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Last Updated: Wednesday, 16 January 2002 |
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Sadc heads blast private
media Political Reporter
THE extra-ordinary meeting of
Sadc heads of state and government which ended in Malawi on
Monday criticised negative media reports on Zimbabwe by some
sections of the so-called independent Press in South Africa,
Zimbabwe and the West.
A communiqué released soon
after the summit noted with concern the negative reporting by
certain sections of the media on Zimbabwe and appealed for
objective reporting of events taking place in the country.
"The summit expressed concern over the fact that
Western countries have authorised broadcasting from their
territories by their nationals of hostile and inciting
propaganda against the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
The summit called upon those countries to desist from such
actions," said the communique.
The Government
yesterday hailed the stance taken by the Sadc leaders in
condemning the sustained negative media reports on Zimbabwe by
some sections of the private Press in South Africa, Zimbabwe
and the West.
The Minister of State for Information
and Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo, expressed the hope
that media practitioners working for the so called independent
Press would do some soul-searching in upholding professional
and ethical standards governing their work.
"We are
pleased that the Sadc leaders have once again publicly
acknowledged that there is deliberate poisoning of the
situation in Zimbabwe by some sections of the media and that
the coverage of Zimbabwe by these sections of the media is not
objective," said Prof Moyo.
He said the Government was
particularly shocked by the reckless and gratuitous personal
insults and demonising of Zimbabwe by some Uncle Toms in the
South African media.
"The way they are writing reminds
us of a House Niger in Uncle Tom’s Cabin who sees his master’s
house burning and cries out loud that master our house is
burning.
"It is obvious that the Uncle Toms want us to
see a continued entrenchment of British interests in Zimbabwe
and to them the success of the land resettlement programme and
the now self-evident fact that
l To Page 2
Sadc heads blast private media
From Page 1
President Mugabe is poised for a landslide victory in
the forthcoming presidential election is like seeing the
master’s house burning and they are pleasing the master by
pretending that its their house too."
The coverage had
become hysterical and very personal, he said.
There
has been an increase of negative reports about Zimbabwe
virtually all of it either a total fabrication and a
deliberate misrepresentation and distortion of facts.
These media reports have largely been coming from some
sections of the South African media with connections to the
former apartheid regime and the entire media establishment in
Britain.
It is apparent that the South Africans and
the British are working in cahoots with some elements in the
opposition Press in the country and those in the MDC.
Examples of reports that were complete lies and
fabrications include a story by Ndingilizwe Ntuli in the
Sunday Times of South Africa, in which he claimed that he was
being persecuted by some Government authorities following the
publication of story about alleged army beatings in
Matabeleland.
Another story was by Andrew Meldrum,
which claimed that the decision by the ruling party to rescind
the rejection of the General Laws Amendment Bill by the MDC
was a breach of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
In fact,
the truth was that the decision taken by the ruling party had
nothing to do with the constitution but was in accordance with
the standing rules and procedures governing Parliament.
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