Ministry YouTube Channel and The Patriot: Threats to Diversified Independent Media
BULAWAYO - OUR (Zimbabwean) journalism has long struggled to reflect the diversity of the audiences it serves, and efforts by media houses continue to be thwarted by government attempts to contain the growth of independent media.
Niche online news organizations have sprung up in smaller towns and cities unacknowledged by regional and national newspapers. But for many rural and peri-urban communities from Plumtree to Gwanda, Lupane to Hwange and many others, digital platforms offer little substantive coverage of events and issues of everyday interest and importance. There is a dire need for independent coverage of local governance.
At The Citizen Bulletin, we are working towards reconstructing our coverage of local communities beyond just offering online news using web technologies such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. We are doing this at a time when our traditional media is facing a legitimacy crisis, particularly in the wake of the launch of a YouTube Channel by the country’s ministry of information, intended to broadcast ministry updates and host other government programs.
Indeed, the new channel might help fight misinformation and news distributed by unreliable sources, but it will also aid the government monopoly of the media.
Local populations with limited to no access to internet are likely to suffer the increasing effects of news deserts created by the government’s failure to allow more players within the media sector. By centralising communication and delegating information dissemination to itself, our government has hammered another nail on the casket of our traditional journalism.
We also have a feeling that the move by the information ministry is aimed not at moving with digital times, but to retool the new administration’s strategy of controlling the media. But at the receiving end are local populations with no access to more localised information platforms. We implore the new government administration to speedily diversify the media by opening it up to new players.
Wither democracy?
This weekend we came across an article by The Patriot, a government-funded publication, that took a swipe at the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) and its founding director Zenzele Ndebele. While Ndebele said that the jibe by the State mouthpiece is confirmation that CITE is a force to reckon, to us the attack on independent media confirms our fears that the government’s mantra “Zimbabwe is open for business” is just tokenistic.
At The Citizen Bulletin, we perceive the attack on CITE as a direct attack on all efforts aimed at democratising the country, particularly through independent media. It is clear that while the attack on non-state entities working to build power within communities is not a new phenomenon, the “new” administration is not ready to surrender the control of information to new players like CITE.
The attack on CITE as authored by The Patriot ends with what reads like a warning, “…responsible authorities must take heed.” Although we cannot say with certainty what this statement implies, we feel that it is time that all pro-democracy forces raise their voices and call call to order whoever is behind these threats.
If indeed, as we have always believed, The Patriot represents the voice of our government, we call upon the minister of information to ensure that non-state media entities are protected and accorded the opportunity to execute their work without undue state interference. Our belief is that without a vibrant alternative media, democracy dies in darkness. We urge CITE to continue with its sterling work to build information power with communities.
Deepening Community Engagement
Our team last week reported stories from Entumbane, Makokoba and Manondwane, and focused in on sites of particular interest in the city centre such as Egodini and the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry at the Rainbow Hotel. Each story revolved around the experiences of folks seeking justice, whether in the form of employment, subsistence and community farming, access to affordable transport or answers about the August 1 murders following the national elections on July 30.
We followed up on the Egodini Contact Centre's public call for job applications and talked to folks, waiting in queues with applications in hand, about their expectations for employment and experiences filling out the applications- several people raised questions about the required documents and did not have certificates from previous employers.
Costs of transportation have been one of the most immediate and harshly felt economic changes, and we prioritized coverage of meetings held by transport operators and associations last week. We spoke with resident representatives on their thoughts about the universal raise in price per trip to 75 cents and followed multiple meetings held by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), the Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA) and Expriccos taxi company. We'll continue to keep an ear to the ground and cover changes and dialogues between transportation stakeholders.
Two gardens- in Manondwane and Makokoba- seek to revive subsistence and community farming efforts. We published stories about a pensioner's turn to farming and a community's collective plot, hindered by the high price of seeds. We also traveled a little bit outside Bulawayo to Lupane, where we spoke with the director of the Lupane Women's Centre collective about the non profit's effort to become fully self-sustaining.
We're also upping our efforts to partner with community meetings and events. In attending a BPRA hosted event in Entumbane, we listened as residents spoke about issues related to service delivery and reported on the rise of drug deals targeted at youth. Moving forward, we will continue to prioritize this kind of coverage and strengthen our role as a listening post.
This week, we've got stories on electrification promises, community theatre, laws surrounding jerry cans, youth centres and more. And as always, please know that we welcome suggestions and are seeking story ideas on community issues, dialogues and news.
Article originally published at The Citizen Bulletin
Note: Divine Dube is the Editorial Director of The Citizen Bulletin
