Unpacking Media

Capture in Zimbabwe
SAPES Online Policy Dialogue Forum No 17 of 2021

Date: Thursday 2 September

2021
Time: 17:30 - 19:30 PM CAT

Convener Moderator Panelist

Ibbo Mandaza Tawanda Majoni Jonathan Moyo
SAPES Trust (IDT national (Former Zimbabwean
coordinator) Minister of
Information ) Meeting ID: 530 628 3186
Passcode: 555888

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Panelist Panelist Panelist http//www.facebook/
sapestrust/
Stanley Gama Dumisani Muleya Tichaona Zindoga
former editor of the (Former editor, The (Former editor at
Daily News Zimbabwe Independent Zimpapers)
and current director,
NewsHawks)

Brief background

There has been a growing trend towards the control and ownership of both the private and public media in Zimbabwe in the past 15 or so years. This control and ownership betray an
appetite among politically influential individuals and institutions to capture the media. And this media capture is deliberately designed to promote the captors’ political self-preservation
and influence as well as their commercial interests, most of which tend to be opaque.

But media capture must be universally considered undesirable because it is used to severely undermine democracy, promotes corruption and bad governance—particularly in the public
sector—and, overall, frustrates transparency and accountability.

It is, therefore, desirable for citizens to pay particular attention on this festering problem of media capture by talking about it and agreeing on advocacy strategies to combat it.

Aims of the dialogue

To appreciate what media capture entails

To unpack media capture trends in Zimbabwe and
To make recommendations on how to fight media capture