September 28, 2012,
Media Center, Harare.
Fellow VMCZ board members
The membership of the VMCZ,
Civil society stakeholders,
Members of the Secretariat,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me begin by expressing my gratitude to all of you for attending our Annual General Meeting for the year 2012. There have been many significant developments since we last met in 2011 and it is trite that as the VMCZ membership we take stock of what has transpired with the express aim of ensuring that we are adequately prepared for the year ahead.
In our review and report on the activities of the VMCZ in the last twelve months, we are cognisant of the unpredictable political environment that the media has had to operate in. The continued existence of undemocratic laws that impinge on media freedoms has been a consistent scourge upon the ability of the media and journalists to carry out their important work without fear or favor. While there has been the liberalisation of the print and electronic media through the licensing of new media houses, there is still vast room for improvement in the entire industry.
The VMCZ is however pleased to note that there is mutual co-operation by a majority of the media houses that are currently broadcasting or publishing in Zimbabwe. In fact, contrary to general speculation, there has been no hostility towards the VMCZ both in principle and in practice from any media houses to date.
It is however the media regulatory environment that most concerns the VMCZ. In the last twelve months the VMCZ has existed side by side with the Zimbabwe Media Commission. In doing so the VMCZ has persistently had a policy of engagement with the ZMC. Since I joined the VMCZ board we have engaged the ZMC formerly on two occasions and attended their World Press Freedom Day commemorations. We have not always agreed with the ZMC mainly on the basis of our own democratic values and principles surrounding self-regulation as well as an unfortunate intention on the part of the commission to co-opt the VMCZ into a statutory media council.
It has since come to pass that in mid September 2012, the ZMC has established a statutory media council under section 42b of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). As the VMCZ we have noted this development though we did not attend the function of the council’s official launch. As the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe has publicly stated, it is not democratically appropriate to support a media council established in terms of a law that criminalises the media and the work of journalists. The VMCZ wholly shares this view and calls upon both the government and the ZMC to reconsider their positions on this matter as well as work toward the repealing of AIPPA.
Further to this, the VMCZ has stated its intention to continue carrying out its mandate regardless of the establishment of the statutory council. We therefore have accepted the reality that indeed there will be a dual regulatory system for the media in Zimbabwe. One voluntary and democratic, the other statutory and unfortunately premised on the criminalization of the media and journalistic profession.
It is however the self-regulatory system that best promotes media public accountability and ethics that will perhaps receives greater public support. It is our pledge as the VMCZ that we will be able to undertake such a take with due diligence and with the best of democratic intentions for the media and members of the Zimbabwean public.
Outline of Activities (September 2011-September 2012).
In the period under review, the VMCZ undertook activities in relation to three programme areas. These were, Media Complaints and Adjudication, Media Training and Ethics and Advocacy for Media Self Regulation.
Media Complaints and Adjudication.
The VMCZ has been working to strengthen its media complaints adjudication capacity. This has been mainly through publicising the media complaints mechanism, placing adverts in the press on cases received and resolved as well as through the use of Information Communication Technologies. We have also held meetings with civil society organisations in most of the country’s provincial capitals in order to appraise them of the media complaints mechanism as established by the VMCZ constitution and the media complaints committee. Some of these meetings were held in collaboration with the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum ( ZINEF) as well as members of the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe.
In the period under review the Media Complaints Committee received a total of 24 complaints, 23 of which were formal and 21 of which were amicably adjudicated. Examples of the complaints adjudicated on include a complaint by Prophet Euebert Angel against the Daily News, that was amicably resolved. We also received a complaint from a United Kingdom (UK) based medical doctor over stories published in The Herald and the Daily News and the case was also amicably resolved when the two newspapers were engaged by the Media Complaints Committee.
Media Training and Ethics
The VMCZ in the period under review formerly established the Ethics committee which is chaired by VMCZ board member Mr.Tapfuma Machakaire and deputised by public representative, Ms Precious Chakasikwa. There is also a training committee that facilitated the ‘back to basics’ training and the ‘conflict sensitive reporting’ in-house training for a number of media houses. VMCZ realises the importance of ethics and further training in an incrementally challenging media environment and therefore regards both issues as a priority. In this regard, the VMCZ undertook in-house training with The Herald, NewsDay Bulawayo, The Standard, The Sunday Mail, The Mail, Zimbabwe Independent, The Chronicle, Radio Dialogue, The Southern Star in Bulawayo, newspapers in the Midlands and The Sunday News in Bulawayo.
Advocacy for Media Self-Regulation.
In order to appraise policy makers on the democratic importance of media self regulation, the VMCZ had two formal engagements with the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) and one workshop with the Parliamentary Portfolio committee on Media and Information Communication Technologies. Written and oral submissions were made to Members of Parliament (MPs) as well as cabinet ministers. The general feedback from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee has been encouraging with Members of Parliament accepting the principle of media self-regulation and intending to explore the matter legislatively and in relation to broader government media policy. The knowledge of policy makers on the existence and importance of the VMCZ has greatly improved though the VMCZ has not received any direct complaints from senior politicians about media stories. In our advocacy, we have also engaged civil society players by actively informing them of the existence of the VMCZ as well as the importance of media self-regulation particularly with regards to freedom of expression and access to information.
Administrative
The VMCZ has retained its administrative staff and we are happy to report that none of the staff members has left the organisation. It is however the intention of the VMCZ to acquire the services of an Information Officer in the coming year. This post will greatly assist in the publicizing of the important work of the VMCZ. The VMCZ is also in the process of reviewing its long term strategic plans after engaging a consultant to undertake an organisational evaluation programme which will inform the work of the VMCZ in the next three years. Once completed the strategic plan shall be made available to members.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, it is important that the VMCZ carries on with its important work of promoting and implementing media self-regulation. This should continue in order to foster press freedom, media accountability, ethical reporting and the de-criminalisation of the media. It is my fervent hope that members of the VMCZ will continue to play an active and supportive role to this important organisation.
I thank you.
A. Muchadehama
(VMCZ Chairperson)
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