public with an opportunity to lodge their complaints against the media without resorting to legal redress. Media organisations have stated categorically that they will not participate in such a statutory media council. The ZMC is planning to go ahead regardless, whether they are supported by the media or not. Another body whose legitimacy is contested not only by media organisations but also by parts of the government Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ). The current board was appointed unilaterally by the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and is dominated by the minister’s political party ZANU PF. There are frequent calls by the MDC to revisit this process and to constitute a legitimate Authority. All deadlines set for these demands have long since passed and the minister has publicly declared that he will not reconstitute the contested media bodies. The BAZ has granted licences to two radio stations, one being part of the Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers) stable which runs pro-government newspapers and the other has been linked with ZANU PF. No community radio has been licensed although there are quite a number of initiatives across the country ready to go on air. They have to wait for the BAZ to invite applications for licences – but these invitations have not been coming forward. This could be taken as an indication of the mistrust within government circles, perhaps due to a suspicion that community radio stations have a political agenda not sympathetic to one of the political parties in government (ZANU PF). As a result the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) maintains its monopoly over the airwaves. Attempts to transform the state broadcaster (if any) have stalled. Its current board was announced by the Minister of Information in September 2009. It is not truly representative of society at large and members will toe the line of those who appointed them. The same goes for Zimpapers, the company which publishes newspapers such as The Herald, and which is majority-owned by government. The current board was appointed in September 2009 by the same minister, again very much to the dismay of the MDC who complained that they had not been consulted. Efforts to reform legislation related to the media have also largely failed. The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 2004 makes it an offence to “insult” the President - dozens of people have been charged under this provision The Access to Information and Privacy Bill (AIPPA) which requires journalists to register remains in place. The same law regulates access to information held by public bodies and allows heads of government departments to handle requests for information at their own discretion and refuse access to documents if a release would not be in the “public interest”. 8 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2012