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Moyo’s media reform agenda needs clarity, support

Opinion & Analysis
Professor Jonathan Moyo, the not-so-new Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, is a man of many shades and colours

Professor Jonathan Moyo, the not-so-new Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, is a man of many shades and colours, and it is good that in his new role, post-July 31 2013, he is showing a much desirable side of engagement and constructive dialogue that needs to be taken to its logical end in transforming Zimbabwe’s media.

GUEST COLUMNIST RASHWEAT MUKUNDU

The positive mood that Moyo is in these days is a gratifying one that one hopes with entreaty can be maintained throughout the term of this government.

This is so because Zimbabwe needs to grow its media, not for anyone’s sake, but for its own sake. It is an independent, critical, diverse and plural media that will help restore to normalcy many of the social issues and play a part in social dialogue and critical analysis of government policy and actions.

For starters, Zimbabwe remains on the low margins in the region when it comes to media penetration or media density with as many communities not accessing traditional forms of media that include newspapers and radio. Recent studies by Misa-Zimbabwe and the Mass Public Opinion Institute indicate that citizens are passive recipients of information, with their mouths zipped.

Broadcasting signals are so bad that one stands a better chance of accessing Radio Mozambique on the Harare-Mutare Highway than a local station. Newspapers remain an elite or urban media and access is generally declining. The Internet while popular is again an elite medium with lots of potential to grow.

It cannot be denied that politics is at the centre of the low media growth as the media grows as a result of a conducive political environment characterised by tolerance as well as democratic policies, crafted by politicians that encourage investment in the media. On the contrary, Zimbabwe’s media space has been dominated by the State since the colonial era.

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While the colonial establishment set up the media to enhance the economic and political interests of the white minority, the independence government simply continued with the policy of using the media to advance the interests of the political elite. From 1980 media reportage was “developmental”, meaning reporting the speech of the minister or government policy. Criticism was abhorred hence the many changes of faces at the “State media” with those not toeing the line chucked out.

This gremlin of “State-domination” was conked-out with the licensing of ZiFM and Star FM.

While the licensing of the two remains shroud in secrecy in terms of the criteria used, Zimbabwe nevertheless now has two radio stations outside the mainstream State-controlled ZBC. ZiFm and Star FM now play a role as sources of relevant information as noted by various monitoring reports by the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe. It is ZiFM and Star FM that jolted ZBC radio into action and many listeners now favour ZBC’s Spot FM for its no-hold- barred discussions and phone-in talk shows that have tackled issues and names once “hallowed” a few months ago.

Moyo must be commended for allowing, probably for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history, for journalists to be simply journalists.

The stance by the minister of openly supporting coverage of corruption against the bulwark of the established political system, his visits to newsrooms both private and State-owned has brought a new sense of purpose and energy within the journalism family. This effort cannot be taken for granted and the recent reporting on corruption by the cross section of the mainstream media is in part, if not largely, attributable to the creation of a conducive political environment for the media to operate.

The influence of politics on the media is huge and by a simple statement and engagement, Moyo considerably changed that relationship.

The question is, what more would good media policies do, when the feet and mouth of the minister have achieved so much? Media freedom advocates remain confused by what the real motive of Moyo is, but are better advised that whatever the motive, as long as the media grows and as long as the policy framework is reformed, then the rest will take care of itself. While this may be so, one hopes that the minister clearly spells out his agenda and vision for the Zimbabwe media.

As of now almost everything appears to end with the work and hopefully positive reports that will come from the ministry-appointed and set Information and Media Panel of Enquiry (IMPI) chaired by senior journalist Geoff Nyarota.

Media freedom advocates are clear on what they want to see and that can be summed up in a few words that is a reformed media legal environment, transparent licensing of independent broadcasters both commercial and community as well as a reformed, strengthened and efficient ZBC.

The question in all this is HOW? It is the how question that will be better helped by clarity on the vision that Moyo has on the media in Zimbabwe. It is hopefully a vision that places the developmental interest of Zimbabwe ahead of the political contestations. The citizen ahead of the politician.

And in this the hope is that the minister will take seriously the findings of IMPI, which IMPI we hope takes its role seriously in setting clear policy propositions for media growth in Zimbabwe. While stating his desire for continued engagement with all media groups, Moyo has consistently expressed concern on funding for media advocacy and related media work.

He is right that local groups must also fund media initiatives and advocacy work. My experience in this work tells me that Zimbabweans pushing this agenda remain patriotic and very much Zimbabwean focused in all aspects of work. As much as USAid supports HIV and Aids programmes jointly with the Ministry of Health and Child Care for the benefit of Zimbabwean citizens, these groups receive similar support for the benefit of citizens of Zimbabwe.

Nothing is being done in secrecy hence the openness on the programmes that these advocacy groups are working on. The desire being that Moyo and team be very much aware of what the advocates are doing as part of the partnership. As Zimbabwe was freed by the AK47 from Russia, so can the media be grown by support both local and external.

The agenda is ours; resources, someone else’s.