SECTOR 2 Panellists felt that as a secular state, Zimbabwe should be more open to all religious beliefs, as well as to all who don’t hold any beliefs. Media houses face various challenges in covering minority issues, with a lack of resources being especially problematic. Obtaining comments from minority groups often proves difficult. 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: Score of previous years: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 2.5 2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: 1.7; 2012: 2.7; 2015: 2.4 2.9 Media cover the full spectrum of economic, cultural, political, social, national and local perspectives including through investigative reports Looking through an average newspaper, a reader would note the different sections, each covering the spectrum of topics – business, sport, cultural events, etc. What lacks, however, is investigative reporting – reporting that depends on issues, not events. In training institutions, the focus is still on reporting – the traditional ‘WWWWWH’ method of putting a story together. However, these institutions have not evolved to train in other fields such as investigative journalism. ZimFerrets (an organisation conducting investigative stories and training) has been established. But this is on a voluntary and ad hoc basis. From the newsroom perspective, there is a need for more capacity in investigative journalism. Assistance would be needed to capacitate such a desk to allow time and resources for investigative stories. There is also more of a focus on urban issues and national perspectives, but regional and local stations do a better job in representing their perspectives. This was another motivation for moving the process of establishing community radio stations forward. 25 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2020