IT makes sad reading to wake up and read threatening statements against the private media, particularly when we are carrying out our constitutional mandate of keeping those in power in check.
On Thursday, Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana made threatening remarks against Masvingo Mirror, a regional publication accusing it of exposing the rot which saw locals voting in the just-ended Mozambican elections.
To authenticate their story, staff from the newspaper acquired Mozambican identity documents and managed to vote in the neighbouring country’s elections.
Now, our Information tzar is angry over the exposé, and even goes on to suggest that the publication created a fictitious story just to tarnish Mozambique’s electoral system and create a wedge between the two neighbouring countries.
“Initially these accusations were not coming from any participants in the Mozambican elections, but some media outfit in Masvingo which has been wantonly breaking the law with brazen frequency.
“For this outfit, the writing is on the wall.”
What writing is on the wall, if we may ask?
How has Masvingo Mirror been “wantonly breaking the law with brazen frequency”, in case we are also stepping on the same booby trap?
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The media fraternity is a huge mine field and we wouldn’t want to go into polemics, but we get worried when very powerful people, especially those who oversee our sector, make threatening statements to fellow media houses.
Masvingo Mirror just reported what was on the ground and how criminal is that?
They did not manufacture their interviewees, they just asked questions and were responded to.
Masvingo Mirror reporters even put the system to the test and went undercover, voted in the Mozambican election, so they say, and reported on the experience.
We should never be afraid of our government, instead, we should be development partners, calling each other out through dialogue.
Threats will never build Zimbabwe. In fact, they will destroy all that we have achieved, trust included.
If anyone has a complaint against the media, we have several mechanisms to seek redress other than threaten one another.
This is the reason why we have the Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe or the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe.
Mr Secretary, in the past, you have made use of such channels and we believe you could have used the same this time around again.
In the past, we have seen what the regime does to journalists for speaking truth to power.
Hopewell Chin’ono at one time spent 45 days in remand prison and another journalist, Mduduzi Mathuthu, went into hiding for merely reporting on corruption involving the highest office in the land.
At times, journalists have been beaten up and their equipment vandalised by “unknown assailants” for covering Press conferences.
At those times, the government would go dead silent on the matters.
Mr Secretary, you cannot be prescribing to us what to write and to fit your template of what makes a story.
Your anger betrays claims of an independent Press and sadly, democracy.
As journalists, we have a “bounden duty to mirror Zimbabwe as we see through news”. We do not make news, we report about events and people that are making the news.
Mr Secretary, journalism is not a crime, so stop threatening the media sector.
