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| img | MISA-Zimbabwe
Chapter The Zimbabwe Chapter
of MISA was formed by a Trust on 27 August 1995 and established
a fully-fledged secretariat made up of three people by August
1997.
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Membership MISA-Zimbabwe has grown since 1997 with 350 paid-up members comprising media practitioners and media houses. Through a constitutional amendment made in 2001, MISA-Zimbabwe is now accepting associate membership from persons with an interest in media freedom and freedom of expression. Secretariat The Secretariat is made up of the following people: · Director · Programme Officer- Information and Research · Programme Officer - Advocacy · Programme Officer - Legal · Programme Assistant - Information and Advocacy · Programme Assistant - Legal · Finance Officer · Administrator · Driver/Messenger · Office Orderly The secretariat reports to a MISA board, called the National Governing Council made up of seven people. 1. MISA-ZIMBABWE'S WORK From 2000 up to 2002, MISA-Zimbabwe's work centred on lobbying parliament and policy makers on media law reform. However, the parliamentary process has been subverted and blatantly unconstitutional laws have been forced through parliament. The BSA, AIPPA and the ZBC Commercialisation Act were passed without any consultation whatsoever and our submissions to government were ignored. In late 2002, MISA-Zimbabwe realised that although it needs to continue its lobby and advocacy at the policy level, the situation in the country also demands more effective strategies. We then decided to marry the policy intervention with raising public awareness on media issues. Many people in Zimbabwe are not aware of issues pertaining to freedom of expression and the right to information. We realised that it was important for MISA-Zimbabwe to begin building a critical mass around media issues. People in Zimbabwe need to demand for their rights to freedom of expression, however they can only do this if they are aware of laws that impinge on their rights. We also noted that many civic society organisations (CSOs) viewed issues of freedom of expression and the right to information as "mere media issues" and did not engage AIPPA, BSA and POSA in an effective manner. To this end, MISA-Zimbabwe established Advocacy Committees in Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo, Kwekwe and Chinhoyi made up of MISA-Zimbabwe members and representatives of CSOs. These Advocacy Committees have begun to build a significant public awareness around media issues. To raise awareness, we have been using drama, songs and mainstream publicity strategies in the form of pamphlets and flyers. Although there are a myriad of media issues we should be focusing on, we have selected community broadcasting as an advocacy issue. Although chances of this sector being opened before the 2005 elections are remote, it is still important for people to know the importance of community radio. Community radio initiatives have been established in Bulawayo, Gweru/Kwekwe, Mutare and Masvingo. They are made up by some members of Advocacy Committees, local councillors and representatives of churches and other social groups. In addition to public awareness activities, MISA-Zimbabwe has also been involved in litigation and capacity building of lawyers through its legal support programme. In February 2002, we established a Media Defence Fund whose objectives are to promote and protect media freedom by offering legal assistance to media practitioners and media institutions. Many journalists arrested under AIPPA and POSA have been assisted by the MDF. The fund has also assisted the ANZ and IJAZ constitutional cases. In June of the same year, we launched the Media Lawyers Network (MLN) whose purpose is to ensure that there is a pool of lawyers who are there to protect freedom of expression and of the media wherever it is threatened. We have set up regional MLN structures in the 4 major towns. We have also been building the capacity of these lawyers through information provision on media laws and best practice. Another major activity within MISA-Zimbabwe is media monitoring. The Media Monitoring Unit monitors media freedom violations on a daily basis and compiles data and statistics on these violations. A Media Alert Digest, chronicling media freedom violations in a particular month , is produced electronically every month. MISA has set up the Zimbabwe Journalists under Fire campaign to complement its monitoring work. Although the alerts we issue help expose media freedom violations, the issuing of an alert does not guarantee the protection of journalists and other media workers. Practical follow up is required to forward the momentum and opportunities created by action alerts. The campaign is currently assisting the retrenched ANZ journalists. Contacts |
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