African Media Barometer Zimbabwe 2020 Summary This national assessment of the media environment in Zimbabwe took place a mere two months before the novel coronavirus hit the country, sowing devastation in its wake and aggravating the already deteriorating social, political and economic decline. In Zimbabwe, there is renewed hope that, despite the difficult circumstances, things will turn out for the better. There is now ongoing engagement between media and government, and a departure from the animosity and relationships of suspicion that existed previously. Government briefings are now open to all, and invitations to government functions are generally issued to all journalists and not just the state media. The current Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, is noted for being proactive in engaging with journalists, and there have even been cases of the Minister intervening to prevent threatened arrests of journalists. However, although there are arguably more freedoms in the country, there has also been more repression, including the shutdown of internet access in 2019. There are also continued government threats of clamp downs on comments made in the social media. Further, despite over five years of tabling draft bills and holding numerous discussions on media freedom, the reality is that not much has occurred in terms of real change. The current exercise of repealing the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (an act which was perceived to infringe on journalistic freedoms) is viewed by some with sceptical eyes. The fear is that the provisions of the Act will essentially be relaunched, but under a different name. A review of the Broadcasting Services Act (amended in 2016) is still ongoing; and although Zimbabwe now has more radio stations, there is a lack of diversity in the ownership of these stations and the content still reflects the hand of government. There are also continued calls for the establishment of community radio and commercial television stations. Citizen journalism has grown, but this has created challenges such as the increase in ‘fake news.’ The instantaneous nature of social media has also become a threat to the slower deadlines of traditional print media. There are now numerous websites that are not accountable, as well as sites that simply aggregate content and do no reporting of their own. 5 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER ZIMBABWE 2020