Professional journalism and the coverage of indigenization in the mining sector by The Herald and the daily News in Zimbabwe.

bstract The article seeks to examine the uptake of professional journalism in the coverage of indigenization issues in the mining sector by The Herald and the privately owned daily News in Zimbabwe from 2012 to 2014. The Act in Zimbabwe defines “indigenization” to mean a deliberate involvement of indigenous Zimbabweans in the economic activities of the country to which they had no access. Data gathering methods used in the study are structured interviews, questionnaires and critical discourse analysis. The study’s targeted population which among included editors, news reporters and Gweru residents, who read The Herald and daily News were sampled using purposive and convenience sampling technique. These were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis. Various newspaper articles from the two mainstream print media (The Herald and daily News) were analyzed and subjected to an intense critical discourse analysis. The study found out that print media in Zimbabwe is not guided by professionalism in the everyday news reportage about indigenization. Again framing of indigenization policy by print media has caused it to be disliked by the members of the public in Zimbabwe. Key Words: Professional Journalism, News framing, Indigenization, Coverage and Mining. Introduction The study seeks to assess the uptake to professional journalism in the coverage of Indigenization issues in the mining industry in Zimbabwe from 2012 to 2014. This study is relevant to media studies as professional journalism is key to the media fraternity. The study would make use of qualitative and quantitative research in its methodology as it would assist extensively in the gathering of the required data. By carrying out interviews with various news editors, journalists and the general public the researcher would be equipped on the uptake of professional journalism in the coverage of the indigenization issues in the mining sector in Zimbabwe. Questionnaires would assist in the analysis of the information that would have been obtained during the course of the research. The researcher settled for these data collection methods due to the in-depth information that they provide. The study focused on the Uptake of Professional journalism in the coverage of Indigenization issues in the mining industry by The Herald and daily News and would narrow its cast from the period ranging from 2012 to 2014. To make this study possible the researcher would be guided by the following theories agenda setting theory, framing concept and development media theory. These three theories proved to be relevant to the study as they serve to understand the role of professional journalism in the coverage of national issues such as the Indigenization of the mining sector an issue that generates national debate. Background of the study The Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act (Chapter 14:33), is a Zimbabwean law which was enacted in 2007. Under the law all non-indigenous enterprises operating in Zimbabwe to dispose of at least 51 percent shareholding to indigenous entities and this supports Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIMASSET) that was initiated from October 2013 and will run up to December 2018. Zim-Asset was crafted by Zimbabwe government to achieve sustainable development and social equity anchored on indigenization, empowerment and employment creation. After the landslide victory by ZANU PF party in the 31st July 2013 harmonised election, the party was given the mandate to govern the country for a five year term. In addition, it consist of four clusters namely food security and nutrition, social services and poverty eradication, infrastructure and utilities, value addition and beneficiation. The Act was introduced by Parliament as a measure of correcting the historical economic imbalances that resulted in the marginalization of indigenous Zimbabweans prior to the country’s independence. The office of the president and cabinet monitors and evaluate the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the plan. Furthermore, the law stresses that such colonial legacy has continued to deprive the socio-economic aspirations and prosperity of indigenous Zimbabweans. The origins of The Herald dates back to the 19th century. Its forerunner was launched on June 27, 1891 by William Earnest Fairbridge, for the Argus group of South Africa. Named the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times, it was a weekly, hand-written news sheet produced using the cyclostyle duplicating process. In October the following year it became a printed newspaper and changed its name to The Rhodesia Herald, (Roberts, 1970). The operations at The Herald clearly spell out that you cannot bite the hand that feeds you as it is owned by Zimpapers which is government owned. Furthermore, the situation was worsened by the minister of information who has in-ordinate powers to appoint and fire editors and to punish those who violate government policy or fail to use the media to promote government policy and propaganda or who publicize the views of government officials, (Rusike, 1990) The daily News is a Zimbabwean independent daily newspaper published in Harare. The paper