Print Media Monitoring Report

January – June 2013 Print Media Monitoring Report © Media Council of Tanzania, 2013

ISBN 978 - 9987 - 710 - 39 - 3

ii Media Council of Tanzania Contents

Preface ...... v Methodology ...... vi Abbreviations ...... vii

Chapter One ...... 1 Ethical Performance ...... 1 Presumption of innocence ...... 1 Identifying victims of sexual violence ...... 2 Captions ...... 3 Apology ...... 3 Hate Speech ...... 3 Rapid Response Media Monitoring January-June, 2013 ...... 6 Appendix: Sampled articles ...... 13

Chapter Two ...... 15 Gender Reporting ...... 15 Gender- Based Violence (GBV) ...... 16 Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) ...... 17 Reproductive Health ...... 17 Women Empowerment ...... 18 Health ...... 19 Girls’ Education ...... 19 Inheritance Law ...... 19 Pregnancy Precaution ...... 20 Homosexuality ...... 20 Quantitative Analysis ...... 21 Appendix: Sampled stories ...... 25

Chapter Three ...... 27 Corruption Reporting ...... 27 Qualitative Analysis ...... 27 Balance and Fairness ...... 28 Truth and Accuracy ...... 28 News type ...... 29 Sources ...... 29 Length of the stories ...... 30 Coverage Areas ...... 31

Print Media Monitoring Report iii Page Placement ...... 31 Quantitative Analysis ...... 31 Appendix: Sampled stories ...... 33

Chapter Four ...... 35 Court Reporting ...... 35 Judgemental Headlines ...... 35 Gender-Based Violence ...... 36 Access to Courts ...... 36 Truth and Accuracy ...... 37 Backgrounding of stories ...... 37 Contempt of Court ...... 37 Sources ...... 37 Photographs ...... 38 Coverage Areas ...... 38 Page Placement ...... 38 Quantitative Analysis ...... 38 Appendix: Sampled articles ...... 40

Chapter Five ...... 41 Constitution Reporting ...... 41 Introduction ...... 41 Scope ...... 41 Coverage ...... 43 Pie chart ...... 43 Types ...... 43 Types of artcles ...... 44 Length ...... 44 Page Placement ...... 44 Sources ...... 45 Themes ...... 46 Constitutional Review Process ...... 47 Natural Resources ...... 47 Union ...... 48 Governance ...... 48 Recommendations ...... 48 Conclusion ...... 49 Appendix: Sampled articles ...... 40 iv Media Council of Tanzania Preface

Print Media Monitoring is one of the core activities conducted under the Media Council of Tanzania’s annual work plans. It con- forms to the vision and mission of the Council, which was founded as a self-regulatory body with the express aim of creating an environment in which the media could contribute to the cre- ation of a more democratic and just society.

The Council’s role is essentially to evaluate the media fraternity’s professional and ethical performance as stipulated in the 2010 Code of Ethics for Media Professionals in Tanzania drawn up by MCT.

As a matter of routine, reports gathered from the monitoring process are shared out with stakeholders, including schools or fac- ulties of journalism and media practitioners. From a professional point of view, this is meant to make improvements in areas where there are problems with performance and consolidate areas where performance is good.

The core focus as far as media monitoring is concerned has been, and continues to be, on performance with regard to media ethics and press freedom.

The monitoring covers particular thematic areas, depending on circumstances, thus making the process change from time to time. During the period under review, MCT made daily monitoring of four more thematic areas: gender, corruption, the Constitution and court reporting.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 v Methodology

The monitoring involved reading newspaper articles critically and analyzing pictures and other illustrations, including cartoons. The findings were later posted to a special database from which to get statistical information for analysis.

The monitoring team used the descriptive qualitative research method to analyze the data collected during the period under review to determine the strengths or weaknesses therein and see how best to intervene for improved performance in the future.

The analysis of the data was guided by the need to see how the media fraternity adhered to the MCT’s 2010 Code of Ethics as well as similar codes drawn up by international media bodies to which Tanzania subscribes.

