The state media has attracted fresh criticism for playing the praise game to President Emmerson Mnangagwa (ED), at the time the nation is engulfed in deep sorrow following the cyclone Idai disaster that left a trail of destruction and loss of human lives.
This comes after the ‘ captured state media’ particularly The Herald run a series of bootlicking headline stories praise singing Mnangagwa, while allegedly missing the bigger picture.
Apparently, the foreign media gave a blow to blow account of the cyclone, putting to the fore what was at stake, the human face, social, environmental, and economic implications of this devastating natural disaster.
On the 18th of March 2019, for The Herald it was ‘ED returns to be with his people’ a headline that came after Mnangagwa cut short his globe trotting to the United Arab Emirates. Following public outcry blaming him for having had left the country well aware that a calamity was coming.
On the 19th, came another headline; ‘ED heads for Manicaland’ in which praises were heaped on the President for planning to visit the affected areas.
On 20 March, The Herald run another stringer headlined; ‘Cyclone: ED on the ground, closing the 21th of March 2019, with a headline; President leads from the front, accompanying a picture of ED several centimetres ahead of his team, touring the affected areas.
This coverage by the Herald newspaper, comes at the time several international news agencies did more justice to the cyclone in terms of coverage. Renowned media houses such as Al-Jazeera, America’s Cable News Network, and UK’s British Broadcasting Corporation, had correspondents on the ground, giving a detailed cover.
Meanwhile, political analyst Elder Mabhunu has taken a swipe at the state media for praise singing ED while missing the story.
“The Herald’s coverage was filled of ED this and ED that; for four days in a row is a sign of bootlicking and state capture of the public media.
“The Herald failed to do justice to the calamities spending much important space in praise singing. This comes at the time foreign media houses gave a detailed report, giving the human face to the stories by according the survivors to tell the story.
“Proper journalism is about giving voice to the voiceless, not this ED this, ED that, we have witnessed for the past four days,” he adds. Asked if the paper was not supposed to talk about ED’s visits, Mabhunu had this to say;
“I am not saying they should not write about ED where necessary. But giving sole prominence to the President alone, while there is a disaster and with citizens begging for information and way forward is irrational.
“There should not be room for bootlicking in times of trouble. How can you request for a sofa comfort while in a death zone, let alone cyclone engulfed area, in which the citizens have lost everything?”
“Remember in news circles, a change in headline makes all the difference, even when much of the needed facts and figures have been cited deep into the stories, the headline still exposes the newspaper’s editorial slant.”