was established in 1999 by Geoffrey Nyarota, a former editor of the Bulawayo Chronicle. Owing to the Zimbabwe`s government strangle hold on the public media the daily News swiftly became Zimbabwe's most popular daily independent newspaper. The paper`s heavy criticism of the ZANU (PF) government led to its bombings allegedly by Zimbabwean security forces. Zimbabweans often do not see the mainstream media articulating dynamic issues that are of relevance to them (Mukasa, 2000). Thus, with such a polarized media operating in the country it is of great sense that such a research that looks at how that law is being represented is carried out. Ownership and Control of the Mainstream Print Media in Zimbabwe The link between ownership of news organizations and the character of news coverage is not easy to determine and it grows more difficult by the day as public and commercial system of ownership mix and blend and intersect in a growing variety of ways (Noami, 1991, p. 4). Journalist operate within constraints among them the constraint of having to write “accurately” about objectively real occurrences in the world, whoever planned them and however they came to the media notice (Schudson,2002, p.255). The Herald is owned and controlled by the government who command an outright majority 51percent of the shares. On the other hand, daily News is owned by Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), which is a privately owned entity with no links to the government. ANZ was set up with 60 percent of shareholding under the Africa Media Trust which is owned by British, South African, and New Zealand companies. Thus, making use of the phenomena of political control of the print media this study would aim to capture to what extent the area of professional journalism has been affected in the coverage of indigenization issues particularly in the mining sector in Zimbabwe since its inception in 2010. Professional Journalism as a site of contestation Journalists are there to report news. This lends the work of journalists an aura of instantaneity and immediatism, as news stresses the novelty of information as its defining principles (Deuze, 2005, p.449). On the other hand, the ongoing professionalization process and the corresponding development of a shared occupational ideology is perceived as a period of high modernism journalism (Hallin, 1992, p.112). According to (Bantugan, 2009,p.3) traditional journalist perspective defines news as things that people need to and shall know about their surrounding so they can “debate their responses to it and reach informed decision about what courses of action to adopt”. The private media on the other hand, particularly the daily News has been accused of being turned into an opposition mouth piece especially for the oppositional political party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It is relevant for this study that to assess how objectivity is achieved in the coverage of indigenization issues in the mining sector. The currently state of the print media environment in Zimbabwe can be safely categorized as polarized. The political, economic and professional problems that are bedeviling the country has precipitated the media to be undemocratic (Mano, 2005). Both the private and the public media have been on the rise in creating agendas that undermine and ignore the ethical roles of journalism. Journalism now can be conceptualized as an ideology (Deuze, 2005, p.56). The institution now focuses primarily on how journalists give meaning to their news work. Methodology The study examined the Uptake of professional journalism in the coverage of indigenization issues in the mining sector by The Herald and the daily News in Zimbabwe from 2012 to 2014.In this regard, qualitative and quantitative research methods were applied in order to check on the accuracy of conclusion arrived at. Purposive and convenience sampling were used to select the targeted population of the study. The study used questionnaires, interviews and content analysis derived from The Herald and daily News from 2012 to 2014, particularly those that dealt with indigenization issues in the mining sector in Zimbabwe. From the twenty questionnaires distributed to The Herald and daily News, four were from the editorial team from each newspaper and six each from The Herald and the daily News reporters. Out of twenty, only sixteen were returned as some of the editors and news reporters were tied up. Sixty other responses were drawn from the readers of the two newspapers in Gweru urban. Fifty of them completed the questionnaires and the other ten were not returned as the readers had no time to attend to the questionnaires. Overall, sixty-six out of eighty, thus 83% of the questionnaires distributed were filled and returned. The main questions respondents needed to answer were whether indigenization was given a fair coverage by The Herald and daily News in Zimbabwe. Secondly, they had to assess the extent to which mainstream print media in Zimbabwe is guided by professional journalism in their news coverage on indigenization particularly by the mining sector. The study made use of face to face interviews to obtain information from the editors, readers, reporters, and publishers of The Herald and daily News pertaining to their perception on the uptake of professional