Media freedom monitoring
To do this, we compile a list of media violations and victories – accurate and detailed records of abuses of, or progress toward, a free, independent, diverse and pluralistic media as envisaged by the Windhoek Declaration.
Media violations are issued in the form of alerts to educate people about the nature of the abuse and highlight trends. Alerts can also serve as advocacy tools and inform research to help influence changes to legislation and policy, as well as help bring perpetrators to justice.
Media violations include:
- when journalists are physically or verbally assaulted, threatened, injured, kidnapped, disappear, arrested, killed, censored, denied credentials or wrongfully expelled during the course of their work or as a direct result of their work
- when news outlets are attacked, illegally searched, censored, closed by force, raided, unable to report, broadcast or publish because of factors such as the confiscation of equipment, blocking of their online site or the jamming of transmissions
- when new legislation or changes to legislation hinder journalists from conducting their work freely and without fear.
We use this information to compile the annual State of the Media Report that tabulates the alerts and analyses them against the prevailing media environment. This report feeds into the MISA regional report, So this is Democracy? which ranks and measures the performance of Zimbabwe against other countries in the Southern African region.
Media freedom news from our chapters
Election observer missions’ findings on Zimbabwe elections
In a preliminary statement released in Harare on 25 August 2023, the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM) noted that some aspects of Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC...
Journalists urgent application referred to ordinary court roll
Today (Tuesday 22 August 2023), High Court of Zimbabwe Judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi referred to the ordinary court roll the urgent chamber application in which the Young Journalists Association of Zimbabwe (YOJA) was seeking an order compelling the Zimbabwe Electoral...
MEDIA PROFESSIONALISM AND ACCOUNTABILITY DURING ELECTIONS
MISA ZIMBABWE FACT SHEET Introduction Election periods throughout the world impose immense responsibility on the media to provide the public with accurate information that will enable the electorate to make informed decisions and choices when they eventually cast...
ZBC publishes elections broadcasting schedule
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) has published the broadcasting schedule outlining how airtime will be allocated to different political parties during the upcoming general elections. The schedule was published in The Herald of Friday, 28 July 2023, and...
Media freedom critical pillar of free and fair elections
Political parties and candidates in Zimbabwe’s 2023 elections have an immense responsibility to promote the rights of journalists and the media to operate without hindrance, as this will ensure access to diverse information for informed choices and decisions....