THE Zimbabwean media industry is grappling with adjusting to a rapidly evolving landscape and it is a miracle no publisher closed in 2024. Some are just hanging in there, but the future is not guaranteed.
A myriad challenges continue to threaten media sustainability and relevance. If nothing is done at the administrative level, journalism in Zimbabwe will soon be forgotten.
Traditional revenue streams are on the decline, if not towards extinction. add the shift towards digital consumption to the equation, and all you have are media houses fighting for survival.
Journalists in Zimbabwe have been at the receiving end in all this, often forgetting to suffer the mental burden that comes with poor remuneration and an unknown future for the industry.
These have been fertile conditions for brown envelopes, khaki journalism and all forms of corruption involving journalists; from calling sources with blackmail to demanding payments in exchange for stories to get published.
This has compromised the quality of our journalism as money will always dictate who is to be covered, further diminishing the audience’s trust in news.
If newsrooms are not producing good journalism, revenues will suffer. Advertising revenues have diminished due to economic constraints and the proliferation of free online content, compelling serious media organisations to reevaluate their traditional business models.
But, the comprehension of innovative revenue-generating strategies remains narrow, with many struggling to adapt to the complexities of digital monetisation in an increasingly competitive environment.
- Act on Pandora Papers expose
- Pandora Papers: Top Mnangagwa official exposed in biggest leak
- Act on Pandora Papers expose
- Pandora Papers: Top Mnangagwa official exposed in biggest leak
Keep Reading
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While AI presents powerful tools for content creation and audience engagement, the lack of proficiency among local journalists in harnessing these technologies often leaves potential gains untapped.
This technological gap highlights the need for comprehensive training and resources to empower journalists and media houses to capitalise on advancements in AI.
While we acknowledge that mismanagement, poor decision making and lack of personal development among local journalists have their own share of the near-death circumstances of the industry, the government has not done much to save and protect journalism.
Journalism role in an economy
Today the world grapples with misinformation and disinformation. Anyone can invent a narrative, share it on social media, before you know it, most people are in panic. But in an economy where journalism flourishes and is strong, these can be easily flagged.
As 2024 was ending, South African newspapers such as Rapport, City Press, Beeld, Volksblad and Daily Sun stopped printing.
While this presents a transformation into the digital space, it also highlights an uncertain future in journalism.
We could be slowly moving into news deserts where many stories will remain untold, reminiscent of the 1984 Owellian dystopian future where the void of news leaves people uninformed and potentially fearful of what is happening because no one is telling them.
For instance, in December last year, Zimbabweans had a frightening conversation with some admiring the bloody colonial white supremacist establishment led by Ian Douglas Smith.
While those who were in disbelief fumed because this conversation, specifically that of showing Stockholm Syndrome, has no place in independent Zimbabwe, you really cannot blame them for a country with an unknown media literacy rate.
Had journalism been strengthened through media literacy, which is supposed to begin in ECD by the way, nurturing an informed citizenry with an understanding of credible sources of information and fact-checking, guaranteeing the future of journalism, Zimbabweans would have no time to admire colonial regimes.
No one has told the country a compelling narrative about our history, all you get are narratives of convenience where some comrades accuse each other of being real liberation fighters, and real war veterans.
The collapse of journalism weakens democracy, fuels polarisation, increases local corruption and leaves the citizenry uninformed about policies and developments that affect their daily lives, exposing them to be victims of fake news and admirers of not so serious and impactful issues, ultimately turning Zimbabwe into a country of clowns.
Journalism is not just about informing, but holding power to account, initiating and fostering citizen engagement. Without journalism, democracy dies and only journalism can save journalism.
As a country, we have not been producing the best of journalism of late. For some time, we have been producing content with blurred lines between journalism and activism. The polarisation is sickening and journalists have joined in, we can predict headlines that will come out of a national event covered by both privately-owned and public media.
Our style of journalism has remained pretty much traditional, far from current trends with no experimentation with new forms of journalism such as solutions journalism, and data journalism.
No major investigative, groundbreaking stories have been published in a long time. But because of technology, we are now competing with the likes of The Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian and all global media entities, who are moving with the current trends, and are also experimenting with new revenue models owing to quality journalism.
These factors have also been highlighted by research as major elements fuelling news avoidance. The result: people find comfort in non-news content, unverified content and fake news. There is a need for decisive action, including capacity building, and maybe professionalising journalism for it to retain its powerful role in the Zimbabwean economy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR journalism to flourish as a vital component of democracy, the role of government support cannot be overstated.
Journalism plays a critical role in any democratic society, serving as the backbone of informed citizenry and accountability, functioning as watchdogs over government actions, ensuring transparency and promoting engaged public discourse.
At a time when misinformation is rampant, credible journalism becomes even more essential; it shapes public understanding, influences policy making, and fosters a well-informed electorate.
