Between the lines

The Zimbabwean government's move to ask two independent newspapers it had banned to re-register is being viewed with much scepticism in local media circles.

The Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday, both published by Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), were shut down by the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) in September 2003 after they failed to register under the controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

The newspapers had been critical of the ZANU-PF government. The Daily News, set up in 1999, was believed to have the biggest circulation in the country - around 100,000 - when it was closed.

Chinondidyachii Mararike, the chair of a special MIC committee, recently told the official daily newspaper, the Herald, that they were waiting for ANZ to submit its application, after being directed to do so by Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.

"We are not there to ensure that ANZ is not registered, but to make sure that the application is handled by the special board in a fair and just manner," the Herald quoted Mararike as saying.

He said his committee was not "prejudging the ANZ application for registration as a mass media service." Various court rulings in the past have urged the government to reconsider its decision on the ANZ application to register.

Not sincere

Takura Zhangazha, spokesman for the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA, Zimbabwe chapter) claimed there was "absolutely no sincerity" on the part of the government to bring back the ANZ titles as vibrant independent newspapers.

"It's a political game. There is no way in which the two newspapers are going to be given back their licences before the elections, as would have been ideal to ensure balanced and diversified media coverage of the polls," Zhangazha told IRIN.

It's a political game. There is no way in which the two newspapers are going to be given back their licences before the elections, as would have been ideal to ensure balanced and diversified media coverage of the polls

Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in March 2008, but the opposition has called for a postponement until June.

Zhangazha said the process of registering the newspapers would require at least two months to complete, "but then, that would just be the elementary stage, considering that the banned papers have a mammoth logistical task in mobilising resources, recruiting staff, among other requirements, to ensure a serious media project".

Attempt at reforms

South African president Thabo Mbeki has been asked by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to hold talks between ZANU-PF and the two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in which media reform prior to the elections has been one of the key issues.

The government has made some "concessions" during the talks. At the request of the MDC, amendments to media laws were included; a move observers said was an attempt by the government to bring credibility to the elections.

The MIC is to be reconstituted to include a chairperson and eight members nominated by a parliamentary committee, rather than a membership put in place by the information minister.

The amended Broadcasting Services Act now also provides for parliament to put forward the names of people to run the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which has refused to break the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's monopoly of the airwaves since 2000.

Window-dressing

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said it would "only believe the government's overture to bring back the two papers when they hit the streets".

Foster Dongozi, secretary-general of the ZUJ, told IRIN: "We have watched since 2003, when several attempts were made by the two papers to resume publication, but what is clear is that the government has used all its tricks to ensure that the paper did not renew operations, even when the courts ruled in favour of ANZ, and that makes us very sceptical."

Dongozi said the "window-dressing process" of inviting ANZ to apply for an operating licence was the result of a political process, after pressure had been exerted during the ongoing talks mediated by the SADC.

The ZUJ was also disturbed by the apparent preoccupation with the ANZ newspapers, when two other newspapers had also been banned for allegedly failing to comply with AIPPA conditions.

The Tribune was closed in 2004 for its failure to notify the MIC of structural changes to the paper, while another fledgling newspaper, the Weekly Times, after becoming increasingly critical of the government, was also banned for non-compliance.

Lack of consultation

Journalists are also sceptical of the government's overtures to bring back the ANZ newspapers, pointing out that they had not been consulted when the amendments to the media laws were made. Matthew Takaona, the ZUJ president, wrote to parliament in December 2007 to complain about the exclusion of his organisation when the Amendment Bill was passed.

Although he hailed ZANU-PF and the MDC for acknowledging flaws in AIPPA during their current talks, he said the union was "extremely disturbed by the fact that none of the negotiators saw it fit to consult stakeholders in order to come up with amendments that are owned by, rather than imposed on, the media industry".

Takaona complained that the amendments to the various laws provided for the establishment of a statutory media council, whose task was to ensure ethical conduct among media practitioners, despite the fact that the ZUJ's move to establish a voluntary body had been rejected by the government. "Statutory regulation of the media has never worked in any democratic society," he commented.

Under the new AIPPA the validity of newspaper licences has been extended from two to five years, but Takaona said there was no need to impose a limit on the validity of the licence.

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