The Representation of Zimbabwean Liberation War Chronicles in the Sunday Mail and the Patriot
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND SOCIETY STUDIES TOPIC The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot Compiled by: Dokotera Munyaradzi R131284T This dissseration is submitted in halfway satisfaction of the prerequisites for the Bachelor of Sciences Honors Degree in Media and Society Studies at Midlands State University Gweru, Zimbabwe November 2016 R131284T Page i The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY P. BAG 9055 TELEPHONE: (263)54-260404/337/667 GWERU FAX: (263) 54-260233/311 ZIMBABWE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND SOCIETY STUDIES RELEASE FORM NAME OF AUTHOR DOKOTERA MUNYARADZI DEGREE PROGRAMME BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MEDIA AND SOCIETY STUDIES DEGREE TITLE OF DISSERTATION THE REPRESENTATION OF THE ZIMBABWEAN LIBERATION WAR CHRONICLES IN THE SUNDAY MAIL AND THE PATRIOT YEAR OF AWARD 2016 Permission is hereby granted to the Midlands State University library to produce single copies of this dissertation and to lend or to sell such copies for private, scholarly, or scientific research only. The author does not reserve other publication rights and the dissertation nor may extensive extracts from it be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission SIGNED:...................................................... DATE:................................................. R131284T Page i The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY P. BAG 9055 TELEPHONE: (263)54-260404/337/667 GWERU FAX: (263) 54-260233/311 ZIMBABWE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF MEDIA AND SOCIETY STUDIES APPROVAL FORM This serves to confirm that the undersigned has read and recommended to the Midlands State University for acceptance of a dissertation entitled: THE REPRESENTATION OF THE ZIMBABWEAN LIBERATION WAR CHRONICLES IN THE SUNDAY MAIL AND THE PATRIOT (2013-2016) Submitted by R131284T in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Bachelor of Science in Media and Society Studies Honours Degree. SUPERVISOR..................................................... Date/Stamp............................................. CHAIRPERSON.................................................. Date/Stamp............................................. LIBRARIAN....................................................... Date/Stamp.............................................. R131284T Page ii The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot DECLARATIONS I, Dokotera Munyaradzi, sincerely declare that this dissertation is my original work and has not been previously submitted to any other university. Proper citations and acknowledgements in line with the copyright and ethical requirements have been strictly adhered to in writing this text. Signed by …………………………………………………………………… Date …………………………………………………………………… R131284T Page iii The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr Caven Masuku whose expertise and contributed immensely to the fulfillment of all the stages of this dissertation. I thank my parents for being the great mentors they are, role models and prayer warriors who believed in me from day one. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the respondents who participated in my survey. Most importantly let it be known that God Almighty is the light that shines on our path in this life and beyond, all knowledge is rested in him, our shield and strength. R131284T Page iv The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my loving family which ever supported me with their unwavering love and prayers through my academic journey. R131284T Page v The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot ABSTRACT This research set out to explore the role played by The Sunday Mail and The Patriot in the framing of the Liberation war chronicles from 2015 to 2016 respectively. The main argument of this research is that the two newspapers partially represent all political parties in their reportage of the Liberation war chronicles due to political obligation to the ruling party ZANU-PF. The study assessed the effects of ownership, control and funding mechanism of The Sunday Mail and The Patriot on news reportage of the Liberation war chronicles. The study was guided by the following theories consisting of the representation theory, framing theory and agenda setting theory. The study breached a gap in the exploration of the underlying problem of political interference in the media’s role to freely and fairly promote national identity and nationhood. The study implored the qualitative research paradigm as the study was purely qualitative in nature. Thus the study utilized qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis through sampling to identify the appropriate participants for interviews, focus groups and archival material to be used in the study. The study found out in general that The Sunday Mail and The Patriot newspapers proved their loyalty and allegiance to the ruling party ZANU-PF in supporting the political ideologies of the Mugabe regime for a one party state. This explained the one-sided and biased news reportage of the Liberation war chronicles and misconceptions of the societal perception of contemporary political and economic issues. R131284T Page vi The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot ACRONYMS AIPPA Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act GPA Global Political Agreement GNU Government of National Unity LOMA Law and Order Maintenance Act MDC-T Movement for Democratic Change – Team OSA Official Secret Act POSA Public Order and Security Act ZAMPS Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey ZARF Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation ZANU PF Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front ZAPU Zimbabwe African People’s Union ZMMT Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ZMA Zimbabwe Military Army ZHT Zimbabwe Heritage Trust ZIMASSET Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable and Socio-Economic Transformation R131284T Page vii The representation of Zimbabwean liberation war chronicles in The Sunday Mail and The Patriot TABLE OF CONTENTS RELEASE FORM ............................................................................................................................ i APPROVAL FORM ....................................................................................................................... ii DECLARATIONS ......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................ vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background to the study ........................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Problem Statement .................................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Significance of Study ................................................................................................................ 5 1.5 Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................................. 5 1.6 Main Research Question ........................................................................................................... 6 1.7 Assumptions .............................................................................................................................. 6 1.8 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................. 7 1.9 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 7 1.10 Structure of the study .............................................................................................................. 8 1.11 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................