The venomous ink of a pen
The great power that the media possesses to influence society has been noted many times before. But what more of a stark reminder of this in Zimbabwe than the recent news that seven local journalists have been added to the European Union (EU) list of sanctioned individuals and companies from our faltering nation.
Rubbing shoulders with prominent personalities such as staunchly pro-government commentators, ministers and their prosperous families, are veteran Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) broadcasters such as chief correspondent, Reuben Barwe, and diplomatic correspondent, Judith Makwanya. From the pro-government print media, names such as Pikirayi Deketeke and Caesar Zvayi (editor and senior assistant editor of The Herald, respectively) also appear on the list of black-listed Zimbabweans.
The journalists have been reportedly added to the ever-growing list for their contribution to the suppression of free expression and political will in volatile and politically polarised Zimbabwe. Even Jongwe Printers, the ZANU-PF-owned printing company that produces the ruling party’s publication, The Voice, has been added to the sanctions list.
Now if that does not illustrate the seriousness with which some parts of the world are taking the suppression of democratic processes in Zimbabwe, then little else will. For these acts of retracted hospitality emphasise the important role that the media have in promoting diversity and respect for all views and opinions within a healthy functioning society. Failing to fulfil these, practitioners within the profession must expect to be treated like the criminals they are for robbing the masses of correct, complete and unbiased information.
There really is nothing more infuriating than knowing that those who ought to highly esteem the public they exist to serve, in fact, see them as a dumb mass whose minds are pliable and gullible enough to accept the vilest and most shameless propaganda. Did we not all feel that way, at some time, especially at the height of the land reform programme when those monotonous jingles with over-zealous ‘farmers’ kept informing us that our land was our prosperity? Somehow I never quite felt so prosperous, what with empty shop shelves, horrendous food shortages and currency nose-dives plunging me into early depression. Who actually believed any of that when the reality of suffering was all around us to see?
Everywhere, perhaps more so in Africa, journalists strive for recognition as professionals whose choices are informed by sound codes of conduct and ethics grounded in humaneness and morality. Therefore, those media practitioners who choose to continue to play to the tune of the piper (that is, the political leader), even when the refrain has become cacophonous and a strain to the listeners’ ears, deserve some retribution for the gross misuse of the power they possess. For what difference is there in the venomous ink of a pen and the speech of a once-trusted leader now filled with lies and deceit?