THE Zimbabwean Press has always been on a feeding frenzy. It reminds me of the English literature exam passage that nearly cost me an A when I wrote “O” Levels.
It described how the most voracious fish known to man, the piranha of the Amazon, would go through its prey in seconds flat after being attracted by the slightest smell of blood in the water.
The phenomenon described in such graphic detail pales in comparison with our media in the period leading to and during the disputed elections in July.
Some of the stories that dominated the headlines during that forgettable period could have passed off as fiction under normal circumstances.
But for the lack of sensational news, scribes from across the divide threw objectivity out of the window and we fell for the oldest trick in the Fourth Estate — agenda setting. We swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.
Let us put this in the proper context and perhaps a short lesson on rumour mongering will suffice.
In my dealings with members of the human species, I have learnt to take statements that begin with the words “have you heard the latest . . . ?” with a pinch of salt.
But for an industry that relishes ruse for its fodder, it is difficult to brush them aside . . . especially if they have the potential of turning out to be true.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Take note that the issue here has nothing to do with authenticity or veracity but rather, who has the courage to go to Press with it and win bragging rights, or be condemned if it were not true.
It’s a risk many editors are wont to take in their miserable vocation of wading through the muck that life and underdone scribes throw at them.
For centuries rumours have been used to destroy individuals and nations with chilling effect.
Who does not know that devious political opponents have been known to go fishing for damning evidence to discredit their adversaries? This is then “conveniently” leaked to the Press, which would have a field day.
Zanu PF has over the years used the advantage of incumbency of using this tool to discredit and demoralise the opposition.
Many a sting operation come to mind. It would take writing a whole book to list them all.
So it’s nothing new to them when they cook up a story or place cameras in the most unlikely places to obtain the ultimate juicy story that the sensationalist media can get their hands on and sell.
Rumours have been known by many euphemisms in different places by different people.
In Ndebele they are inzwabethi and the Shona equivalent is makuhwa which is the literal translation of hearsay — which reminds me of a story . . .
Whether you choose to refer to the rumour mill by the politically correct term “the grapevine”, or what we used to call Ziana with no apologies whatsoever to the national news agency, or even the Nigerian “pavement radio” to the classic Corridor News Network – CNN, they all point to the same thing. Experts have found that if a rumour persists for more than 48 hours, it is likely to be true. In the media world, it is known as the no-smoke-without-fire rule.
Editors, being the ultimate authority in news hounding will send befuddled reporters to follow a trail that is laid out, but in reality leads to nowhere.
However, creative journalists craving their one second of fame by being awarded a by-line, tend to stretch things a bit by adding a bit of salt and pepper to what would be a dead horse not worth flogging
It takes a few well-placed dollars and you can have a breaking story that would be intended to soil somebody’s reputation. A damning report put it this way:
“The informal news network is the direct result of the lack of transparency in both the public and private sectors. Stifling bureaucracy has put a stranglehold on information which normally should be freely available to the public.”
This takes us to another angle in this debate based on unconfirmed statistics that 70% of the rumours originate from the government enclave.
The culture of secrecy from the days of the liberation war and moribund legislation such as the Official Secrets Act and more recently the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act have put a gag on an institution that by its very nature demands that information that has a bearing on issues of governance of the country should be in the public domain.
The law only allows for officials to respond to requests brought to them in writing. This places reporters in an invidious position as they have to meet print deadlines.
The solution to all this is to have the Information, Media and Broadcasting Services ministry doing what they are supposed to be doing — not persecuting media workers and their organisations.
They should manage information in a way that ensures that the government is as transparent as possible.
The reason Cabinet meetings leak like a sieve is that there would be a stranglehold on information. Decisions they make have a bearing on people’s lives and as such they have every right to know.
Jonathan Moyo’s ministry has its work cut out for it and it seems it has started on a positive note. Its challenge is to open up the government to scrutiny and information should be freely and easily available. That is how rumour has turned into the official source of news in Zimbabwe.
The advice I would give is to implore you to take anything that comes out of Harare with a pinch of salt, until after 48 hours have elapsed.
- Lenox Mhlanga is a social commentator
Twitter: @lenoxmhlanga
