political communication and reporting elections in zambia political communication course

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND

REPORTING ELECTIONS IN ZAMBIA

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION COURSE

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND REPORTING ELECTIONS IN ZAMBIA

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION INTENSIVE COURSE HELD IN DAR ES SALAAM

PRESENTED BY: EUSTACE NKANDU – LECTURER IN JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION –

UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA – DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION

JUNE 2010

OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION

1. State of political communication in Zambia3. Coverage of politics in Zambia2. Electoral (Code of Conduct) Regulations, 20063. ZNBC Guidelines and Principles for coverage of elections4. Findings of the 2008 presidential by elections study

STATE OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IN ZAMBIA

Major form of political communication is themediated type. It is very difficult forpeople to stage demonstrations or simply toassemble to express their opinions.Members of the opposition parties and otherpeople with dissenting views are blockedfrom meeting in public

POLITICAL COMMINICATION IN ZAMBIA CONT’

The law (Public order Act) requires thatpeople intending to hold publicgatherings should notify the police 7 daysin advance but the police always denyorganisers the permit to do so. Butmembers of the ruling party stagedemonstrations at will

Media coverage of politics in Zambia

Polarisation of the media is highly evidentespecially the print media.The public media is used to dispel theperceived negative or critical coverage of thegovernment in the private media while at thesame time being used to project a positiveimage of the government.


The private media on the other hand grantsmassive coverage to the oppositionpolitical parties and those with dissentingviews in a bid to strike some semblance ofequal coverage.


The current media situation is not helpingcitizens to make informed decisions andchoices because of the extreme positionstaken by the print media.The media have created the image that hasportrayed political tension in Zambia.

Mediated political communication in the electronic media

The private electronic media have createdplatforms for citizen participation bybroadcasting discussion programs on variouspolitical topics. Almost all private radio andTV stations have live phone in programs. ButZNBC, both radio and TV has banned allphone in programs of political nature.

Summary: Electoral Code of Conduct 2006

Duties of the media in Zambia All print and electronic media shall –Provide fair and balanced reporting of thecampaigns, policies, meetings, rallies andpress conferences of all registeredpolitical parties and candidates during theperiod of campaigning

All print and electronic media shall

Provide news of the electoralprocess up to the declaration ofresultsAbide by regional codes of conduct in the

coverage of elections provided that such guidelines are not in conflict with this code

All media organizations shall Endeavour to

Report election news in an accuratemanner and not make any abusiveeditorial comment, incite violence oradvocate hatred based on race,ethnicity, tribe, gender, political orreligious conviction

All media organizations shall Endeavour to

Heads and other senior managementstaff of public or private mediaorganizations shall not intimidate mediapractitioners and shall allow them toexercise professional judgment withoutundue influence

All public and private media personnel shall

Conduct interviews with candidates withfairness both in the style of the interviewand in the amount of the time given

All public and private media personnel shall

Refrain from broadcasting their ownpolitical opinion, commentary orassessment; and where they wish to doso, they shall clearly identify the opinion,commentary or assessment as their ownand shall carefully balance it in order toavoid bias.

ZNBC Guidelines and Principles for coverage of elections

The aim of election coverage is to ensurethat the electorate is empowered to makean informed choice. The public is entitledto accurate, fair, impartial and balancedinformation about the electionprocedures, and the positions of politicalparties/independents and/or candidates onissues.


ZNBC will provide opportunities for thepublic to take part in political debates onelection issues. Producers of suchbroadcasts must be as representative aspossible of different views and sectors ofsociety


ZNBC shall regard with caution anystatement or action by an official of anincumbent party and need to checkthoroughly whether for example publicappearances of Government officials arestrictly on government business or part oftheir election campaign


ZNBC will make sure that any impressionof one-sidedness is avoided in allprogramming. ZNBC will act and beseen to be acting in a fair andindependent manner and not influencedby political or other interests


ZNBC will afford political parties and/orcandidates the right of reply where areport aired under the editorialresponsibility of the broadcaster containsinaccurate information or unfair criticismbased on a distortion of facts.


ZNBC shall not broadcast views thatcould incite violence or advocate hatredthat is based on race, ethnicity, gender,religion or political conviction andthat constitute incitement to cause harm

Findings of the 2008 presidential by elections study

The study was commissioned by MISA Key findings:Polarisation of the media during electioncampaigns was very evident and it hascontinued to characterise election reporting

KEY FINDINGS

Both the quantitative and qualitativeanalyses showed that there wasconsiderable amount of bias and insome cases lack of objectivity in theway the media coverage of theelections was done

KEY FINDINGS

Reportage based on political inclinationwas conspicuous.The public media favoured the party ingovernment while the private mediafavoured the opposition parties in theircoverage of election campaign activities.

Number of stories in the Zambia Daily Mail (Quantitative analysis)

Party Number of stories Percentage

MMD 19 63.3

PF 8 26.7

UPND 3 10

HP 0 0.0

TOTAL 30 100.0

Number of stories quoting Presidential candidates: Zambia Daily Mail

Candidates name Number of stories Percentage

Mr. Rupiah Banda (MMD)

11 61

Mr. Hakainde Hichilema (UPND)

2 11

Mr. Michael Sata (PF) 5 28

Brig. Gen. Godfrey Miyanda (HP)

0 0

TOTAL 18 100.0

Number of election stories: ZNBC


MMD 26 65.5

PF 8 20.0

UPND 5 12.5

HP 1 2.5

TOTAL 40 100.0

Number of stories quoting candidates - ZNBC

Candidate’s Name Number of stories Percentage


11 58


Mr. Hakainde Hichilema (UPND)

4 21

Brig. Gen. Godfrey Miyanda (HP)

0 0

TOTAL 19 100.0

Number of stories with pictures - ZNBC

Party Number of Pictures Percentage

MMD 16 72.7

PF 4 18.2

UPND 2 9.1

HP 0 0.0

TOTAL 22 100.0

Number of stories: Post Newspaper


PF 18 41.9

MMD 15 34.9

UPND 9 20.9

HP 1 2.3

TOTAL 43 100.0

Number of stories quoting candidates – Post Newspaper

Candidate’s Name Number of stories Percentage


8 40


Mr. Hakainde Hichilema

5 25

Brig. Gen. Godfrey Miyanda

1 5

TOTAL 20 100.0

Quantitative Analysis

Headlines and nature of storiesThe 2008 coverage of elections wascharacterised by a number of what could beTermed as “opinionated or suggestive”headlines. The stories in the public mediaopenly showed bright prospects for theruling party

THE END

FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF ELECTIONS CHECK:

“ZAMBIA’S MEDIA WARS: AN

ANALYSIS OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF

2008 PRESIDENTIAL BY – ELECTIONS

IN ZAMBIA – MISA PUBLICATION

political communication and reporting elections in zambia political communication course

Documents

private media

public media

print media

media coverage of politics

media organizations

private electronic media

public slide

political comminication