SUMMARY
Coverage of the death of a University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student
Batanai Hadzizi under questionable circumstances raised the
question of truth-telling and selective reporting in Zimbabwean
journalism.
The media audience was subjected to contradicting reports from
the state-controlled and privately-owned media about the UZ
demonstrations.
On the whole, the state-owned media’s coverage was misleadingly
selective. Important arguments refuting the police’s claims that the
student died in a stampede were also left out.
The state-media’s failure to provide fair coverage of the death of
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student is a serious subversion of the
public’s right to know.
While sections of the private media did get some of their
information wrong about the demonstrations, they did however
provide a fuller picture of the event, as well as substantiating claims
that the riot police may have been responsible for Hadzizi’s death.

TRUTH VICTIM OF UZ DEATHS’ COVERAGE
The demonstrations at the university began on Saturday, however
all media reported the story on Monday the 9th of April.
The main focus was on the death of UZ student Batanai Hadzizi
and the forces behind the death. Characteristically, the state-media
gave legitimacy to the voice of officialdom (in this case, the police).
ZBCTV (9/4, 8pm) reported the death but buried the story in a
report about student’s grievances. The report said that “police say”
that the Hadzizi was the “victim of a stampede”. The following
day’s ZBCTV’s 8pm report also stated that “in the stampede, one
student died”.
Initially, ZBC Radio 1/3 (9/4) failed to report the death of a student
and later (10/4) reported it in the middle of a rambling interview with
professor Graham Hill in which he mentioned two deaths including
“one under very suspicious circumstances” in the early hours of
Monday morning. Details of Hill’s “suspicion” were not broadcast.

The contradictory reporting was more enunciated in the press. The
Herald (10/04) emphasized as well as concentrated on the looting
and violence perpetrated by the students and the subsequent
arrest of 35 students (also radio 2/4, 11/4 8pm)
The Daily News (10/04) carried a front-page article headlined “Riot
police kill student” which was refuted in a police statement
broadcast in ZBC’s bulletins (ZBCTV, 10/4, 8pm; ZBC Radio, 12/4,
6am). The police statement dismissed The Daily News headline as
misleading and sensational. The state-controlled media
completely ignored the amount of force allegedly used by the riot
police. It reported that the police used “non-lethal fire” whilst the
Standard (15/04) and The Daily News (10/04) reported that the
police used shrapnel loaded teargas and carried pictorial evidence
of one student, Tawanda Kaseke, with multiple wounds all over the
leg.
The Herald (10/04) pegged the number of injured students at three,
while the Daily News reported that “at least 28 students received
treatment at the students clinic and Parirenyatwa hospital”.
Both Zimpapers and the ZBC ignored serious allegations that
police had confiscated Hadzizi’s bloodied blankets and clothes and
that the killing happened in the full view of a campus security
guard.
The Vice Chancellor Professor Graham Hill was quoted in the Daily
News (11/04) as saying ”the police came unannounced and
uninvited”. However this was contrary to its earlier report (10/04)
which stated that “the police were called in to quell a demonstration
over payout increments”.
The Zimbabwe Mirror (12/04) and the Zimbabwe Independent
(12/04) reported that the post-mortem report revealed that indeed
the student was beaten to death. The Zimbabwe Independent
(12/04) quoted part of the post-mortem report, which stated, ”the
deceased is believed to have to have been assaulted in a riot
that took place in the UZ campus”. All the state-owned media
ignored the post-mortem report instead choosing to support an
interested party, the police.
The state-controlled newspapers also ignored the hostile reception
of the Minister of Higher Education Dr. Herbert Murerwa at the
funeral service covered reported in the Daily News and the
Zimbabwe Independent.
Such oversights by the state-media are a subversion of the public’s
right to accurate and fair information.

2) STATE MEDIA IGNORES VIOLENCE AGAINST OPPOSITION
SUPPORTERS
MMPZ notes an increase in the reports of violence perpetrated
against opposition political parties. The Daily News must be
applauded for its consistent coverage of political violence in the
country. In the week, the Daily News (12/04) reported that Kezi
villagers were hounded after Tsvangirai’s address by war veterans
and state security agents. The same issue of the Daily News
12/04) reported that ZANU PF supporters assaulted three aspiring
MDC councilors in Gokwe South.
The public press has ignored these events.

3) WAR VETERANS LABOUR ARBITRATION
The private press and to a lesser extent, ZBC continued to report
the on-going labour arbitrations by the war veterans.
In the week the private press reported that war veterans had
declared that they had taken over the ZCTU.
The Daily News (12/04) and the Zimbabwe Independent (12/04)
reported that the war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba
proclaimed himself as ZCTU boss. The Zimbabwe Independent
(12/04) carried an alarmist and misleading headline “War vets
displace ZCTU” whereas the issue was that the “war veterans were
positioning themselves as a de facto labour conflict resolution
agency”.
In a widely sourced report the Daily News (12/04) chronicled
companies that have been raided by the war veterans.
Both the Zimbabwe Independent and the Daily News quoted the
ZCTU dismissing the moves by the war veterans.
The Daily News (09/04) reported that war veterans forced a director
of Leno Trading (Pvt) Ltd into hiding over a salary dispute.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Sydney Mhishi,
played down the crisis saying “it was a misconception that war
veterans and Zanu Pf supporters have usurped the powers of
the Ministry in dealing with labour issues” the Daily News
(12/04). In the same paper, the official asked for “specific
information” to prompt investigations.
The Standard (15/04) reported that Chinotimba insisted that war
veterans would continue intervening on behalf of employers locked
in disputes with their employers.
The Daily News (13/04) reported that a Farm and City shop was
closed after ex-combatant was sacked. Surprisingly, the state-
controlled media has simply ignored the trend, yet this is of
national importance as far as investor confidence, and rule of law is
concerned.

SPECIAL MENTION
In the second week since the Broadcasting Services Act was
enacted, there was little change in the number of programmes of
foreign origin on ZBCTV an indication of the uphill battle television
broadcasters will have to fight to fulfill the 75% quota. Of note is the
reintroduction of the programme “Tiki” a colonial caricature of
Africans. Radio 3 has fared better than ZBCTV and successfully
increased its local content to a 50/50 ratio.
Ends

Send all queries to the Project Coordinator, 221 Fife Avenue,
Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 734207, 733486, E-mail:
[email protected], Web: http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpz