MISA stages free the media concert

MISA-Zimbabwe on 10 May 2010 partnered with Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZ Trust), Savanna Trust and Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) in staging a concert titled “Free our Media Now!
 

The concert which was held at Machipisa shopping centre in Highfield, Harare, was attended by more than 1 300 people in line with MISA-Zimbabwe’s 2010 Word Press Freedom Day (WPFD) theme: Media Freedom & Access to Information should be Constitutional Rights. The concert was part of the belated WPFD commemorations aimed at raising awareness on the importance of explicitly guaranteeing media freedom and citizens’ right to access to information.

Interludes of poetry, song, dance and theatre were punctuated by calls for more players in the media industry especially in the broadcasting sector where the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation continues to monopolise the airwaves.

Artists who took part in the concert included: Winky D, Sniper, Magesh, Stanner, Amanandoz Theatre, Explosive Poetry, Sulumani Chimbetu and Rooftop Promotions.

MISA-Zimbabwe advocacy chairperson for Harare, Kumbirai Mafunda reiterated the importance of multiple players in the media sector and lamented the continued existence of media restriction. Mafunda attributed the repressive media environment to draconian laws such AIPPA, the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) and the Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

Mafunda urged Highfield residents to turn out in large numbers and raise the need for constitutional provisions that guarantee media freedom and the right to access to information. He deplored the continued harassment and arrests of journalists saying this was designed to stifle freedom of expression and free flow of information.

In a related development, MAZ took opportunity of the concert in partnership with Rooftop Promotions to showcase the play:  Waiting for the Constitution. The play poses questions pertaining to the constitution making process and whether citizens will be able to freely input into the envisaged draft constitution. //End//

Reagan Malumo
Programme Specialist: 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

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