South African newspapers like Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian are available and have a sizeable market in Zimbabwe. Broadcasting Broadcasting in Zimbabwe has been described as “narrowcasting” because the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings has a monopoly over the airwaves. There is no other broadcasting operator in the country. Internet Very few Zimbabweans have private access to Internet. Wider public access is via Internet Cafes, but they charge outrageous prices beyond the reach of many. Those who have access mainly use the facilities at their workplaces. Access is further hampered by regular electricity outages. The Interception of Communications Act, passed in August 2007, legalises the surveillance of all communication including internet traffic. Officials who can make applications for the interception of communications include the Chief of Defence Intelligence, the Director-General of the President’s department of national security, the Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority. E-mails for example could be monitored, automatically identifying sensitive phrases and thus stopping the message from being forwarded to the recipient. There is no legal obligation to inform the person under surveillance. Although all Internet Service Providers (ISPs), freight forwarders, courier companies, postal and telephone service providers and any providers of any medium that facilitates communication are obliged to put in place at their own expense mechanisms to monitor and record all information that passes through their system, this part of the act has not been implemented yet. Already, though, the act has had the psychological effect that many people are now fearful of sending e-mails which could be seen as sensitive. On-line newspapers There are around 30 on-line newspapers (!) run by Zimbabweans in the diaspora, with ZimOnline (news) and ZimbabweTimes (news analysis) being the most important ones. Satellite stations DSTV is available for subscription but only against payment in foreign currency. South African and other international TV channels are accessible through free to air satellite receivers. Informal communication channels Word of mouth is increasingly becoming both more important and restricted. People from urban areas carry news to the rural areas and vice versa. However, due to the ever rising costs of transport and a severe cash crisis many people cannot afford to visit their rural areas as often as they would wish. Thus, even this flow of information is diminishing. External broadcasting Externally based radio stations are enjoying significant growth in popularity, in particular Voice of the People (VOP), Studio 7 (a Voice of America programme produced by Zimbabweans) So This Is Democracy? 2008 -263- Media Institute of Southern Africa