Among other things, in its coding activities, the monitoring team looked at how news stories, features and other journalistic pieces and illustrative material (photos, cartoons, etc.) in various issues of several Tanzanian newspapers were sourced and placed.

vi Media Council of Tanzania Abbreviations BAHAKITA – Baraza la Habari la Kiislamu Tanzania CBO’s – Community-Based Organizations CCM – Chama Cha Mapinduzi CHADEMA – Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo CRP – Constitution Review Process EJAT – Excellency in Journalism Awards Tanzania EAM – Ethics and Arbitration Manager EPAs – Economic Partnership Agreements ES – Executive Secretary EU – European Union FGM – Female Genital Mutilation ITV – Independent Television MCT - Media Council of Tanzania NGOs – Non-Governmental Organizations NMB – National Microfinance Bank PCCB - Prevention of Corruption and Control Bureau

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 vii viii Media Council of Tanzania Chapter One 1 Ethical Performance

This report covers the period between January 1 and June 30, 2013. It highlights the ethical lapses witnessed during the period under review, where the aspects most violated included presumption of innocence, identification of victims of sexual assaults. Also pervasive were cases of hate speech, which has been creeping steadily into the mainstream media as the country inches towards the 2014 local government elections and the General Election the following year. On a positive note, there was encouraging progress in the media in that apologies and corrections were published with much less hes- itation than previously. This is evidence of enhanced adherence to professional norms, which is a cornerstone of self-regulation. Presumption of innocence The period under review saw many manifestations of “trial by media”, with suspects condemned as criminals before those concerned defended themselves in competent courts of law. A total of 36 stories violated this cardinal rule, where one is regarded innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. Just for purposes of emphasis, it must be said that the media need to give all parties to an issue the chance to be heard. This is espe-

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 1 cially important in respect of contentious stories. It is anathema for the media to muzzle such freedom. There are numerous examples to illustrate this point. Nipashe of February 5, 2013 published a story headlined: Majambazi wavamia kanisa Dar, wapora mali (Bandits storm into Dar church, make away with property). The headline was judgmental in that it referred to the suspects as “bandits” while it was the work of the courts to say so – and even then only after having gone though evidence tendered in court. Likewise, Uhuru of May 16, 2013 carried a judgmental headline: Wanafunzi mbaroni kwa kuchoma bweni (Students held for torching dormitory). The headline ought to have run something like: Wanafunzi mbaroni kwa tuhuma za kuchoma bweni, meaning students arrested for allegedly torching dormitory. Editors and their subordinates might be doing it to lure readers; but it clearly amounts to shooting down the professional code of ethics of their own trade, which erodes the media’s very credibility. Identifying victims of sexual violence The monitoring team saw slight improvement on this score compared to the corresponding period last year. Five stories were found to have gone wrong between January and June 2012, but only four this time around. However, the team was alarmed seeing that the media fared more miserably during period under study than during the first six months of 2012 when no such story was captured. The media must therefore work extra hard and make sure that the identity of victims of whatever gender or age is protected as doing to the contrary can have consequences, including seeing the victims shunned or ostracized. Suffice it to say that, from the findings that, editors ought to be constantly reminded on the need to ensure they do not relapse into unprofessional or otherwise improper conduct. For example, the monitoring team came across a story in Tanzania Daima of February 28, 2013 that was accompanied by the picture of a mother of a molested child. That made it easy for people in the

2 Media Council of Tanzania neighbourhood to easily identify the victim. Editors are expected to plug all loopholes through which the identity of such people might be known. Captions Caption writing has, by all indications, grown into a chronic problem calling for prompt intervention. During the period under review, 26 pictures out 56 had problems relating to caption writing. There was however some improvement this time around compared to the corresponding period last year (January to June 2012), when the monitoring team came across 56 pictures with faulty captions. The situation improved during the 2012 second semi-annual when only 20 pictures had professional deficiencies. The Citizen of January 3, 2013 carried a picture of President Michael Sata of Zambia with the caption identifying him as General Edwin Matokwani, Head of Zambia Wildlife Authority, who was sacked over some “malpractice”. Tanzania Daima (Kiswahili daily newspaper) of February 14, 2013 meanwhile strangely published a picture with a caption in English! Uhuru of May 15, 2013 identified Infor- mation, Culture, Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Amos Makalla as Minister for Information, Culture, Youth and Sports. The list of such cases is long. Apology The period under review saw some media outlets showing professional maturity and adherence to self-regulation by publishing apologies and corrections where they had erred in earlier editions. Six apologies were published by different papers. This was eight fewer than during the corresponding period last year. The fall in the number of apologies might imply that editors had be- come keener in the handling of the pieces they published. The Citi- zen of January 5, 2013 ran a correction on the caption to the Michael Sata photo referred to above. Nipashe of February 14, 2013 corrected

