'Media attacks on Zec contribute to voter apathy'

THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has said persistent attacks on it by the media and political players and partisan reporting is contributing to voter apathy in the country.

Concerns have been raised over why some citizens are disinterested in voting in the country's elections.

The commission said the media has been an accomplice in promoting hate speech during elections and vilifying female candidates.

ZEC is conducting a voter registration exercise with Matabeleland region at risk of losing constituencies when the commission conducts a delimitation exercise in August.

The delimitation exercise will inform the number of constituencies a province will have and this will be determined by the number of registered voters.

Addressing journalists during a media training workshop in Chinhoyi, Commissioner Joyce Kazembe said the negative projection of ZEC in public is affecting voter participation.

The workshop is to capacitate journalists on coverage of electoral processes as it has been observed that the media is not well informed on the electoral processes.

"Consistent attacks by the media of the electoral processes or the Election Management Body (EMB) can damage how people perceive the fairness of an election. At the end of the day, the credibility of an election not only depends on how the EMB (ZEC) manages an election, but also on how the media covered the election," said Comm Kazembe.

"No doubt you will agree with me that persistent attacks of the EMB by the media and political actors coupled with partisan reporting of political events has also contributed to voter apathy in this country."

She said the media plays an important role in shaping perceptions on electoral process and systems. Comm Kazembe said some local publications have shown bias and favouritism in coverage of political events in the country.

She said the Press has not made it easy for women to participate in political processes and stand as candidates in elections.

"In light of the above, the Commission notes with sadness how the media has either ignored or trolled female candidates.

They (female candidates) are put under so much scrutiny that their personal lives are examined with a moral lens that surprisingly is not equally applied to male candidates.

A quick example is how one female candidate's private life was portrayed in one of your tabloids. In other instances, female candidates are portrayed as spoilers.

What is even sad is that sometimes it is female journalists who would have worked on those stories," she said. Comm Kazembe said men are not subjected to the same attacks as their female counterparts.

She said the media have an important role of strengthening democracy through providing credible information to the electorate.

"The presence of the media is of paramount importance in all these phases since the society is using different forms of media to access information.

In the first phase, that is when we are making preparations for the election through training of electoral staff, registration of voters among others.

The second phase consists of the actual poll and the final phase involves evaluating our electoral processes and recommending to Parliament if there is any need for a review of the election laws," she said.

Comm Kazembe said the media can enhance people's participation through voter education,  educating citizens on their constitutional rights and reporting on rights pertaining to election campaign activities as well as providing platforms for the public to communicate their opinions to political parties, candidates and the EMB.

"The media plays an important role in agenda setting and in shaping people's perceptions about an election, electoral processes, and the candidates thereof.

The power of the media to influence social, civil, cultural, political, economic and aesthetic outlook of societies has been proved by history.

A quick listen to different radio stations about the same event gives one the diversity of perspectives of that event depending on the social, economic, or political significance of the event," said Comm Kazembe.

"Each radio station, depending on how they choose to interpret the event, will package what we consider to be the facts of the events into information that suits their chosen narrative.

This information has the power both to build and destroy. It can have an impact of transforming attitudes, beliefs, lifestyles and patterns of behaviour which society requires to be changed."