The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is a public asset.
Initially moulded along the same sort of lines as the British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) as the then Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) it sought to serve the
news and entertainment interests of a white minority. These latter interests took on a propagandist
tone during the war of liberation. When the struggle against settler colonialism
ended our new liberators decided to prioritise the propagandist elements that
they had seen with the then RBC.
And they have never looked back. ZBC has had many things
done to it since independence. It has
been commercialised, left for broke (amid allegations of corruption) and above
all else, made to abandon any pretences at being a public service broadcaster. Its role, as defined by those that have been
in charge of government and the state owned media has been to prop up the
ruling party at all costs.
This is despite numerous advocacy and activist attempts to
change its role from being a state propaganda outlet to being one that serves
the broadest democratic public interest.
Such attempts even led to a court challenge by Bernard Wekare and Musangano Lodge as to the constitutionality of a mandatory payment of license
fees. While the court challenge ruled in
favour of the state broadcaster (yes its compulsory, at law, to pay ZBC license
fees) it was a judgement that made and still makes it more urgent that it’s management
and purpose be democratised.
But that did not happen in the Mugabe era. Instead ZBC
became more embedded in the urling party’s factional fights and its electoral
campaigns that specifically sought to malign the mainstream opposition. In
this, ZBC became more apolitical broadcaster than it sought to provide public interest
balanced and fair information/news or entertainment.
In the aftermath of the military intervention/coup it would
appear ZBC has also not changed. Or that
there are no quick intentions to do so on the part of the ‘new’
administration.
The only sign of potential change as indicated by the
permanent secretary in the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services,
George Charamba, is to bring in new players into the television broadcasting
sector. In early January 2018 he was
quoted in the local media saying, ‘In a matter of months from now, I'll be
dealing with licenses for new TV stations, such that this whole fascination
with ZBC with cease to matter, to ensure the playing field is level".
The reality of the matter is that Zimbabweans are correct to
be ‘fascinated’ with ZBC. Not just
because they must pay licences for it a t law but more significantly because its
role is not akin to would be private and for profit television stations that
are now set to be licensed.
The public service role of ZBC-TV should not be sublimated
with profit motivated or market driven arguments. Especially before it has been
changed from a state/ propagandist broadcaster into a democratic public service
one.
We have witnessed what has happened with the licensing of
free to air radio stations that now compete with those run by ZBC. The news content and angles is largely restricted
to target audience entertainment and little time is committed to either
investigative news or content that does not push the numbers and the profit
margin.
The evident intention of government is to make television
commercial and to fundamentally treat the media as a business. And in this it is increasingly evident that
those poised for private television station licenses are already in other forms
of broadcast and print media. For example
the Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers) already owns other radio
stations such as Star FM (national free to air) and Diamond FM (local
commercial).
Private players in the media also intend to do the same or
have at least tried to do so. AB
Communications the proprietors of ZiFM national radio have not hidden their
intentions to go into television as well.
What all of these manoeuvres by already established media companies’ and government's policy thrust point to is an emerging elite (and political) consensus on sharing media market
spoils and creating media monopolies that are never in direct contradiction to
the political wishes of government as the regulator. It is also an undemocratic consensus of would
be and existent media oligarchs in Zimbabwe.
In order to do this, they intend to get away with the democratic
media value that is public service broadcasting. Banking on a clear lack of popularity of ZBC,
they would have us believe that their intentions to subject it to direct competition
will improve it. This is a regrettable case of powerful persons being dishonest
to the public.
ZBC needs a radical transformation from within. It needs to
embrace the democratic values of a public service broadcaster. These values would include a democratic and transparent
public service broadcasting charter, a legal and political guarantee to its editorial
independence and maximum public accountability for its state and license fee
funding.
To put it out to the wolves is to commercialise and
privatise the public interest dimension of news and entertainment. It is also to seek to stave off responsibility
for biased political content on our airwaves with the obnoxious reply, ‘its
what the market wants’. A phrase that already is oft used in mainstream print
media to the great detriment of independent, ethical and professional journalism.
We already know that ZBC is coming from a bad place. And
that the public’s trust in it, let alone its ability to get that trust beyond political
partisanship, is a difficult ask. But we
cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Transforming ZBC into a true public service broadcaster will not only
help Zimbabweans remain true to themselves but will help deliver public interest
information and entertainment for all sectors of our society regardless of
class, gender and age.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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