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 3 a caption that had wrongly identified Sheikh Said Mwaipopo, Chairperson of the Muslim Information Council of Tanzania (BA- HAKITA), as Chairperson of Media Council of Tanzania (MCT). The Citizen of April 8, 2013 published an apology on the caption to a picture published on April 07, 2013 wrongly identifying the Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania as Ingunn Klepsvik. The fact was that the Swedish ambassador was Lennarth Hjelmaker, whereas Klepsvik was the Norwegian Ambassador to Tanzania and she was not at the EJAT gala night where the picture was taken. Sunday News of May 26, 2013 published a front page correction relating to Daily News of the previous day, which had run a front page story under the headline: EU under fire for unfair trade deals. This was meant to refer to Finland’s Europe Affairs and Foreign Trade Min- ister Alexander Stubb, who was quoted as having faulted Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs). The Finnish Ambassador was not happy with the reporting because Stubb had not commented on EPAs as such. Hate Speech Hate speech has of late slowly but surely started creeping into the mainstream media. The tide is in part triggered by the popularity of opposition party Chadema and factions of the ruling CCM. The im- pending local government elections (2014) and General Elections (2015) meanwhile further threaten to make the media take sides, which might be suicidal to the country. Eleven such “divisive” articles were monitored during the period under review, with the monitoring team anticipating more as the country moves towards the two elections. All these stories are han- dled without due regard for professionalism and observance of ethics, all obviously at the expense of national cohesion. With the media fraternity still mourning the deaths of journalists Daudi Mwangosi and Issa Ngumba, a political pullout in Mtanzania of May 15, 2013 ran a feature with a screaming headline: “Lukuvi

4 Media Council of Tanzania anajua siri ya mauaji ya Mwangosi”, suggesting that minister William Lukuvi had all details about Daudi Mwangosi’s murder. Sadly, the article had nothing substantive to show that was indeed the case. An article in Mtanzania of May 17, 2013 meanwhile accused senior local editors as “dangerous” in that they allegedly belonged to a ring of terrorists. Weekly Kiswahili tabloid Tazama Tanzania of May 7, 2013 had its share of culpable reporting when it carried a story with a headline likening Chadema to the Adolf Hitler dictatorship: Sura ya Hitler imeanza kuonekana Chadema. On the other hand, Uhuru newspaper ran an article headlined: Chadema kama Savimbi, suggesting that there were close similarities between Chadema and former Angola rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. Moreover, a section of media has consistently branded a particular political party as a group of terrorists. Such articles and several other monitored during the period amount to hate speech which if left unabated will plunge the country into chaos. Thanks to the initiative of the Media Council of Tanzania which the period under study or- ganized a high profile meeting which dwelt on the danger of hate speech and bigotry in the country. The Council which has been in the fore to make sure the media toe to the professional code of ethics and adhere to professionalism is finalizing Guidelines on how to report in volatile situations, such as are foreseen during the coming local government elections (2014) and General Elections (2015).

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 5 The graph below summarizes the media’s score in respect of ethical performance:

Rapid response media monitoring during January 01, to June 30, 2013

S/N Date Form of Violation Intervention Impact

1 Jan. 2, Caption not tallying Phone call to MCT monitoring team 2013 with picture. Tanzania Daima noted a technical error in Managing Edi- a caption to a picture in tor, Ansbert Issue No. 2953 of Tanzania Ngurumo Daima newspaper on page two. The picture showed an image of Msoga vil- lagers in Bagamoyo, Coast Region, view fire- works displayed to mark the arrival of the new year but its caption identified it as Mr. Said Arfi, Deputy Chairperson of Chadema, showing his party membership card to residents of Mpanda at a rally. The managing editor said they would run a correction in the subsequent issue, but no correction was made.