Strong media architecture can challenge government overreach, highlight societal issues, and give voice to marginalised communities.
Apart from creating a conducive environment that promotes press freedom, and promotes the independence of media houses, the government should strengthen policies that facilitate financial support, tax incentives and access to technology to help the media to navigate these turbulent times.
Some government agencies have blatantly said they will never advertise with privately-owned media because they are “against the government”.
Naturally, the government is the biggest subscriber and advertiser through various agencies and starving privately-owned media means limited government support for the growth of media.
We are not sure whether it is a government position or otherwise. A collaborative approach that recognises the role of the media and its importance to an economy means support from government will help rejuvenate this critical sector, which serves as an important arm in the country’s social and economic fabric.
The Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) needs to expand its mandate from just being consumed with mostly accreditation of journalists to fostering capacity building, research and media development and developing strategic partnerships among other things. The partnerships could mean being the frontrunner in attracting support from organisations that support growth and training in journalism and communication.
These could be universities or research think-tanks and even Big Tech such as Google, which has an arm that supports journalism through Google News Initiative. We critically need research in a number of journalism and media related issues, from data journalism, audience studies as newsrooms increasingly use data to make decisions.
The commission also needs data to understand the industry it is regulating and accrediting; this can only be done by commissioned research.
This makes it easy to track our status and compare notes insofar as trends and developments are concerned, we need to locate Zimbabwe somewhere in the global space.
For instance, ZMC could be a pioneer in AI discussions, bringing data and research on the status and how newsrooms can navigate and adopt best practices. It is disheartening to observe that ZMC is not even leading discussions on misinformation and disinformation, which present a huge threat in the information industry ecosystem.
Their presence in journalism schools is hardly felt, let alone newsrooms. By expanding its mandate, it means the media regulator will be responding to current trends, which include media sustainability to fool-proof journalism. If these issues are ignored and one day we wake up having all media houses closed, what will ZMC regulate?
While we appreciate that gross mismanagement and organisational inertia have had their fair share towards misfortunes haunting journalism, there is a need for a national strategic plan to resuscitate the media. The government and its agencies are direct players in this instance.
Supporting media infrastructure
Local journalism highly demands reliable infrastructure, especially where internet access is concerned. There are many areas in Harare, where internet access remains a problem. Even some rural areas, which are less than 100 kilometres from the capital, do not have internet access, yet everyone is talking about a digital economy.
The widening digital gap means many are left outside since no information reaches them.
The inflated cost of data becomes another prohibitive factor with a huge impact on journalism. Adequate infrastructure strengthens community access to information from credible sources, engagement and helps bridge gaps in information access, particularly in underserved areas.
However, government’s investment in the media should not be seen as a means of control but rather as a collaborative effort to uphold democracy, empowering citizens with knowledge needed to hold their leaders accountable and actively participate in civic life. In this way, a healthy media ecosystem becomes a cornerstone of societal progress and resilience.
Need for media literacy
An informed citizenry is an asset; people will be alive to the need to participate in policy making and decisions that impact their lives.
Media literacy empowers individuals to critically evaluate information sources, discern between fact and misinformation and actively engage in public discourse in a positive manner. Without media literacy, what you get are citizens, who believe in bar talk, speculation and rumours; digital zombies.
Access to accurate information has a positive impact on socio-economic development, as citizens will be in a position to make informed decisions, strengthening democracy and social cohesion.
There is need for the government to integrate media literacy in the national education curriculum, equipping learners with vital skills to navigate complexities of media consumption critically. Awareness campaigns by government agencies to educate citizens about identifying credible sources of information, and the dangers of digital platforms primarily social media are also important.
Collaboration with civil society, media organisations to develop workshops and training sessions with a primary focus on critical analysis of media content becomes an important initiative driven at government level.
All the struggles and pain the government suffers trying to fight narratives on social media due to speculation could actually be cured by media literacy.
Even university and college students who are studying media find it difficult to identify established media houses. What does this mean for primary school kids and our senior citizens who rely on information they get from these young divas?
In 2014, Finland developed an education model that teaches students from primary school to question sources and flag misinformation and disinformation.
In 2013, New Jersey became the first US state to enact a law mandating information literacy equipping students with the ability to, “weigh the flood of news, opinion, and social media they are exposed to both online and off”.
What all this does is to guarantee the future of journalism, securing sustainability of the media and making it relevant for generations to come. There has to be an appetite for news!
The future of journalism in Zimbabwe hinges on collective effort; if we invest in our media today, we safeguard our democracy and amplify voices that have not been heard.
It is time to rally together, for journalism is not just a profession; it is a lifeline for truth and justice in our society.
- Mugadzaweta is Group Digital and Online Editor at Alpha Media Holdings — Cell: +263 773 292 376/ email: [email protected]
