By Takura Zhangazha*
Zimbabwe’s media, though not publicly stating it, is
smarting from the recent cabinet reshuffle. Not least because the previous minister
responsible for information, Professor Jonathan Moyo, was a rather larger than
life character, but also because he had taken great control of the media
reform agenda or a lack of it. From his now muted
Information and Media Panel of Inquiry (IMPI), through to his statements over and
about broadcasting, media ethics and statements against criminal defamation, Moyo
curried the media’s favour (and rare anger) through what can be only described with
hindsight as a 'carrot and stick' method.
Not that the media did not appreciate the seeming open door
policy that Moyo offered. It actively participated in overtures such as
IMPI (and the monetary benefits attendant thereto) despite the latter's sketchy legal mandate.
Others took advantage and also applied for local commercial radio
station licences which were to be duly granted to those that have been accused
of being close to the Zanu Pf establishment or at least having close links to
Moyo.
Key questions that emerge however relate to whether in fact
Moyo’s tenure at the ministry of media, information and broadcasting services achieved
much or at least addressed the structural challenges faced by Zimbabwe’s media.
A closer to the truth answer would be that the media can
argue that there is the IMPI report as a clear sign of some sort of progress,
at least where it proposes media policy changes. The only problem with this remains the fact
that it is a report that as it was began, awaits the benevolence of the now
acting minister to be implemented.
Furthermore, the continued government ambiguity over and
about criminal defamation essentially means that barring a constitutional courts
pending determination on the matter, the qualitative democratization of our
media environment is yet to be realized.
Even media owners (print/electronic), independent television
and film producers though having been promised improved functional conditions,
are still waiting for that aspect of a ‘media industry’ that was much vaunted at
the beginning of Moyo’s recently ended tenure in that ministry.
So if there is any immediate lesson that the media as a
whole has to draw from Moyo’s tenure in that particular ministry is that it is
not enough to rely on the ambivalent benevolence of a singular government official. This should not be taken to mean that ministers
or policy makers cannot be lobbied successfully on a singular basis. But that
such lobbying must remain cognizant of cooptation into policy processes over which
the media itself eventually has little or no control for their lack of transparency
or statutory posterity.
Add to this the fact that the media must avoid bifurcation
where government claims to be addressing its concerns. There should be common ground principles and values
established by media stakeholders in a holistic fashion before getting head
first into government reform frameworks. So for example there is need for media
stakeholders to clearly define their parameters of interaction, their anticipated
roles in broader social, cultural and economic development frameworks and any
other pertinent issues of their fields of specialty.
This is not an easy task and often times it
is easier to wait on government but the latter has no problem of playing easily
variegated interests against the other.
Essentially Zimbabwe’s media must learn to be much more
honest with itself going forward. And such honesty cannot include negating its
true ‘fourth estate’ role to the whims of government or just the pursuit of profit. What is required is a balance between
editorial values, profit motives (media owner editorial interference), safe
and freer working conditions for journalists and respecting government from a constitutionally
given but safe distance.
Where the media fails to do so, there will be other seemingly
‘distant from the center’ cases such as that of Chiredzi journalist, Patrick Chitongo, who is out on bail pending appeal on his one year jail term for
publishing a newspaper without a license.
The Zimbabwean media must increasingly stand its own ground
on its own terms which are informed by organically arrived at democratic values
and principles that help maintain its editorial independence and serves the
best democratic public interest. Whatever
its incremental gains or losses after Moyo’s ‘carrot and stick’ tenure, the
media must regroup and define itself much more holistically for its own sake
and for that of the country.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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