, and is awaiting trial.
Many fellow journalists are facing similar
charges, and Chimakure expects the situation to worsen.
It's actually not journalism, it's propaganda. I
mean, it's straightforward propaganda.
- Andy Moyse, director of a media monitoring project in Zimbabwe
"They will be assaulted, they will be harassed
when they try to go and do their professional job in the rural areas," he says.
Listening To Foreign Broadcasts
In Seke, a rural community 40 miles outside
Harare, James Chidakwa and his father eat roasted
nuts and cornmeal inside a small brick hut.
They're farmers who rely heavily on maize and
chickens to survive. James Chidakwa says that
like many, his family refuses to listen to government TV or radio broadcasts.
"They always lie to the people," he says. "Everything they say is a lie."
So at 6 p.m. most evenings, they turn on a
battery-powered, short-wave radio and tune in to
a "pirate radio station." Chidakwa says Shortwave
Radio Africa and Voice of America are their favorites.
"If you want to hear the truth, wait for the end
of the day to listen to Shortwave Radio Africa, to listen to VOA," he says.
The stations, which are based in the U.K. and the
U.S., send their signals through radio towers in
countries that border Zimbabwe. That means
Zimbabwean officials who claim these broadcasts
are illegal have little recourse. In the past,
they've confiscated short-wave radios. Chidakwa
says that forces some people to listen undercover.
"Some of them, they will take the radios into
their bedrooms and, low volume, they listen to
the news. But the truth is, there is fear in them," he says.
But for Chidakwa and his father, it's a risk they are prepared to take.
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