2 Jan. 3, Inaccurate caption Phone call to The MCT monitoring team 2013 that identified Zambia Citizen Managing noted the mischief in The

6 Media Council of Tanzania president as Head of Editor, Bakari Citizen of June 4. The pic- Zambia Wildlife Au- Machumu ture was that of President thority. Michael Satta of Zambia but the accompanying caption identified him as General Edwin Matok- wani, Head of Zambia Wildlife Authority, who was fired from work over some “malpractice”. The Citizen noted the error and ran a correction on Page 7 of the paper’s subsequent issue.

3 Jan. 5, Inaccurate caption Phone call to MCT Monitoring Unit 2013 that spell awfully Jambo Leo News noted a grave spelling Julius Kambarage Ny- Editor Julian mistake in a caption on erere and Nyerere Msacky page six of Jambo Leo. Square Julius Kambarage Ny- erere wrongly read Julius Kambalage Nyerere! “Ny- erere Square” was as awfully spelt. The News Editor has noted with concern and promised to attend to the matter.

4 Jan. 7, Identifying a victim of Phone call to MCT Monitoring Unit 2013 sexual violence Habari Leo Fea- noted a feature article on ture Editor, Sele- page 24 with the headline: man Nzaro Jinsi waathirika wa ubakaji wanavyohangaika kupata haki. The story identified the victim of sexual assault who also happened to be a minor aged six years by giving out her name, school and her domicile while the identity of the culprit was concealed. The Editor has noted with concern and promised to take up the matter.

5 Jan. 28. Technical error on Phone call to MCT Monitoring Unit 2013 caption Jambo Leo Chief noted a technical error in Editor, Anicetus a caption. The caption

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 7 Mwesa suggested that Mr. Philip Mangula was conducting fundraising at Tumaini University, whereas the picture was that of the Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, Dr. Fenella Mukangara, inspecting basketball teams prior to a match. The Chief Editor acknowledged the error and promised to make a correction but never took action.

6 Jan. 29, A grave spelling mis- Phone call to The MCT Monitoring 2013 take. Changamoto Man- Unit noted a grave aging Editor, spelling mistake. Jamila Abdallah Whereby there was a picture story that wrongly and consistently spelt Vis- tula as Fistula which might mislead a reader to think it was a new disease once again called Fistula. The Managing Editor noted with concern and promised to take up the matter.

7 Jan. 16, Identifying victim of Letter to The MCT Monitoring 2013 sexual offence. Mwananchi Unit noted a story on Managing Editor page eleven with the headline: Mwanamke alaw- itiwa, auawa kisha atupwa. We wrote a letter to Man- aging Editor on violation of Code of Ethics for Media Professionals that require victims of rape identity to be hidden. The professional lapse did not recur thereafter during the period under review.

8 Jan. 16, Identifying victim of Letter to Majira The MCT Monitoring 2013 sexual offence Managing Editor Unit noted a story on

8 Media Council of Tanzania page five headlined: Mba- roni akidaiwa kumbaka, kumlawiti mzazi mwenzake. We wrote a letter to Man- aging Editor on the violation of the Code of Ethics for Media Professionals, which requires media professionals to protect and conceal identities of sexual violence.

9 Feb. 14, technical error on a phone call to The caption was written 2013 caption Tanzania Daima in English while it was a Managing Edi- Kiswahili newspaper. The tor, Ansbert Managing Editor noted Ngurumo with concern and promised to make correction on the following issue. But there was no correction, although the problem did not occur during the period understudy.

10 Feb. 14, technical error on a Phone call to The caption identified 2013 caption Nipashe Manag- Sheikh Said Mwaipopo, ing Editor, Jesse Chairperson of The Mus- Kwayu lim Information Council of Tanzania (BAHAKITA) as Chairperson of Media Council of Tanzania (MCT). The Managing Editor noted with concern and promised to make correction on the following issue of which he did.

