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Government media reprimanded from reporting the truth

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By Tawanda Kadungure, on December 08 2007 14:33

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With the onset of the coming elections, government media has been told not to report anything wrong with state controlled companies.

Editors of different publications under the control of the state of note the Herald were told by secretary for the Ministry of Information as well as state spokesperson George Charamba at his Munhumutapa offices in Harare not to publish anything the government deemed as negative publicity against the ruling party or government companies. They in turn highlighted their reporters of the new development that took place recently. Journalists from the government controlled media cannot write stories that touch on developmental issues if they touch on the weaknesses of government entities. This comes after the state media was taking it upon them to see that the performance of such companies as Zimbabwe Water Authority (ZINWA) was enhanced through writing their weaknesses.

When Zinwa took over water reticulation as well as sewerage works from local authorities residents have been complaining of slack performance from the company which has seen most residents going for days without water. Some have to put up with living surrounded by sewerage in their homesteads. Places most hit by this misfortune include St Mary’s in Chitungwiza, Cherima in Highfields, Glenview and parts of Budiriro. Officials from this company have always made it clear that they are operating with minimum resources and worn down equipment. However colleagues from state media were complaining that they are being made to report things they feel are not significant at all. “They tell me to stop writing about the shortcomings of Zinwa when am living with raw sewage on my front gate and almost everyone I know has no reliable water source at home. That’s censorship gone far,” said one female friend reporter from the Herald. On the other hand the only power utility company in Zimbabwe, Zesa, is also failing to supply electricity to the nation and state media is supposed not to write or air anything that will bring to light what is really taking place in this company.

Most of these reporters have resorted to giving this information there are privy to, to some of their friends who write for the free press like me. It is no longer possible to point the shortcomings of government entities and one has to self censor themselves before they write a story in the state media. Some reporters have been fired after trying to do fair journalism under state media only to be told that their work output showed that they were send by the opposition MDC. Journalists from government media have been subjected to much control from Charamba’s office and the state Central Intelligence Organization such that they cannot even air their displeasure to unfair labour practices. The moment they do so, they are labeled as opposition forces and are subject to victimization. This has resulted in them getting meager salaries even at the profit making Herald. As public media this stance by the government defies the need for a watchdog role of the media. They have taken public media to be public relations companies for the ruling party and not to be objective in the way they report. It is in the safe hands of this reporter that a young college student on attachment was fired two weeks ago from the Herald advertising department for inserting an advert by the MDC in the Herald. The Herald has been made a 100% Zanu PF newspaper and not a public press with public interests. The newspaper is mostly reporting on Zanu PF, government issues and totally lacks diversity found in other foreign newspapers.

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