The criticism came after members of the public and media groups noted that the hate language and attacks by the public media seriously contradicted and undermined the spirit and letter of Article 19 of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which deals with freedom of expression and communication. Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC-M signed the GPA which culminated in the formation of the inclusive government comprising the three leading political parties.
 
Several speakers criticised the public media, notably The Herald and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) for their partisan reportage and pro-Zanu PF propaganda coverage. Zvayi who writes a column titled: Eagle Eye, in The Herald, and editor-in-chief Pikirayi Deketeke, were singled out as chief proponents of hate language that has the effect of polarising the nation.
 
“It (The Herald) is the only newspaper in the world that accepts such rubbish. Parliament should cause some changes at The Herald and ZBC. These people should be removed because they are not serving the interests of the nation,” said a public representative Paddington Japajapa.
 
The Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) also echoed serious concerns with regards to the continued use of hate language, unnamed sources and unbalanced news coverage that does not allow for divergent ideas to reach consumers of media products.
 
 “Caesar Zvayi should be stopped from feeding the nation with crap. We are sick and tired of Zvayi’s propaganda. We need change and change must be effected at The Herald and ZBC. Statutory regulation of the media, especially through the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act  (AIPPA), has resulted in a media that is not accountable to the public but to individuals and open to interference and influence from outside the industry,” said John Gambanga, Executive Editor of the media self-regulatory VMCZ.
 
The public has agreed on the need to repeal repressive legislation such as AIPPA and Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) to allow the entry and proliferation of private players in both the print and electronic media including the establishment of community radio stations. There was also urgent need to curb the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity from interfering with the editorial policies of the public media amid allegations that the ministry censored stories before they were published. Also of concern to members of the public who attended the hearing, were the exorbitant license fees charged by ZBC despite its poor programming.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) took opportunity of the hearing to present its ZBC model bill. MISA-Zimbabwe also presented its model Broadcasting and Telecommunications Bill.

Meanwhile, in a letter addressed to the Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma, MISA-Zimbabwe chairperson Loughty Dube expressed hope that the Draft Bill will fruitfully contribute to the topic at hand as well as positively inform any legislation governing public media in Zimbabwe. The letter was also copied to Speaker of Parliament  Lovemore Moyo, Deputy Speaker Nomalanga Khumalo, Minister of Media Information and Publicity Webster Shamu and his deputy Jameson Timba as part of its written submissions to the public hearings.

In addition MAZ Co-ordinator Buhle Moyo also urged the portfolio committee to seriously consider the resolutions of the media stakeholders conference held in Harare in December 2008 as a key to formulation of policies and legislation governing the public media.  

Below are some of the resolutions which were submitted to the Committee.
Constitutional Guarantee of Freedom of the Media.
·        It was agreed that any constitutional reform process must ensure that the right to media freedom is included in a bill of rights in a final people driven constitution.
          
 Broadcasting Diversity and Independent Regulation.
·        The stakeholders further agreed to a three- tier broadcasting system that is outlined in the African Charter on Broadcasting realising the necessity of public service broadcasting, commercial service broadcasting and community broadcasting.
·        It was also noted that the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) remains undemocratic and should be repealed as well as the fact that there is need to establish a broadcasting environment that is diverse, independent and pluralistic.
·        That the conversion of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation from a state-controlled broadcaster into a truly independent public service broadcaster governed by a democratic public service broadcasting law is also pertinent.            
 
Print Media.
·        It was acknowledged that print media remains a key component of Zimbabwe’s media  diversity, and should be allowed to operate independently without undue influence from the state or government of the day and that the state and any government of the day should not have any direct stake or interest in the ownership or management of the print media as this compromises the sector’s diversity and independence.  
 
Committee Chairperson Gift Chimanikire promised that follow-up public hearings would be held throughout the country before the Committee compiles its report and recommendations for presentation before Parliament.

Reagan Malumo
Programme Officer: Media Freedom Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
21 Johann Albrecht St
Private Bag 13386
Windhoek
Namibia
Phone: +264 61 232 975
Fax: +264 61 248 016
Mobile: +264 81 311 2626
E mail: reagan@misa.org

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