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(TALKZIMBABWE) Media is on the wrong side of history

Media is on the wrong side of history
Garikai Chengu ― Opinion
Thu, 26 Feb 2009 10:49:00 +0000

If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read: "President Can't Swim." ~ Lyndon B. Johnson

JUST as the fledgling inclusive Government seeks to navigate its way across unchartered and tempestuous waters, the so-called independent media, which have been kept afloat and indeed buoyant by a voracious desire for negative news, appear intent on continuing to succumb to this desire at the expense of the national interest.

ZIP’s Raison d’être

In order to comprehend why the Zimbabwean Independent Press (ZIP) has locked horns with the inclusive Government, one must trace their trajectory back to their purpose and inevitably to those who fund them.

The simultaneous mushrooming of ZIP newsrooms at home and abroad, on the air and online, with the fast-track land reforms is about as coincidental as the fact that most of these new media outlets where being launched in Great Britain.

ZIP’s worst kept secret is precisely who or what has provided the bulk of their funding.

Similarly, the purpose of these media houses was as clear as the disdain those funding them had for the aforementioned land reforms. So clear was this disdain, and so poorly guarded was this secret, that the Global Political Agreement appreciates that “foreign government funded external radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe are not in Zimbabwe’s national interest.”

The broadsheets which cried wolf

I am cognizant of the fact that if we do not believe in freedom of expression for media outlets we consider detrimental, we do not believe in it at all. However, I am also of the belief that with this great freedom comes an equally great duty to use it in a responsible manner ― a manner which does not undermine the very system which promotes this right to free speech. In this case the Government, the inclusive Government.

The Herald, which has long been well within the crosshairs of ZIP, has put its weight firmly behind the inclusive Government, much to the chagrin of the independent press.

Now that ZIP, which has long considered itself as a progressive force, is acting as a countervailing force to national progress it appears that in light of the GPA’s intention to “ensure that appropriate measures are taken” to make sure that “private media shall refrain from using abusive language that may incite political intolerance,” ZIP will soon find themselves within the crosshairs of all true progressives.

Zimbabwe Media Commission vs. Zimbabwean Independent Media

It is clear is that without a distinct opposition within parliament, the media will be the most prominent countervailing force. However, to countervail merely for the sake of it or indeed merely to keep funds flowing does nothing to adequately hold the government accountable.

Rather ominously, the countervailing force which is filling the vacuum left by the MDC’s ascent to government is an entity which the government has already recognized as “foreign government funded” and “not in Zimbabwe’s national interest.”

This unintended consequence is made all the more unsavory by the fact that those funding this ‘new opposition’ have indeed always been vehemently opposed to the government and this vehemence has shown little sign of abating. The recent plans to evacuate certain individuals are the latest example of a lack of confidence these external powers have in the inclusive Government. And unsurprisingly, ZIP has compliably sought to undermine such confidence.

If the net effect of the inclusive Government is to maintain external opposition to the Government of Zimbabwe from Britain and to afford her proxy, by way of ZIP, the space to operate in a free environment, thus creating an equally hostile internal opposition then the Zimbabwe Media Commission will have their work cut out for them.

The role that a credible and responsible media can play in improving the country’s image, which has been undermined by certain sections of the powerful media, cannot be underestimated. The inclusive Government’s desire to promote national healing, tourism and foreign direct investment, all of which will be crucial to an economic revival, is directly linked to the manner in which we portray ourselves within our media and by extension how we are perceived by potential tourists and investors.

This not only renders ZIP’s irresponsible pursuit for self interest particularly egregious, but it also emphasizes the importance of the Media Commission’s role in promoting responsible media practices.

When change is just a slogan

Despite incessant calls for change from the independent press since their inception, their contemptuous response to the Prime Minister’s inauguration exposes ZIP’s desire, and indeed that of their sponsors, not for positive changes to Zimbabwe’s fortunes, but rather for changes to the political leadership. But since politics is a means to an end why would a positive end would be rejected by these backers in the name of politics?

Shortly after the inauguration, as the onslaught on government continued unabated as if nothing had changed, ZIP’s slip really began to show and this lack of a change in stance towards government is as revealing as it is ironic. Ironic, insofar as ZIP had formed the bastion of the change movement and just as the inclusive Government heralds a completely new form of governance these media houses are now at the forefront of resisting this union by dismissing it as a ‘marriage of inconvenience’ and a ‘shotgun wedding.’ Some have indeed gone so far as to put months or weeks on the duration of the union before what they predict will be a ‘painful divorce.’

This irony inherent in the independent media’s resistance to change is not lost on us and at best this resistance will wilt and turn into more tempered and constructive criticism as negative news dwindles and the Zimbabwe Media Commission and true progressives exert pressure on them to change, and at worst it is simply indicative of an unyielding self interest driven stance which those providing the funding are unwilling to alter without extracting a pound of flesh.

He who calls for change must change

As patriotic teachers agree to resume teaching our children, despite not yet being paid amounts commensurate with their contribution to society, and as doctors and nurses from across the country return to work despite difficult working conditions and disincentivising salary scales, is it too much to ask for ZIP editors comfortably tucked away in the Diaspora to bite the hand that feeds them and contribute to the effort to restore the nation’s greatness?

As Zimbabwe’s fortunes change for the better, mainly due to the collective sense of responsibility and sacrifice initiated by our leaders and emulated by the citizenry, both of ZIP’s primary sources of sustenance, namely, negative news and external funding will dry up.

Therefore, it is not only in our national interest for these media outlets to fundamentally alter course and begin to promote rather than incessantly tear down the government, but it is also clearly in their long-term self interest to do so.

Thus the choice for Zimbabwe’s independent media is simple, either continue to work hand in glove with anti-GNU forces, in pursuit of self interest, and risk being left in the dark and irrelevance of the wrong side of history or step into the light and join hands with proponents of the GNU in pursuit of the national interest.

__________________
* Garikai Chengu

African and African American Research Institute Fellow, Harvard University
chengu@fas.harvard.edu
The views expressed herein are those of Mr Chengu and do not necessary express those of the institute.

Labels: GARIKAI CHENGU, NEOCOLONIALISM, ZIMBABWEAN INDEPENDENT PRESS

posted by MrK @ 9:47 PM