ZimEye
By Herbert Mugwagwa
26 March 2012
In December 1967, the late medical legend and icon Dr Christiaan Barnard of South Africa, had the first successful human-to-human heart transplant in the world. Suddenly, all doors swung open for him in the world and at one time he found himself wining and dining with the late President Lyndon Johnson of the USA. After this, he found the American press waiting for him with questions but it was one particular one, an innocent one whose answer made headlines the following day:’How did you see the American president?’ The until then naive doctor answered honestly and innocently, ‘He looked sleepy and tired.’ The following day headlines screamed, ‘American president tired,’ says heart surgeon; ‘President sleepy,’ says doctor, etc.
One can read the political connotations derived thereof. Welcome to the world of sensational reporting! And guess what? Zimbabwean journalists do not want to be left behind! This type of reporting where words are taken out of context mainly serve a three-fold purpose, namely, to push sales for the newspaper, push an agenda (mostly political) and make a name for the paper.
In most cases, it is the truth, just like in any war, that is the first casualty.
In Zimbabwe for you to know the absolute truth regarding an event or speech that was made, you have to be there or at least you have to read many articles on the same thing. Reading some newspapers here is akin to eating fish: eat carefully and painstakingly go through the process throwing away the sharp inedible parts lest you be choked.
I was there at the prayer meeting for peace organised by the pastors in Chitungwiza where the Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai stated, “Well, you say leaders are chosen by God, then l was chosen by God.†Then he added, conciliatorily as an afterthought, â€Even President Mugabe himself was chosen by God.†The next morning the headline in the Sunday Mail was:â€President Mugabe chosen by God-Tsvangiraiâ€.
As we move towards the D-Day of elections it is imperative that politicians, especially those who hold high office and hence are regarded as important chose their words carefully and that they speak slowly and deliberately in order not to be capitalised upon by those on the other side of the political divide. Whilst one can argue that the above mild examples are not wholly wrong because they are correct, it cannot be denied that the press in Zimbabwe whether public or private is polarised since its either for or against the establishment.
There are worse and more serious examples of creating mountains out of molehills,making outright lies and deliberately slandering others. Recently the Herald tried to malign one of Zimbabwe’s ablest Ministers of Education in the mould of Dzingai Mutumbuka and Fay Chung, David Coltart, by accusing him of giving tenders to foreign companies when it is already a matter of public record that the publishing houses in Zimbabwe with their archaic machines and obsolete parts which we last bought almost twenty years ago cannot handle such huge volumes of books which were printed.
As Dzingai Mutumbuka said during a SAPES Trust seminar,
“The world was marching forward in leaps and bounds whilst we were sleeping.†Thus, we were left behind in terms of technologies and processes. Some journalists, radio and television presenters need to stop purveying lies, hatred and divisions in Zimbabwe by putting it first ahead of individuals for it will remain long after the politicians are gone.
It will be extremely sad if the nation is going to take the footsteps of Rwanda where some individuals from the Fourth Estate were later called to account for what they said or wrote since they had abused the journalistic privilege of informing by misinforming the nation.
Some, like H-Metro, sneak into private individuals’ lives. The fact that they are doing well in terms of sales does not mean they are right, it could be a reaction against the right and left wing press that has let Zimbabweans down. The press must learn to be responsible lest society moves in with ‘sinister’ legislation to force them to act responsibly and they begin to cry foul.
Cheque book journalism must not only be nipped in the bud but eradicated forthwith. It is, just like its Siamese twin of irresponsible and partisan reporting, an ill wind that blows nobody good, to use the hackneyed clause.