11 April 25, Technical error on Phone call to The caption is talking 2013 caption Jambo Leo Man- about masons building a aging Editor, An- new market at Mkuyuni icetus Mwesa in Morogoro whereas the picture showed an NMB Bank officer shaking hands with secondary school students after do- nating desks to their school. The managing editor noted with concern,

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 9 no correction was made but no such mischief happened during the period under review.

12 April 9, Violating children’s Phone call to ITV Habari za saa news up- 2013 rights News Coordina- date programme showed tor, Stephen images of children living Chuwa in difficult conditions without concealing their faces, contrary to MCT’s Media Guidelines on reporting children. Re- porters are required to protect the identity of children when reporting on sensitive issues that may lead to their identification and always to ensure their safety and privacy whether as victims, witnesses or offend- ers. The News Coordinator noted the error with concern.

13 April 07, Technical error in cap- Phone call to The A caption of a picture 2013 tion Citizen Managing published on his edition Editor, Mr. of April 07, 2013 which Bakari Machumu wrongly identified the Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania as Ingunn Klepsvik. The Swedish ambassador is Lennarth Hjelmaker, whereas the Klepsvik is the Norwe- gian ambassador to Tan- zania and she was not at the EJAT gala night where the picture was taken. The said picture showed Swedish Ambas- sador Mr. Lennarth Hjel- maker presenting a trophy and certificate to Florence Majani, one of the EJAT winners at the function held on April 05, 2013 at Diamond Jubilee

10 Media Council of Tanzania Hall in Dar es Salaam. Mr. Machumu promised to rectify the anomaly, which he did on Monday, April 08, 2013 edition. Further, EAM called Machumu to register the Council’s appreciation for publishing a correction which showed professionalism and maturity.

14 May 27, Inaccuracy ES made a phone Daily News of Saturday, 2013 call to Daily News May 25, 2013 Issue No. acting Managing 1727 on its front page Editor published a story under the headline: EU under fire for unfair trade deals pur- ported to quote Finland’s Europe Affairs and For- eign Trade Minister Alexander Stubb to have criticized the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The minister was dis- turbed with the misre- porting and shared sentiments with Norwe- gian ambassador in Tan- zania, who in turn called MCT to register the minister’s concern because he did not utter a word or comment on EPAs as such. The story wrongly gave the impression that Fin- land’s European Affairs and Foreign Trade Minis- ter Alexander Stubb during Uongozi Institute Round Table in Dar es Salaam joined a bulk of participants in criticizing the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The MCT Executive Secretary acted swiftly following

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 11 the complaints and spoke to the Daily News acting Managing Editor, who apart from conceding that there were professional sloppy on the story promised to correct it immedi- ately which he did. A correction on the matter was published on the front page of Sunday News of May 26, 2013. The ES called the acting Manag- ing Editor to acknowl- edge the professional maturity shown by the paper.

15 June 28, identifying victim of phone call to A story identified a victim 2013 sexual assaults Jambo Leo Man- of sexual assaults and aging Editor, An- used explicit language icetus Mwesa about the act which is against the MCT Code of Ethics for Media Profes- sionals. The Managing Editor noted with concern.

12 Media Council of Tanzania Appendix: Sampled articles on ethical conduct

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 13 14 Media Council of Tanzania Chapter Two 2 Gender Reporting

The monitoring team came across a total of 264 stories on gender-related issues, focusing mainly on gender based violence, female genital mutilation, reproductive health, women empowerment, health, girls’ education, inheritance law, pregnancy precautions, homosexuality and male circumcision. The figure below summarizes how each category fared:

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 15 Gender-Based Violence During the period under review, 111 stories on gender-based violence were recorded. Most of the stories adhered to the Code of Ethics for Media Professionals that is truth, fairness and accuracy except for a few sexual violence stories that disclosed identities of victims. Out of the whole pack, 55 stories were fairly balanced, but 56 oth- ers relied on single source each. The sources were predominantly government officials, activists, magistrates and judges, whereas voices of ordinary people were marginalised. Gender transformative stories totalled 94, with the remaining 17 gender-blind. The rural-urban imbalance was clear during the period under review, with urban coverage enjoying the lion’s share – 104 stories out of 111. So, only seven articles directly covered the rural areas. The coverage was in hard news (76), features (20), article (1), editorial (1), cartoon (1) and pictures/photos (4). As indicated, most pieces were transformative. They revolved around the root causes of gender violence in society, its impact and how to overcome it. Unfortunately, for the entire period under review, there were hardly any investigative articles; rather, most were one-off stories. It was also noted that some sections of the media grossly violated basic tenets of reporting gender-related matters despite several in- terventions by MCT to make sure the issues were reported correctly and fairly in order to minimize harm to victims. The monitoring team came across several classical examples of fail- ure to observe the ethical code of conduct, one being a story in Habari Leo of January 7, 2013 headlined: Jinsi waathirika wa ubakaji wanavyohangaika kupata haki (The ordeals rape victims go through seeking justice). The story explicitly identified the victim of sexual assault, who happened to be a minor six years old, and how it was

16 Media Council of Tanzania difficult for the victims generally to get their rights. Very strangely, it was the identity of the culprit that was concealed. Female Genital Mutilation During the period under review, seven stories were gathered and scrutinized. All stories were treated fairly and bore most basic ele- ments of news: truth, accuracy and fairness. However, only three were balanced. The sources of information were government officials, activists and ordinary people. Six of the stories focused on urban coverage, while only one was rural-focused. The stories were gender-transformative. They discouraged FGM by showing its catastrophic consequences while also recommending a solution to the hugely detested practice. The Citizen of January 14, 2013 carried a story headlined: “Female cut must be stopped”. The story detailed the ritual by pointing out the dangers women who have undergone FGM might experience during childbirth. Apart from exposing women to physiological suffering, the ritual has psy- chological problems. The said article said the practice, which is deep rooted, might continue for quite some time notwithstanding the existence of legisla- tion meant to serve as a deterrent. It said this is chiefly owing to pervasive corruption among local leaders and the fact that many people where the ‘cut’ is practised are reluctant to cooperate with law-enforcement agents and courts of law often for fear of reprisals at community level. Further, the ritual is an economic activity and has to do with social status and recognition in society. This story originated from the rural areas and several voices were included in the article. Reproductive Health At least 37 articles scrutinized during the period under review focused on reproductive health, with 25 balanced and each of the remaining 12 relying on single sources. Government officials were the most frequently quoted, followed by activists; the voices of ordi-

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 17 nary people, who form the bulk of the population, were hardly heard. While reproductive health recorded slightly good coverage during the period under review in terms of quantity, the MCT monitoring team noticed that very few features and op-eds were well written. Letters to editors also featured this time around, indicating that people needed more information on reproductive health. Letters to editor serve as important feedback from the audience. The rural-urban imbalance was clearly seen during the period under review, with only six out of 37 articles coming from rural areas. Urban areas enjoyed the lion’s share by bagging 31 stories. Apart from this imbalance, all stories except two were transformative. The stories raised alarm on the rise in the maternal mortality rate, its impact on the society and the best ways to tackle the problem. Among other things, the articles called for an inclusive public education on reproductive health by involving men as well. Nipashe of January 16, 2013 carried an illuminating story headlined: Wajawazito wengi wafa kwa kujifungulia nyumbani. According to the story, poor delivery services made a big number of expectant moth- ers deliver at home with the help of traditional birth attendants. Uhuru of the same day carried a report about one district having succeeded in reducing maternal mortality rate. The stories were transformative indeed because they dwelt on how to overcome an endemic problem. Women Empowerment There were 52 articles on women empowerment, with sources of information ranging from government officials to ordinary people from the streets and rural settings. As always, sadly, most of the stories were obtained from seminars, press conferences, workshops, etc., and single sourcing was notoriously pervasive. The majority of stories were one-offs, thus lacking follow-ups, evidence of investigative effort or analysis.

