Role of Media in Covering Malawi 2004 elections

by Article XIX

Global Media Journal African Edition, 2014

During elections it is particularly important to assess the role media have of holding government to account on behalf of citizens. While media, in particular commercial media, do not sign a formal contract stating that they endorse and will fulfill this role, this expectation must be recognised and honoured in support of the argument for a free and plural media. Throughout the world, ownership and control of means of communication have always been seen as critical aspects of political power since time immemorial. In most African countries, where governments own and control a sizeable number of newspapers and radio stations, the independent media have been seen as the true monitors of democracy (Ronning, & Kupe, 2000). However, these 'independent media' also come with their own sets of problems (Kasoma, 1997 on the Post in Zambia). Journalism in Africa has come far in recent decades. The decline of one-party dictatorships, which traditionally kept a grip on the press, has brought about rapid changes. The number of media outlets has expanded in many countries, such as South Africa and Nigeria (Freedom House, 2009).

2012

Since the reinstitution of multi-party democracy in Zambia, the media landscape has been liberalized. This also meant access to different sources of information improved dramatically. This helped stimulate lively debate on current affairs and politics amongst Zambians. However, during recent years the media became increasingly perceived to be polarised with media houses blatantly choosing sides, i.e. being clearly pro-government or clearly pro-opposition. Some of the leading media houses seem to have abandoned all pretext of fair reporting to support their chosen party. This also makes it difficult for the general public to make objectively informed choices and decisions in national elections. It was against this background that this study was undertaken to evaluate media content before, during, and after the 2011 general elections in Zambia. The study sought to investigate what messages the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), MUVI TV, Times of Zambia, and The Post provided for voters in the run-up to the 2011 general elections so as to establish whether there was a relationship between the way media covered the electoral process and the way citizens voted. To achieve this goal, the study utilized the triangulation method. A total of 100 respondents were interviewed and 377 pieces of news were collected for quantitative data. The study also examined civil society perceptions towards the coverage through in-depth interviews. The central hypothesis of this research is that the polarization that characterised media coverage of the electoral process in Zambia did not favour the electorate who might have had to rely on media representations of the various political parties as a basis for their political choices. The research established that most media contents had low quality and depth of coverage of the electoral process. This was reflected in most content that had more verbatim quotes from sources lacking in-depth follow through, analytical, and researched information to help the electorates in deciding on political candidates. Added to this were the low levels of policy and impact information in content presented in the media. Much of the content further showed a bias towards certain political parties apparently preferred by media outlets. This was evident in the numbers of sources from particular political groupings, consistently dominating over long periods of media coverage. On a positive note, however, the research uncovered evidence that showed that the media kept personalities-based news to minimum levels of approximately 2% of the news during the campaign period. The implications of this research are clear. The media’s coverage of the 2011 elections was driven by the political allegiances of the public and private media.

For the first three decades following independence from Britain in 1964, the governance of Malawi was a political dictatorship under President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda and his Malawi Congress Party (MCP). The country adopted a multiparty constitution in 1993 through a national referendum. Bakili Muluzi and his United Democratic Front (UDF) emerged winners of the 1994 general elections and formed a government. The UDF also won the 1999 and 2004 elections. In a multiparty democracy, the right to freedom of expression should ideally empower journalists to provide in-depth and balanced reporting on issues that affect the disadvantaged populace, the majority of which lives in abject poverty. The media's attempts at providing accurate and balanced information have, however, intensified tensions with the ruling politburo. Building on the case of four journalists who were dismissed from the country's public broadcaster, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Radio, this paper draws from Gramscian concepts of ideology and hegemony to critique the practice of political journalism in Malawi's broadcasting media. It seeks to explore how oppressive political regimes stifle media freedom and how all this leads to the emergence of popular culture as a form of alternative media.

