The top three radio stations for 2010 were ZBC Radio Zimbabwe – 35%, VOA Studio 7 – 14% and ZBC
Power FM – 9%.A total of 41% of the MDC‐T’s declared 2012 supporters rely on ZBC’s Radio Zimbabwe
for their news; as do 58% of ZANU‐PF’s declared supporters. A further 15% of the MDC‐T also use ZBC’s
Power FM. 15% of the MDC‐T’s supporters are exposed to public affairs on VOA Studio 7. The
undeclareds use radio slightly less frequently for news on public matters than their declared
counterparts.
Television: As in 2010, 54% of respondents said that they never access television for news on politics
and public affairs. The most commonly used television stations‐channels in 2012 for public affairs‐
political news were:
ZBC TV – 35%
SABC TV – 12%
France 24 – 2%
The top three television sources for 2010 were ZBC TV – 24%, SABC TV– 18% and eTV – 0.9%. As in the
case of radio, MDC‐T supporters in 2012 use predominantly the same television news sources as their
ZANU‐PF counterparts. 32% of the MDC‐T’s declared supporters now use ZBC TV for their information,
as do 39% of ZANU‐P’s supporters. In contrast with radio, the undeclareds are more inclined than the
declared supporters of ZANU‐PF to use television for news on public matters, but are still less exposed
than the declared MDC‐T supporters.
Newspapers: Newspapers also constitute an important source of news on politics‐public affairs, albeit
only for 50% of the population. Dire economic conditions, and specifically the scarcity of ‘foreign’
currency (by now the Zimbabwe currency), probably continued to contribute. The most widely used
newspapers in 2012 for public affairs news were:
The Herald – 23%
Daily News – 7%
The NewsDay – 5%
The Chronicle – 5%
The Sunday Mail – 4%
The top public affairs newspaper sources for 2010 were The Herald – 17%, The NewsDay – 7%, and The
Chronicle – 6%, Zimbabwe Independent – 3% and The Sunday Mail – 2%. There is not much more
differentiation in newspaper use of the supporters of the two main parties. MDC‐T supporters in 2012
again converge with their counterparts in that 19% of them use The Herald as a source (27% ZANU‐PF),
along with 12% for the Daily News (2% ZANU‐PF), 9% NewsDay (2% ZANU‐PF) and 7% The Chronicle (3%
ZANU‐PF). On the newspaper usage front as well, the undeclareds have a higher frequency of use than
ZANU‐PF supporters; they come close to but do not exceed the usage level of the MDC‐T supporters.
Internet sites: Internet news sites have established a consistent yet very small base for information on
politics and public affairs in Zimbabwe. A total of 13% of respondents reported their use of this source.
In contrast with 2010, when the survey showed that it was predominantly a news information source for
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