PRESS FREEDOM | Informing citizens, ensuring accountability
01 July 2008
Zimbabweans Relying on Foreign Broadcasts for Political News
Studio 7 strives for balanced reporting amid politically motivated violence
Washington -- Zimbabwe’s people have needed information more than ever as the political crisis has intensified in recent months between President Robert Mugabe and his opposition led by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) founder Morgan Tsvangirai.
Electronic news media inside the country are dominated by the state-controlled, pro-Mugabe Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), but, in the face of increased violence and chaos, the Washington-based news program Studio 7 at the Voice of America has emerged as an information lifeline for listeners in the troubled country.
Agence France Presse (AFP) reports the state broadcasting system offers only pro-government news and the regime is restricting access to other sources. On June 24, AFP said Mugabe supporters forced Zimbabweans to remove their television satellite dishes and the government imposed import duties on foreign newspapers, making them prohibitively expensive.
“We are starved of entertainment and we need real news … not the dreary ZBC,” AFP quoted one resident as saying.
Studio 7 is run by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America (VOA), but the Washington-based staff of Zimbabwean journalists seeks interviews with Mugabe government ministers and opposition leaders alike, as well as ordinary Zimbabwean citizens, civil society and clerics. Launched in January 2003, the program also draws on a network of independent reporters on the ground in Zimbabwe and in neighboring countries.
“Our objective is simply to tell listeners the truth – a truth that is as accurate and unbiased as we can make it. We have a special responsibility to countries like Zimbabwe with a closed media environment,” said VOA’s Africa Division Director Gwen Dillard June 30. “Our purpose isn't to alter the government of Zimbabwe. It's to give Zimbabweans the information to make their own choices and decisions."
Studio 7 coordinator Brendan Murphy told America.gov that the program’s news staff “hits the ground running” every morning to identify news stories, conduct and tape phone interviews and assemble a dense 90-minute information package with elements in the Shona, English and Ndebele languages. Since June 1, programs have been repeated, doubling Studio 7’s time on the air.
Although Studio 7 offers music, lighter features and sports, Murphy said surveys show listeners mostly want hard political news about what is happening in their country.
“They look to this little short program to find out what’s actually going on,” he said. “They really count on it.”
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT
According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) June 2008 report on Zimbabwe, a “systematic and brutal campaign of violence” has been waged by Mugabe supporters against suspected Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists and those deemed lacking in loyalty to Mugabe.
The report lists abuses by war veterans and youth militia affiliated with Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) who have been beating, torturing and abducting suspected MDC activists and supporters.
Many accounts of violence come firsthand to Studio 7 from listeners. Since the run-up to the March election, Studio 7 has used text messaging to send bulletins and receive opinions, requests and news tips.
As in other African countries, cell phones are in wide use in Zimbabwe and text messages are a key means of communicating. For people driven from their homes, on the run and needing to contact loved ones, a cell phone is a high priority. Studio 7’s inbox was overloaded with 900 texts just from June 28 to 30. Many were subscription requests, but others offered eyewitness accounts of the unfolding political crisis:
• “Elections not free&fair,war vets,villagehedads,chiefs forcing people to vote for Bob [Mugabe],saying if MDC won we will burn your houses. Pple are beaten on daily basis,some are beaten to death,especialy in Bikita and Zaka areas of Masvingo.Last week Sadc observers forced to flee from zanu pf rallies coz these rallies are not for encouraging pple to vote but are for beatings &killings.”
• “Hie STDO 7 I M IN MAZOWE 28 KMs FROM HRE THERE ARE MORE THAN 30 ZANU PF THUGS WHO HAVE CAMPED HERE I THINK THERE ARE UP TO NO GOOD PLIZ INFORM YO NEWS”
• “Beatings continue in Chitungwiza despite ZPF victory in Pres poll. Residents along Chimanimani street in Zengeza 2 were robbed of their property by these thugs.”
A recent survey found more than 800,000 listeners had tuned into Studio 7 the week of June 22, and more than a million had listened in the past year. But listening to Studio7 is not without risks.
HRW reported how on May 5 Joseph Madzuramhende was beaten and tortured to death by ZANU-PF youth militia. They allegedly told him: “Your particular crime is that you have a radio at your place and other villagers were coming to your home to listen to Studio 7.”
AFP reported June 25 that a street vendor named Noel Tichawana was arrested for listening to Studio 7. He was charged with committing “criminal nuisance” and faces up to six months in jail if found guilty.
Since mid-2006, the Mugabe regime has jammed the 909 kHz AM signal from Botswana, but shortwave signals on 4930, 12080 and 15775 kHz can reach rural parts of the country that government broadcasters cannot.
Other media outlets such as ZimOnline and SW Radio Africa also are trying to meet Zimbabwe’s demand for information. According to Murphy, listeners get “a daily fix of reality” from Studio 7 and tell the staff in e-mails and text messages that they trust the broadcasts and consider them reliable and balanced.
“For a lot of our listeners, we are a beacon of hope,” he says.
