The Role of Diasporic Media in Facilitating Citizen Journalism and Political Awareness in Zimbabwe
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THE ROLE OF DIASPORIC MEDIA IN FACILITATING CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND POLITICAL AWARENESS IN ZIMBABWE Everette NDLOVU Ph.D Thesis 2014 THE ROLE OF DIASPORIC MEDIA IN FACILITATING CITIZEN JOURNALISM AND POLITICAL AWARENESS IN ZIMBABWE Everette NDLOVU SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY TO THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND MEDIA UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD UNITED KINGDOM MARCH 2014 CERTIFICATE OF THE THESIS I certify that the ideas, research, results, and analysis and conclusion reported in this thesis are entirely mine, except where otherwise acknowledged. I further certify that this work is official and has not been previously submitted for any award, except where otherwise acknowledged. Name: Everette Ndlovu Signature: Date: 26 March 2014 i TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF THE THESIS............................................................................................ i TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................. ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................... .xi DEDICATIONS...................................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS.....................................................................xiii ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................xvi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................1 1.2. Aim and objectives of the research...............................................................................4 1.3. Synopsis of the chapters in this thesis................................................. ..........................7 1.4. Conclusion......................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER TWO CONTEXTUALISING ZIMBABWE’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE AND THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA 11 2.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 11 2.2. Putting the socio-cultural history of Zimbabwe into context.......................................12 2.3. Challenges to the democratization of Zimbabwe......................................................... 16 2.4. Concerns about the state of freedom of association in Zimbabwe.......................... ......19 2.5. The state of media freedom in Zimbabwe......................................................................21 2.6. Projected democratic changes in Zimbabwe..................................................................27 2.7. Ongoing tensions between the state and the diasporic media in Zimbabwe................. 30 2.8. Conclusion......................................................................................................................31 ii CHAPTER THREE THE LITERATURE REVIEW AND THE EXPLANATORY FRAMEWORK OF THE THESIS 33 3.1. Introduction....................................................................................................................33 3.2. Perceptions of democracy and its ideation....................................................................34 3.3. The applicability of democratic principles……………………………………….........35 3.4 Media evolution from pre to post independent Zimbabwe............................................41 3.5. The state of media in Rhodesia......................................................................................42 3.6. Media evolution from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe...............................................................48 3.7. The development of pre and post-independence Zimbabwean diasporic media........... 55 3.8. Background of clandestine (diasporic) radio broadcasts in Zimbabwe....................... 57 3.9. The role of the internet and citizen journalism in the democratization process ........... 60 3.10. Citizen journalism....................................................................................................... 70 3.11. The analytical framework drawn from the literature review.........................................78 3.12. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................80 CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 81 4.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................81 4.2. Constructivism as the explanatory Paradigms for the role of diasporic media in facilitating citizen journalism and political awareness in Zimbabwe.…......81 4.3. Theoretical approach to explaining the role of diasporic media in citizen journalism and political awareness in Zimbabwe ........................................................................91 4.4. Quantitative approaches and their significance in research………..……….....….......92 4.5. Qualitative approaches and their significance in research……......………..…............93 4.6. The mixed method approach………………………………......................... ….....…..98 iii 4.7. Areas that have been addressed by the literature review…..………....….………...….99 4.8. Case studies ................................................................................................................100 4.9. Factors that influenced the choice of the selected case studies..…......… …………...104 4.9.1.Short Wave Radio Africa (SWRA)..............................................................................104 4.9.2. Newzimbabwe.com......................................................................................................105 4.9.3 The Zimbabwean Newspaper.......................................................................................106 4.10. Semi-structured interviews………………...…………………………………...…...107 4.11. Data sampling and collection techniques...................................................................107 4.12. Conclusion ………………………………………………………….…………........113 CHAPTER FIVE THE ANALYSIS OF THE CASE STUDIES 114 5.1. Introduction............................... .................................................................................114 5.2. Positioning diasporic media in a conflictual environment...........................................115 5.3.1. The emergence of clandestine (diasporic) radio stations in pre-independent Zimbabwe...................................................................................................................116 5.3.2. Broadcasting in independent Zimbabwe.....................................................................118 5.3.3. The emergence of diasporic radio in independent Zimbabwe. ..................................122 5.3.4. The beginning of oppositional radio ......................................................................... 123 5.3.5. SW Radio Africa emerges as a Zimbabwean oppositional radio station....................125 5.3.6. SWRA’s employment of technology to link with the masses....................................128 5.3.7. The state’s response to diasporic radio stations.........................................................134 5.4. The emergence of Zimbabwean diasporic websites....................................................145 5.4.1. Positioning online media technologies.......................................................................146 5.4.2. Background to the development of Zimbabwean diasporic websites.........................147 5.4.3. The focus of NewZimbabwe.com...............................................................................151 5.4.4. The deployment of new media technologies by New Zimbabwe.com......................153 iv 5.4.5 The reaction of the government towards diasporic websites......................................156 5.5. The emergence of Zimbabwean diasporic newspapers................................................164 5.5.1. Putting The Zimbabwean into perspective .................................................................165 5.5.2. Aspirations of The Zimbabwean ................................................................................168 5.5.3. The paper’s distribution and circulation .....................................................................170 5.5.4. The news focuses of the Zimbabwean .......................................................................171 5.5.5. The Zimbabwean’s use of new media technologies. ..................................................172 5.5.6. The impact of The Zimbabwean in information generation and distribution.............173 5.5.7. The government’s response to diasporic newspapers.................................................174 5.6. Conclusion...................................................................................................................177 CHAPTER SIX RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF DIASPORIC MEDIA IN FACILITATING CITIZEN JOURNALISTIC ACTIVISM IN ZIMBABWE 181 6.1.1. Introduction................................................................................................................181 6.1. 2. The empirical process