HARARE - MISA Zimbabwe has called for the partisan state broadcaster ZBC to move into becoming a true public broadcaster that serves all citizens and not a political ideology.In a statement MISA demanded that ZBC which is in the habit of campaigning for President Mugabe and his Zanu PF party through repeated jiggles on airwaves should start to deliver service to the people of Zimbabwe and not serve the interests of Zanu PF alone.
“We demand that ZBC be truly public service broadcaster (that) serves all citizens, including minority interests irrespective of political affiliation, sex, gender, age, race or culture,” says MISA.
ZBC which is headed by Happison Muchechetere an over excited Zanu PF hardliner has not opened the media space to the MDC or any other political party. ZBC is laden with Zanu PF propaganda and journalists who do not tow the line are fired.
At the moment ZBC is embroiled in a war with seven of its workers who were dismissed in 2008 only because they were reporting balanced news.
ZBC claimed the seven were campaigning for the MDC.
Viewers and listeners are subjected to jiggles exalting Mugabe, which are given on a half a hour dosage, while news readers are forced to address Mugabe as the Head of State and Government and the Commander-In-Chief of the Defense Forces in order to ascertain Mugabe’s wishful omnipotence.
MISA said that public broadcasting is not, “state broadcasting, party broadcasting, government broadcasting or commercial broadcasting”.
In the statement MISA which is on a free the airwaves campaign whereby citizens of the country post support letters to MISA said that the Government should end the monopoly that ZBC.
Despite public claims by the Minister of Media Webster Shamu that the Government is now prepaerded to grant broadcasting licenses there has been no movement on the part of his ministry to issue licenses.
Post published in: Politics