adminObert Chifamba recently in KADOMA
REPRESENTATIVES of various political parties participating in the forthcoming harmonised elections met editors from the country’s various media houses in Kadoma last Tuesday to discuss sticking issues on coverage ahead of the elections.
Parties represented at the meeting included Build Zimbabwe Alliance (BAZ), People’s Rainbow Coalition (PRC), MDC-T, MDC Alliance, MDC, Zanu-PF, ZAPU, Alliance for People’s Agenda (APA) and Coalition for Democrats (CODE).
The meeting was organised by the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ).
It came against a backdrop of political parties complaining that media houses were not fairly and professionally giving them coverage yet the new political dispensation under President Mnangagwa was advocating for free and fair coverage of the electoral process.
MDC-T national spokesperson, Linda Masarira said there was a lot of gender bias in terms of coverage and accused the media of deliberately side-lining women and devoting acres of space to male politicians.
“Our media only focus on us when we have cases in courts, when we are being accused of scandals and when they eventually choose to cover us, the stories are put way into the newspaper where very few people will see them. We also want to be on page one,” she said.
Mr Farai Mbira of the Joice Mujuru led PRC accused the media of being corrupt and demanding money for coverage yet they were doing so for free when dealing with either Zanu-PF or Nelson Chamisa’s MDC-Alliance.
“There is too much corruption especially among journalists affiliated to State media. They demand bribes to cover us. Some people spent their entire youthful lives fighting for freedom yet these journalists are committing their entire careers to destroying that freedom by denying other political parties the chance to be heard. I will fire the entire Herald and ZBC journalists once voted into power,” he threatened.
VMCZ board chairperson Mr Cris Chinaka however, urged both political parties and the media to commit some time to knowing how either side operated and exchange notes so that all parties benefited from the liberated space of freedom of expression.
“This is not a time for recriminations, but for reviewing what has happened in the past and working towards strengthening relations. Both the media and politicians should be accountable and responsible to the public they purport to serve,” he said.
Chronicle editor Innocent Madonko revealed that the media was plagued with shortages of resources hence their failure at times to cover everything happening in the political arena.
He however, dismissed as unfounded claims that journalists were demanding cash upfront for news coverage and urged political parties to notify the media of their impending events ahead of time to give room for preparations.
“We are making every effort to cover every party, but politicians can also help our cause by giving us their events calendars in time for planning purposes,” he added.
Online Reporter