News / National
Proposed media reforms illegal: Shamu
01 May 2011 at 07:17hrs | Views
MEDIA, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu has questioned the intentions of some negotiators to the Global Political Agreement who want sweeping changes to be made to the management of the public media.
In their roadmap to Zimbabwe's elections document yet to be adopted, the MDC formations want numerous changes effected to boards and management of the public media institutions.
The negotiators are pushing for the appointment of new boards at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the Broad-casting Authority of Zimbabwe and licensing of new broadcasters among other demands.
Speaking at the commissioning of transmitters by Transmedia at Pockets Hill yesterday, Minister Shamu said the country's communication policy seemed to be a victim of the GPA process.
"The GPA cannot be about a section of the media industry, if it is to retain respectability.
"The issue of hate speech is an issue of the national communication industry as a whole.
"It is not an issue of the so called public or state media, whatever those terms mean," he said.
In the election roadmap document and under media reforms, some of the negotiators wanted conditions that direct the State media to support all agreed government programmes and put a stop to attacks against implementing such programmes.
They also encouraged all Zimbabweans running or working for external radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe to return home.
Minister Shamu said politically polarised media had been carrying hate messages regardless of who owns them.
"Why make selective demands?" he asked.
He said worse hate messages came from political parties that were signatories to the GPA.
"Media houses have been carrying hate messages. Only in a very limited sense have they been generating them and even then, at the behest of political parties.
"With due respect, the failings of those parties cannot suddenly become onerous demands on broadcast and print journalists, or on me as the minister in charge of media.
"I am not the minister responsible for the conduct of political parties and the quality of messages they generate," he said.
Minister Shamu said politicians and their parties should not use media as a scapegoat.
"Let us reinvent our politics for the messages we want in the media," he said.
Under the roadmap document, the negotiators also demanded that steps be taken to ensure that public media provides balanced and fair coverage to all political parties for their legitimate political activities as well as to support Govern-ment ministers implementing Govern-ment policies.
"That is not the role of the media. That is not how to create conditions for a free media.
"It gets worse when there is a suggestion that only one section of the media is singled out," he said.
Minister Shamu said the media had both informational and watchdog roles.
He said where acceptable, media could applaud Government but at the same time criticise it for as long as the criticism was fair comment.
"We must not as negotiators abuse our mandates to roll back the very freedoms we purport to read in the GPA," he said.
Minister Shamu said the media institutions under his ministry were regulated by statutes and these clearly state who constituted boards to mind their affairs.
"Let negotiators please read the law so that they do not make suggestions that are lawless, or which require my ministry to behave unlawfully.
"Equally, our negotiators must use useful terminology. I am still to be educated on what they term 'State media'. 'State' by what criterion? Or are those meaningless terms 'reforms' which are one sided," he said.
The minister added: "I have already made reference to technical imperatives, which come with opening the airwaves.
"No one in the GPA seems to see this vital connection, which is why GPA proposals and pronouncements seem to me largely statements of political pressure and not statements of Government intent."
He said governments backed up their intentions with resources.
Minister Shamu said while communication policies should respond to immediate needs in the political environment, these policies were supposed to make sense in the long run.
The Global Political Agreement, he said was a political settlement and not a communication philosophy or policy.
"Not even our negotiators are communication experts.
"They are politicians representing political parties who have been put together to deal with a national political question.
"As expected, the accent is on making political gains and guarding against political losses of respective political parties.
"As is always the case, national interests get compromised as parties seek advantage for purposes of capturing political power," he said.
In their roadmap to Zimbabwe's elections document yet to be adopted, the MDC formations want numerous changes effected to boards and management of the public media institutions.
The negotiators are pushing for the appointment of new boards at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the Broad-casting Authority of Zimbabwe and licensing of new broadcasters among other demands.
Speaking at the commissioning of transmitters by Transmedia at Pockets Hill yesterday, Minister Shamu said the country's communication policy seemed to be a victim of the GPA process.
"The GPA cannot be about a section of the media industry, if it is to retain respectability.
"The issue of hate speech is an issue of the national communication industry as a whole.
"It is not an issue of the so called public or state media, whatever those terms mean," he said.
In the election roadmap document and under media reforms, some of the negotiators wanted conditions that direct the State media to support all agreed government programmes and put a stop to attacks against implementing such programmes.
They also encouraged all Zimbabweans running or working for external radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe to return home.
Minister Shamu said politically polarised media had been carrying hate messages regardless of who owns them.
"Why make selective demands?" he asked.
He said worse hate messages came from political parties that were signatories to the GPA.
"Media houses have been carrying hate messages. Only in a very limited sense have they been generating them and even then, at the behest of political parties.
"With due respect, the failings of those parties cannot suddenly become onerous demands on broadcast and print journalists, or on me as the minister in charge of media.
"I am not the minister responsible for the conduct of political parties and the quality of messages they generate," he said.
Minister Shamu said politicians and their parties should not use media as a scapegoat.
"Let us reinvent our politics for the messages we want in the media," he said.
Under the roadmap document, the negotiators also demanded that steps be taken to ensure that public media provides balanced and fair coverage to all political parties for their legitimate political activities as well as to support Govern-ment ministers implementing Govern-ment policies.
"That is not the role of the media. That is not how to create conditions for a free media.
"It gets worse when there is a suggestion that only one section of the media is singled out," he said.
Minister Shamu said the media had both informational and watchdog roles.
He said where acceptable, media could applaud Government but at the same time criticise it for as long as the criticism was fair comment.
"We must not as negotiators abuse our mandates to roll back the very freedoms we purport to read in the GPA," he said.
Minister Shamu said the media institutions under his ministry were regulated by statutes and these clearly state who constituted boards to mind their affairs.
"Let negotiators please read the law so that they do not make suggestions that are lawless, or which require my ministry to behave unlawfully.
"Equally, our negotiators must use useful terminology. I am still to be educated on what they term 'State media'. 'State' by what criterion? Or are those meaningless terms 'reforms' which are one sided," he said.
The minister added: "I have already made reference to technical imperatives, which come with opening the airwaves.
"No one in the GPA seems to see this vital connection, which is why GPA proposals and pronouncements seem to me largely statements of political pressure and not statements of Government intent."
He said governments backed up their intentions with resources.
Minister Shamu said while communication policies should respond to immediate needs in the political environment, these policies were supposed to make sense in the long run.
The Global Political Agreement, he said was a political settlement and not a communication philosophy or policy.
"Not even our negotiators are communication experts.
"They are politicians representing political parties who have been put together to deal with a national political question.
"As expected, the accent is on making political gains and guarding against political losses of respective political parties.
"As is always the case, national interests get compromised as parties seek advantage for purposes of capturing political power," he said.
Source - TZN
