Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Diaspora based media exposing ignorance

Diaspora based media exposing ignorance
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:12:00 +0000

DEAR EDITOR - The propaganda machinery against the government of Zimbabwe has completely lost wheels especially after the formation of the inclusive Government and as the West has refocussed attention on more crucial issues like the environment, the global financial crisis and the offensive in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Zimbabwean anti-government media, based outside the country, has also lost teeth in the process and their reports are getting more and more ridiculous. Britain and the US are also busy at home as their respective governments have lost credibility in the eyes of their own citizens.

President Barack Obama's popularity has dipped to a record 47% - the lowest for any US president in their first year.

Gordon Brown is also battling with unpopularity at home as it looks almost certain that he will lose the next general election.

It looks like anti-government media like SW Radio Africa are getting increasingly desperate to present Zimbabwe in bad light.

An interesting article by SW Radio's Lance Guma read: "Prime Minister not attending Climate Summit to reduce spending."

No one will believe such hogwash.

What was the Prime Minister's mandate at the COP15 to start with? Who had invited him? Only President Mugabe was invited to that conference where he will meet with other Heads of State and Government.

PM Tsvangirai is not a Head of State and Government, neither is he an environment minister. He does not have to attend the UN conference. Just like his deputy Arthur Mutambara, Vice Presidents, and other ministers are not attending; PM Tsvangirai is not expected to attend.

Guma writes further: "The conference is costing more than the GDP of Malawi and has 30,000 delegates attending. Nearly all of them have flown to the conference, which observers say is rather ironic – given that scientists say flying is one of the major causes of climate change. Planes release huge quantities of greenhouse gases, and they do this in the sky where it’s even more damaging."

What is the relevance of the comparison with the GDP of Malawi here? Does it matter?

Can he do the same comparisons with the £$4.5 billion the war on Afghanistan and Iraq is costing the UK? Or the cost of sending 30,000 US troops to the country, calculated at US$1 million per troop per year?

Does Guma know about the environmental cost of US industrial activity, and does he care to talk about it?

Does Guma care to tell us which delegates should not have attended the conference?

Is Guma saying the conference is a waste of time and resources? Has he cared to read about the conference and what it's trying to achieve?

The last statement: "Planes release huge quantities of greenhouse gases, and they do this in the sky where it’s even more damaging," is even more ridiculous, and this is the calibre of reporting that Zimbabwe credits itself with.

Ironically, there is nothing else about the UN climate conference of the SW Radio website.

*The writer Joesph Chinyanga can be reached via joseph.chinyanga *** googlemail.com

Labels: INTERNATIONAL MEDIA, PROPAGANDA

posted by MrK @ 7:05 AM