SECTOR 2

2.8 All media fairly reflect the voices of society in its
ethnic, linguistic, religious, political and social diversity.
Most media houses in Zimbabwe are known for their partisan position: “We
know that this media house supports this political party and that media house
supports the other party”. This certainly does not give a full or rounded picture of
political diversity in the country.
Religious groupings that are aligned to political power enjoy broad coverage,
for example leaders of the Apostolic faith. Other religious sectors are ignored
completely while traditional systems are looked down upon.
There are only few newspapers or magazines that publish in vernacular languages.
The majority of publications are in English and do not cater for the Shona and
Ndebele speaking public. It is alleged that people are not used to reading in their
local languages.

Scores:
Individual scores:
1

Country does not meet indicator

2

Country meets only a few aspects of indicator

3

Country meets some aspects of indicator

4

Country meets most aspects of indicator

5

Country meets all aspects of the indicator

Average score:

2.7 (2010:1.7; 2008:n/a; 2006:n/a)

2.9 The country has a coherent ICT policy or the government implements promotional measures, which
aim to meet the information needs of all citizens, including marginalised communities .
An ICT policy was launched in 2010 by the Minister of Information Communication
Technology, Nelson Chamisa, but it does not seem to have been widely publicised
as most of the panellists did not know anything about it. According to the policy

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2012

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