YEARBOOK ON MEDIA QUALITY IN TANZANIA , 2021

For the past five years, the quality of media reporting in Tanzania has been significantly deteriorating, with parrot reporting dominating media spaces and airtime. To understand the quality of media reporting, this study assessed the reporting quality of the 2020 General Elections in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. The study intended to establish whether and how the media lived up to their professional roles, and whether the media, particularly government media, fulfilled their legal obligations. With a sample of 2,421 media units, the study established that the overall reporting quality exhibited disproportionate coverage of candidates from the ruling party compared to opposition candidates. The government-owned media outlets covered the CCM presidential candidate John Magufuli at 81 per cent, compared to the leading opposition candidate Tundu Lissu from Chadema, who got 26 per cent of the coverage. The coverage of other presidential candidates was dismal. A similar trend was evident in Zanzibar’s presidential elections, in which government media covered CCM’s presidential candidate at 69 per cent compared to ACT-Wazalendo presidential flag bearer, who got 31 per cent coverage. A similar lopsided pattern was evidenced in other levels of elections, namely Parliamentary (Bunge), Zanzibar House of Representatives (Baraza la Wawakilishi), and councillors’ elections. Another striking finding was the coverage of the feasibility of candidates’ promises. The study found that the reportage on the feasibility of candidates’ election promises was almost non-existent, as only 1 per cent (17 media pieces) of all the election-related stories covered this aspect. Overall citizens’ voices were confined to the back seat, with the media excessively amplified the candidates’ voices. Media stakeholders have attributed these professional lacunae to three significant challenges: The restrictive political environment before and during the election, the tough economic environment for the media, and the lack of professional enforcement mechanisms within newsrooms to ensure quality reporting.

Development, 2015

Media ownership has often been assumed to have a profound impact on news content with regard to the consolidation of democracy and good governance, particularly in developing countries. This may not always be the case as evidenced in Malawi with the case of the Weekend Nation newspaper between 2002 and 2012. The newspaper was established by Malawi's political elite in the advent of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1990s to promote democracy and good governance. Between 2002-2012, Malawi was governed by three Presidents representing three different political parties and they all expressed distaste towards the Weekend Nation newspaper. During this period, it was found out that its political ownership had no direct bearing on the journalists' political role to enhance democracy and good governance in Malawi. This calls for a rethink of the conventional view of the critical political economy of the media perspective which asserts that the news media's role in democracy is influenced by those with political power or wealth. With specific reference to the Weekend Nation in Malawi, the news media are critical players in shaping and strengthening of the principles of democracy and good governance.

2015

This study investigated the political role of the Weekend Nation newspaper in the democratisation of Malawi between 2002 and 2012 within the context of its foundational and ownership structures by a politician. Bearing in mind that the newspaper was founded by a politician belonging to the first democratically elected ruling party, the United Democratic Front (UDF), this research sought to examine the impact of media ownership on the political role of the Weekend Nation's journalistic practices in Malawi's democratisation. Between 2002 and 2012, Malawi was governed by three presidents-Bakili Muluzi of the UDF from 1994 to 2004, Bingu wa Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from 2004 to 2012, and Joyce Banda of the People's Party (PP) from 2012 to 2014-all of whom were hostile to the Weekend Nation. Taking into cognisance the ownership of the Weekend Nation by a politician, the critical political economy theory of the media was deemed to be the most appropriate theoretical framework for this study. In media research, the critical political economy theory asserts that owners are able to regulate the output of the media institution either by intervening in the day-today operations, or by establishing general goals and understandings and appointing managerial and editorial staff to implement them within the constraints set by the overall allocation of resources. The study employed a qualitative research methodology, in particular in-depth interviews and qualitative content analysis. Research findings indicate that overall, the political ownership of the newspaper had no direct bearing on the journalists' political role in the enhancement of democracy and good governance in Malawi. It established that despite the ownership of the Weekend Nation belonging to a prominent and influential politician, the editorial independence was not compromised. Contrary to general expectations, this study established that the Weekend Nation in Malawi, was critical to the political elite in an indiscriminate manner. Although it was not the focus of this study, the research also showed that market forces, in line with the stance taken by the critical political economy theory, had some impact on the Weekend Nation's editorial independence. The quest for more advertising revenue, to an extent, undermined the struggle for complete editorial independence. I give thanks to God Almighty, all the angels and saints for the grace and enrichment in my career. Words fail me to express sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Simphiwe Sesanti, whose scholarly guidance, motivation and leadership enabled me to travel through the academic journey with a vision. I also wish to thank most sincerely Professor Lizette Rabe and Dr. Gabriël Botma of the Stellenbosch University's Journalism Department, from whose insights I benefited greatly. I would also like to thank Mrs. Elizabeth Newman and Mrs. Lijuan Daniels who made my stay in the department very pleasant. For Elizabeth in particular, I am also grateful for the consolidation of our spiritual beliefs through the Stellenbosch Roman Catholic Parish, which was an important aspect during my research and beyond. My research would not have been possible without the financial support of the University of Stellenbosch's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences' Graduate School which awarded me a full-time scholarship to pursue my dream and for that I am greatly indebted. I also thank the University of Malawi's Chancellor College for the gesture of a fully-paid leave throughout my studies. A special thanks to the Nation Publications Limited (NPL) management: CEO Mbumba Achuthan, Deputy CEO Alfred Mtonga, and former Managing Editor, late Edward Chitsulo for granting me access to their organisation, including all the former and present Weekend Nation journalists who took part in this study. The NPL library team was marvellous during the months I and my research assistant, Francis "Fra" Xavier Mpanga, spent there. "Fra", your contribution deserves special recognition. For staff of the Society of Malawi library in Blantyre, Chancellor College library and the National Archives in Zomba, Malawi, I express my sincere thanks for your support. I am also grateful to the Stellenbosch Journalism departmental colleagues in research, Adrian Stewart, Mphatisi Ndhlovu, Sibongile Mpofu, Irene Wamae, Marenet Jordaan and Nabila Hatimy as well as John Bosco Isunju from the Faculty of Science for their friendship and scholarly support. Finally, my profound gratitude goes to my family, specifically my mother for her tireless motherly and grandmotherly love and care. I also thank my wife Prisca, my children Sipho and Brianna who had to endure three years of my absence, my siblings Mwayi, Mtisunge, Chikondi, Khuma and Mwatitha as well as the Gunde and Mpanga clans for their moral support and words of encouragement in the course of my studies.

