Zimbabwe 3.5 The public broadcaster is accountable to the public through a board representative of society at large and selected in an independent, open and transparent manner. ANALYSIS: The state broadcaster is an arm of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH). The board of the holding company is appointed solely by the Minister of Information, without any public input. SCORES: Individual scores: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 Average score: 1.0 3.6 Persons who have vested interests of a political or commercial nature are excluded from possible membership in the board, i.e. office bearers with the state and political parties as well as those with a financial interest in the broadcasting industry. ANALYSIS: Most if not all members of the board have strong affiliations to the ruling party and government. Five out of the total of nine occupy senior positions in the state-run newspapers and thus have a vested interest in making all the state media in the country conform to one common editorial (party-) line: Justin Mutasa, the chief executive of the state-owned Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers), Brezhnev Malaba, the editor of the Bulawayo-based Sunday News, William Chikoto, the editor of The Sunday Mail, Stephen Ndlovu, the editor of the Bulawayo-based daily Chronicle, and Makuwerere Bwititi, the editor of the Mutare-based Manica Post. Other members are: Rino African Media Barometer - Zimbabwe 2006 25