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Zim media 'grossly biased'
14/03/2008 13:51 - (SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling party has "hijacked" the public media ahead of the March 29 polls, says a local press watchdog.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ), said the public media was "grossly biased" in favour of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
"The public media is engaged in a propaganda war, which romanticises and promotes the ruling party and denigrates its rivals," said MMPZ in a statement.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) allowed stories on the ruling party and its activities to hog the limelight in its main news bulletins in February, charged the watchdog.
In one glaring example, normal TV and radio programmes were suspended to allow for live four-hour coverage of Mugabe's campaign launch, it said.
'Monopoly of the airwaves'
But no such coverage was given to the launch of the campaigns by the president's opponents, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and ex-finance minister Simba Makoni.
"The national public broadcaster now behaves as if it is Zanu-PF's own private radio and television station in flagrant violation of electoral and broadcasting laws," said the MMPZ.
The state broadcaster had a monopoly of the airwaves here, with four radio stations and one television channel. Zimbabwe's only two dailies, the Herald and the Bulawayo-based Chronicle, were also state-controlled.
Radio listeners and TV viewers noted a big difference last weekend after opposition parties suddenly started receiving more coverage. The change coincided with the arrival of dozens of election observers from the regional SADC grouping.
For the first time in 28 year of uninterrupted rule, Mugabe was fighting for his political survival against his two rivals, Tsvangirai and Makoni, whom he labelled as "puppets" of the West.
Sapa-dpa
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