(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – On 21 October 1998, ARTICLE 19 renewed a call for the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and its board to be made independent of government, following reports that the Minister of Information has instructed the entire board, which he appointed last year, to resign by 15 November. **Updates IFEX alert of 16 October […]
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – On 21 October 1998, ARTICLE 19 renewed a call for the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and its board to be made independent
of government, following reports that the Minister of Information has
instructed the entire board, which he appointed last year, to resign by 15
November.
**Updates IFEX alert of 16 October 1998**
In May 1998, ARTICLE 19 published a report entitled “Zimbabwe: Media
Monopoly and Popular Protest”, in which recommendations were made on how to
bring the media regime, currently the most restrictive in Africa, into line
with international standards. These included opening up the airwaves to a
diversity of voices and opinions, and reforming the ZBC so that it is able
to carry out the role of a public service broadcaster with editorial
independence.
Frances D’Souza, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19 said:
“The Information Minister’s single-handed power to appoint then sack the
board of the ZBC is inconsistent with the image Zimbabwe seeks to project of
a modern democratic state, even when, as in this case, the board refuses to
comply.
“The Zimbabwe government must immediately reform the broadcasting framework
and relinquish control of the print media so that the flow of information in
Zimbabwe is freed from political control and cronyism,” she went on.
“Without such reform, there can be no possibility of the elections due in
the year 2000 being free and fair,” she finished.
An opportunity exists to create a reformed framework for broadcasting and
telecommunications through the draft Communications Bill, currently under
discussion. ARTICLE 19 fears that the government will ensure that the
proposed regulatory authority lacks real independence. Other legal reforms
recommended by ARTICLE 19 include repeal of the power of pre-publication
censorship, instigation of a wide-ranging freedom of information act,
presumption of confidentiality of journalists’ sources and reform of the law
of defamation.
