There are dislocations between the progressive Constitution of
Zimbabwe (2013) and the laws that were crafted underthe Lancaster
House Constitution, whichthe government of Zimbabwe is reluctant to
repeal and replace with democratic legislation. This has perpetuated the
restrictive environment within which the Zimbabwean media operates.
Besides the laws, authorities have also superimposed themselves on
publicly owned media entities such as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC), turning them into partisan media outfits at the mercy
of political players. This is despite the fact that the constitution provides
for independence of broadcasting services to ensure they are insulated
from political and commercial interests.
The political stranglehold on the public broadcaster evidently plays out
in its coverage of political events, particularly elections. Coverage of
recent by-elections and political rallies are a testament to this. All the
news stories and programmes covering the events were about ZANU PF,
its leadership and candidates. The party's opponents were only
reported in the context of disparaging them.
With the private media struggling to provide sufficient counter narratives
to the dominant public media due to both legal and extra-legal
obstacles, it is important that Zimbabwe takes measures to restore the
public service mandate of the public media ahead of 2018 elections.
This will ensure that all shades of Zimbabwean opinion, political beliefs
and activities are given space for citizens to make informed choices.
This call is not only grounded in the country's constitution but regional
and international instruments on freedom of expression and regulation
of the media during elections. One such key document is the SADC
Guidelines and Principles on the Conduct of Democratic Elections, which
outlines that all member states should ensure that there is ,“Equal
opportunity for all political parties to access the state media…”
The African Broadcasting Charter, which Zimbabwe is a signatory, equally
spells out the duties of public broadcaster. It states that;
· All State and government controlled broadcasters should be
transformed into public service broadcasters, that are
accountable to all strata of the people as represented by an
independent board, and that serve the overall public interest,
avoiding one-sided reporting and programming in regard to
religion, political belief, culture, race and gender.
Reclaiming Public Media ahead of 2018 Elections
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