Rights-Zimbabwe: Journalists spurn govt summit on press freedom
The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) has boycotted a state-initiated national media summit which kicked off on 6 May, 2009 in the resort town of Kariba.
They are protesting the re-arrest and detention on 5 May of 18 human rights activists, including Zimbabwe Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko, and freelance journalist, Andrisson Manyere, on charges including treason, terrorism and banditry.
MAZ comprises of the Media Institute of Southern Africa's (MISA) Zimbabwe chapter, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), Zimbabwe National Editors Forum (ZNEF), Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe and the African Community Publishing and Development Trust.
"Their re-detention represents an apparent abuse of the judicial process which undermines the spirit and letter of the Global Political Agreement, especially as regards the restoration of a political environment that is democratic and respectful of the rule of law, as well as cognisant of the urgency of ensuring the security and freedom of human rights defenders and citizens in general," MAZ said in a statement.
The detainees have since been released on bail.
Recently criminal defamation charges were instituted against, Brezhnev Malaba, editor of the government-owned Chronicle, and reporter, Nduduzo Tshuma. And last year television journalist Edward Chikomba was kidnapped and his tortured body found a few days later.
In the past decade, the government has been harsh on the independent media: newspapers were closed, their offices bombed, radio stations run by Zimbabweans abroad had their signals jammed and journalists arbitrarily arrested, threatened, beaten and in some cases jailed.
Journalists had hoped the unity government would overhaul laws that inhibit their work, particularly the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) which allows for a two-year sentence to be slapped on journalists working without a license.
Other repressive laws include the Broadcasting Services Act, the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Criminal Codification Act which imposes sentences of up to 20 years in jail on journalists and other citizens convicted of publishing false information or statements that are prejudicial to the state.
Although the international media were allowed to cover the swearing in of the new Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, the BBC, CNN and other foreign media are still officially banned from operating in Zimbabwe.
There was initial excitement at the government's announcement of a media indaba under the theme: "Towards an Open, Tolerant, and Responsible Media Environment". The indaba has been mired in controversy and has been cancelled twice and venues switched.
There has been haggling over the speakers list which included former Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, and chair of the disbanded Media and Information Commission, Tafataona Mahoso. But the biggest criticism has been that of the government ‘inviting the media to its own party' and not soliciting media input ahead of the indaba.
"At first the media - who are the stakeholders - have no prior input and then the very hangmen of the media are given the platform to talk about media reform, that is unacceptable," MISA Zimbabwe chairperson, Loughty Dube, told IPS.
The privately-owned Standard newspaper wrote in an editorial published on 25 April, 2009: "As it stands, the proposed conference offers no real prospect of media freedom but instead enables the usual suspects to perpetuate state control."
The 15 September, 2008 Global Political Agreement committed the unity government to promoting freedom of expression and the role of the media in a multi-party democracy.
Iden Wetherell, the ZNEF chair, told IPS, "There have been small changes here and there but they are not significant. The pattern of abuse of the public media still persists and it does not appear the public media is doing its job in reflecting a variety of interests within the country so that a diversity of opinions are expressed."
Coverage of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has not changed much and journalists working at government-owned media have indicated that they do not recognise the new government. According to the MMPZ, President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF continue to enjoy more media space and airtime in the public media than the opposition MDC.
"Nothing much has changed in the public media's coverage of the MDC except that MDC officials now enjoy fair reporting when they are quoted on government business. The private media has remained biased in its reporting of ZANU-PF giving prominence to the negative stories," the Zimbabwe Union of Journalist (ZUJ) President, Mathew Takaona, told IPS.
"The small changes are a slight reduction in hate speech in the state media and one of the most abrasive columns, Manheru, in the public media has been stopped."
Takaona told IPS that changes to media freedom will remain cosmetic until policies and laws affecting the media are reformed.
Article published courtesy of IPS Africa
