AudiencScapes

It’s been more than half a year since Zimbabwe’s government granted licenses to a handful of private newspapers. The licenses generated optimism that the state’s monopoly on the media was ending. Most newspapers are not publishing, leaving Zimbabwe’s independent media in an anemic state.

By Tawanda Karombo

Harare -- Several months after they were licensed by the Zimbabwe Media Commission, the majority of Zimbabwe’s eight new media outlets are struggling to operate. The newly licensed private media companies are hobbled by a liquidity and cash crunch resulting from poor advertising revenues. Of all the new media outlets that were licensed by the ZMC last year, only Newsday has been in circulation.

In the middle of last year, the ZMC ended more than a decade of media domination by state-run newspapers. It issued licenses to four privately owned newspapers: Newsday, The Daily News, The Mail and The Daily Gazette. The move was applauded by advocates for a free press for introducing alternatives to the state-run papers like The Herald, The Sunday Mail and Sunday News. Viewed as unreliable because they often publish government propaganda, these papers frequently contain hate speech against the political opposition group, Movement for Democratic Change, and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Soon after, the ZMC followed up by licensing four more publications. These included Zimceleb, a celebrity and entertainment magazine, the Cable News Agency and another news agency run by the African Open Media Initiative and the Sport/24 magazine.

Checking Up On Idle Publications

The ZMC is likely to put pressure on those media outlets that have not started publishing. An employee of the statutory commission told AudienceScapes recently that contact will soon be made with those that have not yet hit the streets.

“We are going to be making follow ups soon and we want to know why, six months after we licensed several newspapers and other media outlets, they have not started publishing,” said the ZMC’s Tendai Mutema.

Last week, Mutema called Zimceleb director Michael Nyirenda to ascertain whether the magazine had started publishing. “She called and asked whether we had started publishing to which we told her we would start soon,” said Nyirenda.

Mutema could not immediately furnish AudienceScapes with information on whether the ZMC has licensed any new publications since July last year. She said such information could not be released “over the counter.”

A confidential source at the ZMC revealed that The Daily News, which was banned in 2003, had explained to the commission that they were facing some glitches but that the paper would publish before the end of the first quarter of this year.

“Only The Daily News has explained that they are facing some hold ups while the rest have just been silent,” said the source.

Information from journalists at The Daily News suggests that the hard-hitting daily paper, and its sister publication, The Daily News on Sunday, will resume publishing early this year although officials at the paper would not confirm this. No date has been issued for the commencement of publishing by The Daily Gazette, whose parent company, Modus Publications, also run the weekly Financial Gazette.

With Zimbabwe just emerging from a prolonged period of economic stagnation characterised by hyperinflation, it is not surprising that the newly licensed media houses are failing to generate enough revenue to start operations. Investors are also believed to be staying away from the media sector because they consider it too risky.

AudienceScapes has also been informed that New Times Media, which was incorporated in December last year, is in the process of applying to run two new publications. A co-director at the company, Memory Mataranyika, confirmed this. “We want to bring a new approach to the Zimbabwean media landscape and we want to apply this month for a license to run two publications,” she said, without giving further details.

Commission Hikes Fees for Journalists

Meanwhile, the ZMC has increased accreditation fees for journalists and for new registrations by companies to run media houses. Foreign media houses will be required to pay US$6,000 registration fees, up significantly from the previous fee of US$2,500, while local media houses have to pay an application fee of US$500 and a registration fee of US$2,000.

Local journalists renewing their accreditation cards now have to pay US$40 while those working for foreign media registered in Zimbabwe have to pay US$400, up from last year’s accreditation fee of US$100. Southern African newspapers have to pay US$2,000, up from last year’s fee of US$1,000.

Media freedom activists have condemned the increases in accreditation and registration fees, calling them exorbitant. Political analysts said the move to increase the fees is aimed at cushioning President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF hangers-on from foreign media coverage by limiting the number of journalists working and writing for foreign media.

Most local journalists are poorly remunerated while the majority of foreign correspondents will struggle to raise the US$400 required by the ZMC as accreditation fees. The ZMC said the deadline for payment of the fees was the first week of January.

Tawanda Karombo is a freelance journalist living in Zimbabwe, covering southern Africa. He can be reached at tawakarombo@yahoo.co.uk .

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