MISA-Zimbabwe Monthly Alerts Digest – August 2008

In its statement at the opening of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe, MISA Zimbabwe emphasised that there was need for a free, fair and balanced media in the country, an issue that this new Parliament need to work on for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe and for the work of Parliament itself to be have relevance and long term impact.   

MISA Zimbabwe outlined the following for Parliament to take into account for the ideal state of the media in the country to be achieved;

The immediate cessation of the arrests, harassment and torture of all journalists and media houses reporting on Zimbabwe.

The granting of permission to all media houses, (both foreign and local) to cover the political situation as it unfolds.

The suspension and subsequent repealing of all repressive legislation that targets the media, and in particular, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Public Order and Security Act, the Broadcasting Services Act and the Interception of Communications Act. In their place, all media policy should be guided by the principles outlined in the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Windhoek Declaration and the African Charter on Broadcasting.

An immediate conversion of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation from a state broadcaster into a public broadcaster under the guidelines outlined in the African Charter on Broadcasting.

MISA-Zimbabwe argues that Zimbabwe still lags behind in expanding alternative media voices that facilitate more diverse and plural media, especially in the broadcasting arena, more specifically community radio.

Community radio is localised radio, owned and run by a community that is defined either geographically or as a community of interest. In that light, students in a university compass could be defined as a community of interest whilst residents within Mutare city would be a geographical community. Community radio’s pace and content would ideally be determined by the community that it serves. Community radio has more impact in influence positive development in communities. The history of the failures of state broadcasting in Zimbabwe and other parts of the world is well documented as this form of broadcasting has only worked to serve the interests of the powerful in society. Given that state broadcasting needs to change, MISA-Zimbabwe argues that a more relevant media for community development remains community radio.      

 

MISA-Zimbabwe’s experience of community radio in South Africa over the past month with Soweto’s Jozi FM went a long way in proving that community radio is a valuable platform for democracy. As a community radio station situated in South Africa’s oldest townships with a population of 2 million people that speak 11 local languages, Jozi FM manages to fulfil its obligations of holding the community and it leaders accountable to each other. South Africa stands out as one of the most democratic countries  

 

Currently Zimbabwe has 8 community radio initiatives, all of which are unable to broadcast because of the prohibitive provisions within the Broadcast Services Act (BSA) and the failure of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe to call for community broadcasting applicants. The BSA outlines community radio as part of the three-tier broadcasting system in the country, but issues of funding, ownership and registration still make it practically impossible for community radio to exist in Zimbabwe.

 

As Zimbabwean parliamentarians prepare to resume parliamentary business in October, MISA-Zimbabwe urges them, especially the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication to take heed of the fact that Zimbabwe’s airwaves are still closed and that the people of Zimbabwe need to speak and be heard.