State of Broadcasting and Digital Migration in the Region https://zimbabwe.misa.org This may mean that even with a multiplicity of channels, television can still disseminate information that carries agendas that are elitist and are not meant to give the citizen freedom of choice as far as which information to consume/ not consume is concerned. a Zimbabwean filmmaker expressed her reservations with the sincerity of the Zimbabwean government when it comes to granting citizens the right of access to information and freedom of information, she, as an article of faith, observed that digital migration may actually allow citizens to enjoy those rights: Earlier on in this paper, a question was asked: digital migration is appearing as a solution to which problem? The implication is that digital migration is coming as a cure to the violation of citizens’ rights of access to information and freedom of information. Yet, as one respondent observed, this might not be the main reason: The aim of the digital migration may not be as driven by social justice of universal access to information imperatives as possibly currently claimed, but rather by profit motives within the political economy within the media industry… In most cases the interest of the public is not of top priority because of the commercial aspect.23 This same sentiment is echoed by Berger who posits that “there is a grave lack of understanding about the First World character of the drivers behind the process, and their inapplicability to African conditions.”24 Berger’s observation points to a scenario where the benefits of digital migration are not clear-cut and are made to remotely suggest a democratic opening up of airwaves when, in fact, it has to do with first world countries looking for a market for gadgets, which is what Berger meant by “the First World character of the drivers behind the process”. However, despite these challenges that will potentially affect the enjoyment of the right of access to information and freedom of information after digital migration, there is also a belief that digital migration will enable citizens to enjoy these democratic rights. While The shift from analogue to digital broadcasting brings about pluralism in the media industries. It gives room for many media players to operate because digitalisation enables so many media channels to operate on one analogue spectrum. In other words, digitalisation necessitates the compression of many channels on a single spectrum. Pluralism is important because it brings about diversity because the audience will have the opportunity to receive information from a variety of media houses. It is also a constitutional right as stated in Chapter 4 section 61 of the constitution of Zimbabwe.25 Casting the benefits of digitalisation wider to the global context of inequalities, the respondent pointed out that Western countries have a hegemony on information dissemination that makes them disseminate not just information, but their biases, beliefs and values. “Digitalisation makes it easy for the Africans in the SADC region to access information from the African television channels that tell a story from an African point of view,” opined the respondent. In an age when satellite receptors are dominated by Western television channels because of the fact that Africa has fewer TV channels due to the limitations of analogue signals, the observation of this informant certainly deserves attention. A lecturer at a local polytechnic also supported the idea that digital migration, if followed by sincere government policies on broadcasting, 23Semi-structured interview with a Media practitioner from South Africa, held on 12/12/20. 24G. Berger, 2010. Challenges and Perspectives of Digital Migration for African Media. Dakar: Panos Institute of West Africa, p. 22. 25Semi-structured interview with a Zimbabwean filmmaker held on 13/12/2020. 28