Maravi

(HERALD) More newspapers, more challenges for the readers

More newspapers, more challenges for the readers
By Stephen Mpofu

THE introduction by registration of five new publications marks a bold era for the Fourth Estate in Zimbabwe. It also poses challenges especially to four interest groups that include journalists, media houses, political organisations and readers who form the point of convergence for all the activities by the foregoing groups.

A proliferation of newspapers opens up new opportunities for writers complaining of being paid "peanuts" to hop from media houses too close with their money to those that will pay the scribes handsomely for their sweat.

The Zimbabwe Media Commission announced recently it had approved applications for registration for the re-introduction of assorted newspapers, Daily News; The Worker from a monthly to a weekly; NewsDay, as well as The Mail to be funded through the Youth Empowerment Fund.

The Daily Gazette, we are told, was sitting on a licence all along.

At present The Herald, The Chronicle and H-Metro, owned by Zimbabwe Newspapers, are the only daily newspapers, with weeklies that include The Sunday Mail, Sunday News and Manica Post, also owned by Zimpapers.

H-Metro is meant to circulate in Harare only.

The Financial Gazette, the Independent, the Standard are the other weekly publications plus two weekly vernacular ones, Kwayedza and uMthunywa also owned by Zimpapers.

In addition, New Ziana publishes eight weekly provincial newspapers.

NewsDay hit the market last Friday.

However, journalists may have to hold in abeyance any celebration of any hoped-for new bonanza with the new newspapers, as it is doubtful that our frail economy as a result of painful economic sanctions imposed illegally by the West in protest at the Land Reform Programme, can at this stage support a plethora of newspapers with the shrunken market share that has rendered some of the existing newspapers wobbly.

With no sign yet of a dramatic recovery of the economy, prospects for a quick and massive buck-kill by new players stepping into the fray might recede like a mirage, thereby damning any chances of journalists successfully seeking new fortunes in the newspapers coming on board.

We may therefore see some of the newborn or resurrected newspapers floundering after failing to deliver, therefore making a laughing stock of the much talked-about opening of media space for new players to stop the dominance by the existing newspapers.

But that the owners of the just-registered publications decided to look at the current economic doldrums in the eye at all, persuades one to believe that they have a huge cash outlay in wait since the newspaper industry calls for massive capital investment until such a time as newcomers into the industry can break even and begin to crack a smile at their profit margins.

But — who knows — some of the companies concerned probably have their finance sourced abroad, which makes one wonder what strings the bankroller has attached to the funding in point.

It is known that some foreigners in countries outside Africa are eager to finance new newspaper players to fulfil incessant demands for the opening up of both print media and air waves in Zimbabwe.

It is also no secret that with much talk about elections in the near future some political organisations in Zimbabwe and their imperialist backers are dying to have newspapers that will be supporting parties other than Zanu-PF at which daggers are still poised by local and foreign enemies seething with anger at their regime change agendas not succeeding.

This suggests that media polarisation in Zimbabwe, with some mass media supporting some parties and others campaigning for other parties, is likely to deepen with new publications to come and whose political agenda remains decidedly suspect, at least for some of them.

Any such cut-throat competition between the newspapers supporting different political parties could cause incalculable damage to the inclusive arrangement by the three main political parties Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC.

Even more tragically, such destructive newspaper competition might end up as breaking the fragile spine of the economy in its fledgling recovery.

It is here that journalists in this country, which is less developed, should exercise a great deal of social responsibility by working to spur rather than retard economic development.

For, if they kow-tow to foreign influences, along with any local surrogate grouping steeped in political immorality, they will only have themselves to blame for selling out the country for dirty money or by indulging in profit-margin journalism of the West, which regards lies as facts, be they false or to flesh out a skeletal story.

As a less developed nation, Zimbabweans cannot afford to fork out their hard-earned money in support of gutter journalism. Developed countries have nothing much more serious to worry about concerning social and economic development so they can pander to yellow journalism to titillate their morally decadent societies.

Zimbabwean writers will have become aware by now that journalism sits on a tripod as an art, a science and humanity.

Writers will use scientific skills in research, but more importantly the reader does not wish to pay for the chaff that has characterised some publications of late.

Readers need to be informed, educated and entertained in artistic ways to arrest their interest and make newspapers popular with recipients.

What becomes obvious in many cases is that some writers have no idea of the beauty that gives news stories their stature. They need to take lessons in aesthetics so that readers part with their money for a worthy read, which increases circulation with advertisers falling over each other to sell their products through the country’s newspapers.

Mediocrity and dog-eat-dog journalism can only help to tarnish the image of that noble profession.

Labels: JOURNALISM, MEDIA, PROPAGANDA

posted by MrK @ 5:05 PM