Media in Zimbabwe (MIZ)

This media development initiative draws on information and communication technology (ICT) to connect and capacitate journalists in a country emerging from a crisis and going through a difficult transition period toward a young democracy. The MediaInZimbabwe (MIZ) website provides a platform for Zimbabwean journalists at home and abroad to converge and debate issues affecting their work - in part through social networking via MIZ's presence on Twitter and Facebook. The website also keeps journalists abreast of events in the industry, educates them on laws affecting their work and links them with organisations that provide legal counsel, highlights training programmes (e.g., to improve writing skills) with a particular focus on human rights and democracy, and circulates information on awards, fellowships, and scholarships.

Media Development, Democracy & Governance.

Zimbabwe has been in a political crisis since it won independence in 1980 and elected President Robert Mugabe as its president. According to MIZ, Mugabe and his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party are responsible for the severe economic downslide, growing public discontent, and international isolation of the country. In January 2008, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put inflation at 150,000 percent. Unemployment is over 85%, poverty over 90%, and foreign reserves are almost depleted. Over 4 million persons are in desperate need of food.

MIZ points out that media is one of the most effective tools that parties in power - be they democratic or authoritarian - use for the preservation of values and the systems they represent. According to MIZ, Mugabe has passed draconian media laws and legislation that restricts the freedom of expression of the population. Journalists, especially those from the privately owned media, have been arrested, vilified, and assaulted. Here are some examples:

• Introduced in 2002, the Access to Information and Protection Law (AIPPA) makes it a crime to work as a journalist or to run a media outlet without a license from the government-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC). MIZ claims that AIPPA has been used to harass dozens of journalists and to shutter newspapers like the independent "Daily News".
• Since the enactment of the Broadcasting Services Act in 2001, no private players have been licensed to operate. Radio stations set up overseas to counter this media blackout, such as Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa, have been jammed by the Government. MIZ claims that a number of community radio stations are waiting for the Broadcasting Services Act to be repealed; 2 such stations, Radio Dialogue and Voice of the People, have expressed clear interest in setting up shop. It is these journalists the project seeks to engage to keep the spirit of journalism alive in these trying times by keeping them informed, educated, and in touch with recent media trends.
• In 2002, the government enacted the Public Order and Security Act, which criminalises publishing false statements that are prejudicial to the state or undermining the authority of or insulting the government.
• In 2005 the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act was made into law. It introduces penalties of up to 20 years in prison and heavy fines for publishing or communicating "false" information deemed prejudicial to the state.
• The Interception of Communication Law, made into law in August 2007, allows the government to tap people's phones and access their email accounts.
• Several foreign correspondents and journalists have been barred from entering the country or have been deported, such as American journalist Andrew Meldrum of the Guardian, for writing articles critical of the government.
• The Committee for the Protection of Journalists found that at least 90 Zimbabwean journalists, including many of the nation's most prominent reporters, now live in exile in South Africa, other African nations, the United Kingdom, and the United States - making it one of the largest groups of exiled journalists in the world.

According to MIZ, a majority of journalists hold 2-year national diplomas from a technical institution which was for a long time Zimbabwe's only journalism training school. Although a number of journalism training school have mushroomed over the past few years, they lack even basic requirements such as textbooks and sanitary facilities. The Media Monitoring Projects of Zimbabwe says that about 100 journalism graduates enter the job market every year; this number by far outscores the number of job vacancies available. The MIZ website aims to create a link between journalists and prospective employers or even those who may want freelance material from Zimbabwean journalists.

MIZ asserts that journalists in Zimbabwe do not have an effective union, except one that is heavily dominated by those in the public-owned press. There are no proper channels of communication in the media industry or publications in the country that specifically cater to their interests. The MIZ project hopes to bring journalists together, so they ultimately share their experiences and create a forum where they can work out ways to further develop their industry.