journalism concerning the indigenization policy of the mining sector as represented and framed in the papers under study. Out of twenty respondents that were targeted the researcher managed to interview sixteen of them thus achieving more than 80% response rate of the actual target. These consist of two editors and two reporters from The Herald and two editors and two reporters from the daily News. In addition, the researcher interviewed eight readers for the two newspapers The Herald and daily News. Critical discourse analysis and content analysis was explored to pay attention to the linguistic component of language used in The Herald and daily News. Research Findings The print media is not guided by professional journalism in the reportage on the indigenization of the mining sector The findings from the study reflect that professionalism is not entirely profitable especially when covering indigenization stories. Whereas journalists are required to submit figures and facts that are required to be appropriate and true. It is not always the case that comments which are given are to be honest. In any newsroom ethics are enshrined in the code of conduct (McQuail, 2010). Therefore, it is up to the journalist to adhere to these codes of ethics, which refer to a set of principles of professional conduct that are adopted at a personal level by the journalists themselves. Results gathered through interviews with twelve news reporters indicate that the Zimbabwean press is heavily partisan in its dissemination of information. In addition, four editors and four reporters of the two newspapers under study indicated in the interviews that they uphold professionalism in the reportage of their stories about indigenization on the mining sector in Zimbabwe. However, the study also found out that most editors and journalists emphasized that there is need to uphold ethics more than need to make a profit. However, by making use of content analysis it became clear that with regards to the daily News it became clear that when the paper portrays Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) in good light the sales of the newspaper are low. The readers of the newspaper are mostly MDC supporters so for the paper to sale the editor and the journalists write stories that guarantee them their jobs and advertising revenue thus they write good about the MDC and paint a generally bad picture of the government. Finding from the questionnaires and interviews concur that, the daily News is mostly read by people who are opposed to the ideas of ZANU (PF) and generally hate the policies of the party. Therefore, in order to retain and satisfy its readers the newspaper has to report in a way that is mostly critical of the state. This explains why the paper chose to take that slant when they covered the story in the same light that it did. The Zimbabwean print media landscape unlike in the broadcasting area has witnessed some form of democracy as there are a number of privately owned newspapers in the country that have been licensed. The Herald through their reportage frames the indigenization policy in a way that makes it ignorant of the implications it could have on the economy and on the potential to scare away potential investors. In an article published in The Herald of September, 6 2013 titled Reckless or savvy — Zim’s indigenization policy analyzed the reporter puts forward his argument of the law by arguing that the two main political parties in the country have different definitions to the law. On one hand, the main opposition which is the MDC-T reckons that the policy is ill conceived and lacks the idea of fostering the idea of production to the development of the country. The reality on the ground is that the indigenization policy since its inception companies such as ZimPlats, which is one of the biggest producer of platinum in Zimbabwe and in the region, are being subjected to a tight squeeze which is requiring them to produce the same amount of platinum as before, as argued by various economists the only reason why they are still around is the lack of other investment destinations. The marketing at The Herald makes the assertion that without revenue generated from advertising it is difficult if not impossible for the newspaper to. News Values about indeginisation by The Herald and daily News from 2012-2014 The table below gives further explanations basing on the results that were collected using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews to the values that is placed on news values especially with regards to the Indigenization policy. Newspaper The Herald Daily News Pro-Indigenisation 10 0 Anti-Indigenisation 0 8 Fig1. How the two papers frame the policy The above table illustrates and further explains the values that are placed on news values especially with regards to the Indigenization policy in Zimbabwe by The Herald and daily News. The beginning of 2011 mapped the beginning of the indigenization policy being fully adopted into the media as a newsworthy item. The study also established that of all the stories analysed from The Herald and daily News the two newspapers have different approach and editorial slant in their news coverage to the public about indigenization in Zimbabwe. The approach by daily News is that of being totally opposed to the policy as they view