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Media Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)
PRESS RELEASE
Posted to the web 20 June 2008
MISA-Zimbabwe notes with great concern the skewed coverage of the campaign
period preceding the high stakes presidential election run-off slated for 27
June 2008 more so by the state media and in particular the national
broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).
The Electoral Act emphasises the need for ZBC, as the state broadcaster in
the country, to ensure that political parties or candidates are invited to
present their election manifestoes and policies without being interviewed.
In terms of advertising, the Act states that advertising time between
political parties and candidates should be distributed equally.
It is sad to note that these electoral benchmarks have been eschewed by the
state media with ZBC's election coverage openly skewed in favour of ZANU PF
to the exclusion of the MDC-T in the presidential contest which will be
contested by President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai representing the
two respective parties. This therefore throws into serious doubt the
freeness, fairness and evenness of the political playing field.
The state broadcaster has without any doubt blatantly and dismally failed to
fulfil its obligations of granting equal and equitable access to radio and
television to all the contesting parties in the crucial period preceding the
runoff and as obliged under the SADC Principles and Guidelines on the
Conduct of Democratic elections and the Zimbabwe Electoral Act.
MISA-Zimbabwe, however notes the commendable efforts by the independent
newspapers to get both sides of the story as well as projecting the messages
and positions of the contesting parties as contained in their campaign
advertisements unlike is the case with the total blackout of the MDC-T's
advertisements in the state media. The only semblance of coverage accorded
the MDC-T by the state media has been in the form of vilification through
news reports, documentaries and opinion pieces by columnists.
MISA-Zimbabwe therefore reiterates that the transformation of the ZBC into a
truly independent public broadcaster as envisioned under the African Charter
on Broadcasting will go a long way in entrenching its editorial independence
and alignment to adhere to the SADC Principles and Guidelines on the Conduct
of Democratic Elections.
The media should at all times uphold its professional obligations to foster
greater credibility, accountability and responsibility to the citizenry who
depend on it for partial, fair, truthful and objective information that
assists them to make informed decisions and choices. This is of paramount
importance particularly during election time when the media, as expected at
all times, should excel in its adherence to the binding ethics and
principles governing the exercise of free and fair elections.
This responsibility is overemphasised and stressed through the SADC
Guidelines and Principles on the Conduct of Democratic Elections in the
Southern African region. In addition, Zimbabwe's Electoral Act takes
cognisance of the democratic obligations of both the print and broadcast
media in the coverage of elections. These obligations which dovetail with
the SADC Guidelines stress the need for:
a. Equitable treatment of all political parties and candidates in the
extent, timing and prominence of the coverage accorded to them.
b. A clear distinction between factual reporting and editorial commenting on
the election.
c. The affording of a right to reply to any claims by the political parties
or candidates concerned to be false and that the media does not promote
political parties or candidates that encourage violence or hatred against
any class of persons in Zimbabwe.
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