Media Coverage of The 2016 Presidential Elections In Zambia: A Content Analysis Of The Zambia Daily Mail, New Vision And Daily Nation Newspapers, 2019

This study is a content analysis of the state-owned Zambia Daily Mail and private-owned New Vision and Daily Nation's coverage of the 2016 presidential elections in Zambia. Principles of quantitative and qualitative analysis were blended to come up with the rich data presented in the study. The principal goal of the study was to examine on how the media, both state and private, covered the 2016 presidential elections with focus on the election coverage in terms of tone, fairness and dominance of stories. The study utilized the framing and agenda setting theories as the bases for the analysis of the stories. Data from interview questionnaires came from the public and private media personnel of a population size of 5 media respondents for qualitative content analysis. From newspapers, data came from a population size of all newspaper articles published by the Zambia Daily Mail, New Vision and Daily Nation newspapers, with a sample of 108 articles identified and 167 stories analyzed from a constructed week within the study period (May to August 2016) for analysis. Excel data analysis was used to enter the data by coders and analyze findings. The data from these research tools was content and thematically analyzed within the context of literature review and the analytical framework adopted from Media framing and Agenda setting theories. Purposive sampling method was used to select respondents while stratified sampling method was used to select news articles. The findings indicated that despite the ideological differences of each newspaper audience, all the newspapers offered a similar coverage of elections. There was a correlation with newspaper content analysis and media survey analysis in which Hakainde Hichilema and Edgar Chagwa Lungu had more coverage including their political parties. Bias and subjectivity were evident in the number and type of stories, the number and type of pictures and accompanying captions, the number of stories about contesting presidential candidates and the usage of language (dominant tone) in the stories. Other findings based on self-administered questionnaires indicated that violence against journalists was one of the major stumbling blocks in coverage of elections and coverage was adversely affected by lack of both financial and human resources especially by the private media. This void of substantial news coverage undermines a newspaper's vital function. Furthermore, less substantive stories limit newspapers in their framing and agenda setting role. From the findings, the study recommends that the media must take deliberate measures to increase the coverage of topics relevant to citizens' choices of who and which party to vote for. The media must avoid the influence of commercialization of news and pressure to generate profit which push the media to preference 'horse-race' coverage as 'Profit making' kind of coverage which leave journalists open to accusations of bias, the media should also be neutral and not being pro-government in its functionality as watchdog and mediator between the people and the government. Finally, media freedom should be exercised by the ruling government so as not to discourage reporters and editors for fear of being raided by the ruling party.

