A people's media in our time
As MISA Zimbabwe marks 25 years of existence, one cannot but marvel at the changes in the media spaces that have unfolded over time. Gazing into the future, it is again impossible to imagine what the media ecosystem will shape out to be.
One reality is likely to stand out, that media spaces will increasingly belong to the people more so as the online or internet based digital media spaces continue to grow and breach the many bottlenecks, policy and blockages that authorities will try to put in place.
Going back 25 years into the past, it was almost impossible to dream that Zimbabwe would have a constitutional order as we have now, with Sections 61 and Sections 62 specifically protecting, promoting media and free expression rights.
Never mind the intransigence of political leaders in trampling these rights, the foundation is firmly set and what is left is to build on the principles set out in the Constitution.
It was almost impossible to think that the monopoly of the state broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) would be broken. In 2021 Zimbabwe has licensed community radio stations, and commercial TV and radio.
The key change forced on the ruling elite was that the old order was no longer sustainable. The changes have not come on a silver platter but are a result of years of advocacy and engagement on these matters.
If the political elite had a choice, Zimbabwe would not have the online based social media space which has contributed to the democratisation of the media space, much to the disappointment of the political leadership.
An interesting observation as MISA marks 25 years, is the resilience of media reform advocates. If there was an area from which one would easily have quit from, the media sector is one such area, for the monopoly of the state broadcaster, and the ruling elite's determination to maintain a media monopoly appeared to be ironclad.
Generations of Zimbabweans have lived under the media monopoly structure in which the interests of the elites are protected by a welloiled propaganda machinery.
In the past 25 years violence has been used against journalists, prominent of which are the bombings of the Daily News, and VOP, the dismissal of hundreds of journalists from the ZBC and other state-controlled media. The political capture of some private newspapers, abuse of undemocratic media law to shut down independent media, beatings, threats and arrests of hundreds of journalists and deportation of some.
All this made media advocacy more depressing and, in some cases, hopeless. Change, however, has been built step by step and over decades and generations.
It is for this reason that 25 years on, new media entities spawned by MISA have in turn become critical in advancing the media reform agenda from the opening of the broadcasting sector, media regulation to sustainable community information platforms we now have.
Aided, and through online media, the transformation of the media spaces can only outpace the restrictions we see. Attempts at shutting down civic voices through cyber laws are bound to fail as the net is now a people's platform. The media is no longer alone, but now shares the same spaces with millions of others in Zimbabwe and billions in the world.
The Zimbabwe government should develop media policy with the understanding that the public can no longer be silenced, but can only be conversed with.
Leaders have to learn to listen and engage and not dominate, learn to share and not restrict and deny. The future of media policy must focus on media as platforms of dialogue on national developmental and governance issues and not for control and managing information.
It is only when quality information is part of our daily conversations that we can collectively fight misinformation and disinformation. Dis and mis - information is partly aided by a lack of access to quality information and absence of public conversations.
Throttling the net, monopolising media spaces such as Zimpapers and ZBC can only fuel the tensions and mistrust in an already polarised society. Apart from a few policy issues, cyber security included, Zimbabwe's future media is anchored on platforms of content generation and information sharing.
Authorities must accept this reality or always be on the back foot.
Journalists have to accept that the world we are in has significantly changed, and that journalism is now conversational and not downloading information to passive audiences.
We are in a world where explainer, sustainable and public interest journalism must take root, more so as Zimbabwe and the entire globe, face existential threats such as climate and environmental disasters and pandemics.
Media policy must therefore promote access to information, sharing and participation. Journalism must go beyond the ordinary to talk to the challenges society faces.
While Zimbabwe remains in the deep waters in its politics, one sure thing is that the public is in the midst of dialogues and discussions.
While we still need to expand such platforms to rural communities, the tide is favouring the people. Our programming going forward must have communities at the centre.