Zimbabwe media and the elections - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
June 27, 2018
Zimbabwean opposition parties are complaining that the public media is not covering them fairly ahead of the July 30 general election.
How are journalists and the media expected to work in helping to deliver a free and fair election?
What are the expectations around issues of fairness and accuracy, the right of reply, diversity and confidentiality of sources?
What rules govern the conduct of the media during elections?
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Media Coverage of Elections) Regulations SI 33 of 2008 is the primary instrument that is used in regulating and monitoring the conduct of the media in covering elections.
The Southern African Development Community ( SADC) has Guidelines on Media Coverage of Elections in the SADC Region document (http://infoaccess.misa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/06/Guidelines_on_Media_Coverage_of_Elections_in_the_SADC_region_.pdf).
The SADC guidelines were inspired and drawn up from several protocols and agreements such as The Windhoek Declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press (1991),  The African Charter on Broadcasting (2001), The SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2004), The Southern African Broadcasting Association: Guidelines and Principles for Broadcast Coverage of Election in the SADC Region (2005) and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007).
Provisions for Media Coverage
Some of the parameters and standards set out by The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Media Coverage) Regulations SI33 of 2008 are:
Public broadcasters
Print publications
Verdict on Coverage of 2013 election
After the 2013 general elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZMC) released a report detailing the media coverage of the elections highlighting the following:
Factsheet compiled by ZimFact researcher Lifaqane Nare, with information drawn from the Southern African Development Community’s Guidelines on Media Coverage of Elections and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s 2013 election report.
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