it as the beginning of the end of luring in foreign investment which is key to the resuscitation of the economy. On the other hand, The Herald takes the approach of the being the chief publicist of the policy. This is largely due to the fact that the policy was implemented by the government which has direct control of the newspaper. The main reason is most likely that the MDC has been the party that the government views as being there to derail the indigenization policy. On the other hand, the private owned media attack’s is always on ZANU PF and the MDC are given a good picture as they have been opposed to the policy. Framing of indigenization policy has led to its rejection by the public Critical Discourse Analysis is another research method that was used by the researcher. The manner in which the press has framed the policy has led to it being accepted by ZANU (PF) supporters and being rejected by those opposed to the rule of the government. A good example of its rejection is by looking at how other political players in Zimbabwe reflected on it. Enillia Mukarati, the vice president of the Zimbabwe People`s Union (ZAPU) condemnation on the Indigenization mining policy has been one, in which leaders of opposition political parties have been on record critically complaining about indigenization policy to the mining sector. The policy has been likened to the disastrous land reform programme in that it will bring more harm than good to the economy of the country. In articles published by most private media organizations, in this instance, the daily News being one of them, the law of the Indigenization of mines was used to as gimmick employed by the ruling party to win votes in the last election which ZANU (PF) won resoundingly. In an article published by the newspaper on the 13th of April 2014 titled Scrap indigenization policy: The article stresses how most of the economic analysts in the country have urged the government to either abandon the whole process or put it on hold and implement measures that would resuscitate the economy and not spook investors the same way the law is doing. Influence of The Herald and daily News in the rejection and embracing of indigenization policy Results obtained through questionnaires and interviews with the readers of the two newspapers in Zimbabwe, establishes that The Herald plays a very pivotal role in advocating policies for the state. The publication has been on record to be regarded as a mouth piece of the government rather than a public entity that serves the needs of the public. The discourse being noted in the paper is that of being in full support of the policy to fully indigenize the mines. The newspaper has been very supportive of the policy claiming that the policy could be what Zimbabwe needed to right the colonial wrongs that left the local people with nothing to show off as their own. The study findings from both questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with the readers of the two newspapers in Gweru also indicate that, the policy of the indigenization of the mining sector in Zimbabwe has been hijacked by the country`s politicians, thus for journalists to report it from a professional stand point is very difficult. As proven by the daily News` reportage the policy has been used campaigning tool that seeks to counter the hegemonic projects that are being done by other oppositional political parties. What makes the issue difficult to report on in a professional manner is how the country`s politicians are heavily contested on the issue. Both the private and public print media can be noted as to have failed to perform its role of being professional when it comes to the coverage of the Zim-Asset policy. Reporters who were interviewed by the researcher from both The Herald and daily News argued that politicians have used this policy to further their own interests thus it is difficult to remain professional when covering the policy to indigenize the mining sector. Conclusion and Recommendations The study has proved that it is impossible if not difficult for a journalist in Zimbabwean mainstream print media to follow ethics and adhere to a set of code of conduct in a polarized media environment. The two newspapers under study have proven that there is a biased coverage of political events and different economic events in Zimbabwe. Ownership and control coupled with the pressure that arises from regulation and advertisers form a major hindrance of the reporting of journalists at both The Herald and the daily News. The mining indigenization policy was crafted by ZANU (PF) and was passed into law after intense lobbying from the party. To collect information from the field, the researcher used questionnaires and carried out face to face interviews with the targeted audiences. Questionnaires were distributed to the reporters and the general populace whom the researcher managed to meet and interact with. However, some questionnaires could not be returned to the researcher as the targeted population had valid reasons that hindered them from attending to them. The study findings prompted the researcher to suggest that both The Herald and the daily News should be guided by media ethics and professionalism in their daily conduct in the dissemination of news. 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