Press freedom still a mirage

A special committee tasked to review the case of the Daily News recommended last week that the paper be given a licence to publish. This followed announcements a few days earlier by the Ministry of Information and Publicity that the BBC and CNN were free to return to Zimbabwe years after they were banned from the country.

But Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zimbabwe chairman Loughty Dube said Zimbabwe was miles away from achieving media freedom. This is basically just a political statement, Dube said last Friday. The changes that we want to see in Zimbabwe are in terms of legislation. Without changes in legislation things remain the same, there is no freedom of the media. The situation today remains the same as it was in 2002.

President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party enacted in 2002 a raft of repressive media and security laws to keep dissension in check in the face of a deepening and humanitarian crisis.

The laws, particularly the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), have been altered but remain on in the statute books.

Foster Dongozi, secretary general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) warned the CNN and the BBC to take Zimbabwes request with a pinch of salt.

The fact that the government has allowed the BBC and CNN to come is not in any way an indication that press freedom is returning to Zimbabwe, said Dongozi.

Media freedom entails a lot of things, such as the opening up of the air waves and allowing new players to come in an environment where laws are not used to criminalise journalism, added Dongozi.

The ZUJ official said the government could still use the law it used before to close down the paper or an other title it found offending.

He said: Let nobody be fooled that the leopard has changed (its tactics). The Daily News is only one of many newspapers that have been shut down. The return of The Daily News alone is not enough.

There are other media houses like The Weekly Times, The Tribune and Capital Radio, which were also closed. The other issue is that if The Daily News comes back, will they have the same capacity to publish, remember we are going through a recession. I think it is a glossing over issues, to look as if some aspects of the GPA are being adhered to.

Dongozi urged the government to get out of the media and let journalist regulate the profession. We want media councils or press clubs to resolve problems, where cases are of a criminal nature, like defamation, they can be taken to the courts. We have operated under very hostile conditions.

Director of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, John Gambanga said new of The Daily News licencing was a step in the right direction but added that more still needed to be done.

It is a step in the right direction as far as media reforms are concerned, he said. But much still need to be done. We welcome this, it is a step into heaven because we are coming from hell. I hope authorities will move fast in that direction.