In the book ‘Democracy in Progress - 2009 Malawi’s Presidential and Parliamentary Elections’ the author answered the question: “The Media: Political Players or Honest Brokers”? In this chapter, the author endeavours to answer the question: Did the media inform or misinform during Malawi’s 2014 first tripartite elections? A critical analysis of the media’s role in these elections helps to assess and evaluate the state of Malawian democracy; to put it another way, the media’s conduct in the elections may have affected Malawi’s development and consolidation into a mature democracy. This assessment of the performance of the media in the 2014 tripartite elections is based on a normative perspective that can be applied to audiences’ expectations of the media, and is very appropriate in the case of electoral processes.

YEARBOOK ON MEDIA QUALITY IN TANZANIA , 2021

The report assessed the media coverage of the 2020 General Elections in Tanzania using a sample of more than 2,400 media units (stories, articles and programmes) drawn from 14 newspapers, 14 radio stations, and 5 TV stations based on Tanzania Mainland and in the Zanzibar archipelago. The most striking result is the disproportionate coverage of candidates from the ruling party compared to opposition candidates. The government-owned media outlets covered the CCM presidential candidate, John P. Magufuli, at 81 percent of all the stories analysed compared to the leading opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu from Chadema who got 26 percent of the coverage. The coverage of other presidential candidates was dismal.The content of candidates’ future policies as provided for in the manifestos was primarily not covered, despite voters needing comprehensive information at their disposal to enable them to make informed voting decisions. Another striking finding had to do with the coverage of the feasibility of candidates’ promises. The feasibility aspect was rarely covered during the elections under review. In essence, it was almost non-existent.

Africa Spectrum

This paper attempts to show the many challenges faced by the media while covering post-conflict electoral processes in six Central African states. The polls that took place in Burundi (2005), the Central African Republic (2005), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006), Congo-Brazzaville (2002, 2007), Chad (1996, 2001, 2006) and Rwanda (2003) were crucial for peace-building. In some cases, they were widely supported and supervised by the international com- munity, being considered the last step of a peace process and the first step toward establishing a truly representative “post-conflict” regime. The media were expected to play a large part in supporting these elections, both to inform the citizens, so they could make an educated choice, and to supervise the way the electoral administration was organizing the polls. This paper attempts to show the many challenges faced by the media while covering these post-conflict electoral processes. In a context of great political tension, in which candidates are often former belligerents who have just put down their guns to go to the polls, the media operate in an unsafe and economi- cally damaged environment, suffering from a lack of infrastructure, inade- quate equipment and untrained staff. Given those constraints, one might wonder if the media should be considered actual democratic tools in Central Africa or just gimmicks in a “peace-building kit” (including “free and fair” elections, multipartism and freedom of the press) with no real impact on the democratic commitment of the elite or the political participation of the pop- ulation.

Index Comunicacion Revista Cientifica En El Ambito De La Comunicacion Aplicada, 2013

The promises of democracy in Tanzania underscore a wide range hopes for the nation, notably with regard to media freedom and freedom of speech. However, the intensifying privatization of the media that has characterized the last two decades of Tanzania's emerging democracy has shifted the focus of professional journalists towards high-impact coverage of known government officials (Schudson, 2008), narrowing the breadth of news and political coverage. The agenda-setting effect of this kind of journalism reflects the often biased interests of media shareholders (McCombs & Shaw, 1972) and also affects the visibility of political candidates, hindering just and fair representation in the electoral process. This study used qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the election news coverage in six Swahili mainstream newspapers to examine the relationship between newspaper election coverage and voting outcomes in Tanzania's 2010 Presidential election. The newspapers were studied during the three months just prior to the Tanzania Presidential election of 2010. The results of this analysis reveal some major shortcomings of electoral media coverage, including prevalent biases and uneven representation. In addition, there appears to be a significant relationship between newspaper election coverage and voting outcomes.

2018

This paper explores the tripartite relationship between the media, elections and good governance in the contemporary Nigerian politics. It examines the growing impact of the media (especially with the emergence of the new media) on the various ways in which Nigerian political parties, politicians as well as governments present themselves to the electorate both for the purposes of electioneering campaigns and promotion of government policies as agenda for development. The paper foregrounds the critical roles that the media have to play in order to open up the public sphere and facilitate mass participation in governance with the implication of enhancing democratic values and cultures in Nigerian democracy. In this regard, particular focus is paid to reporting the 2007 general elections and the influence of the Nigerian newspaper proprietors and the government on the editorial stance of the media on the elections. It was noted that the government owned newspapers tended to reflect the...