18 Media Council of Tanzania The rural-urban imbalance was once again noticeable here, with 50 out of 52 articles sourced from urban areas. Additionally, 48 stories were transformative and only four gender-blind. The stories dwelt on women development and economic emancipation by tracing the historical roots of women’s underdevelopment. Health There were 17 stories on health issues, of which only six were balanced. This is an anomaly calling for an urgent remedy. Most sources of information were activists, experts and government officials. All stories were transformative except one. The Guardian of January of 11, 2013 published a feature article headlined: “Cancer versus man: Who’s winning?” It revolved around a reported increase in the incidence of cancer cases. It was an informative and well written feature. Girls’ Education Coverage on girls’ education was worryingly scant despite a government commitment to offer both girls and boys equal access to education. Only six stories were covered during the six-month period. One good thing is that all stories were balanced and transformative except for one. Five stories came from urban areas, with the government’s voice dominating the coverage. The MCT monitoring team sampled one story reported by Sema Usikike of January 7, 2013, headlined: Takwimu za mabinti wanaokatisha masomo Lindi zinatisha (Shocking statistics on girls drop- ping out of school in Lindi) It was a rural story that was transformative. It is, however unfortunate, that it had only one source. Inheritance law Inheritance in Tanzania is still a thorny issue, which is why MCT decided to monitor it to see how the media commonly covers it, es- pecially in that it directly (often negatively) affects widows and or-

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 19 phans. The monitoring team came across five stories on inheritance law. The stories were balanced and informative and this could be attested to by Jambo Leo newspaper of January 16, 2013, which carried a story headlined: Wanawake wataka sheria ya kuwabana wanaume (Women call for enactment of law restraining men so as to ensure protection of survivors when a husband dies). Pregnancy Precaution Only two stories were published, both cautioning school girls against early pregnancies lest they risk their education and thwart their social and economic development and that of their families and the nation at large. The stories were transformative and exposed teachers who were involved in illicit relations with their students. For instance, Tanzania Daima of April 3, 2013 carried a story headlined: Mwalimu adaiwa kuwatia mimba wanafunzi wawili (Teacher al- leged to have impregnated two school girls). The two stories captured during the period under study also heaped blame on parents who prevented the law from taking its course by colluding with people who had impregnated their children. Sadly, both had single sources, one quoting an activist and the other relying on a government official. Homosexuality Homosexuality is anathema in Tanzania and is scarcely discussed in the open and is hardly reported. However, during the period under study Hoja of May 24, 2013 carried an article on homosexuality, headlined: Ushoga ni janga, upigwe vita (Homosexuality is a disaster and must be fought). It was a well written feature discouraging homosexuality. It was transformative and originated from urban sources. The source of information was a government official. Too bad, the reporter locked out the voices of ordinary people and stressed the dictates of the government as if the ordinary people on streets did not exist.

20 Media Council of Tanzania Quantitative Analysis Urban/ Rural categorization The urban-rural imbalance coverage during the period under study was glaring with 94 per cent of all stories during the time originat- ing from urban areas. However, there was an improvement of 13 per cent compared to a corresponding period last year. The extent of the imbalance varies from one media outlet to another, but the major reason for the situation is economic: most media houses can- not afford dispatching their own journalists to rural and peripheral areas.

Gender transformative or gender blind? During the period under review, gender transformative stories accounted for 89 per cent of the total, equivalent to 234 stories, while gender-blind stories accounted for 11 per cent (equivalent to 30 stories). Transformative articles on gender-related issues slid by six per cent compared to the corresponding period last year. This means that media outlets ought to work harder to ensure greater promi- nence for gender equality in society, which is one of its noble obli- gations.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 21 Types of articles Coverage on gender-related issues was in the form of hard news, which accounted for 63 per cent of all articles, while feature articles accounted for 27 per cent. Pictures accounted for five per cent, followed by editorials, columns, cartoons and op-eds at two per cent. Profiles and letters to editors accounted for a paltry one per cent of the total.

22 Media Council of Tanzania Sources Sources of published articles were diverse. Human rights crusaders stole the show by accounting for 44 per cent equivalent to 115 articles; 109 stories, equivalent to 41 per cent, quoted government officials as sources. Ordinary people accounted for only 11 per cent, equal to 30 stories, under this category.

Single vs Multiple Sourcing Single sourcing of articles during the period under study was noticeable. It showed that editors did not make enough efforts to give voice to more people affected by respective articles. Only 74 articles, equivalent to 24 per cent of the total, had multiple sources while the remaining 190 articles were based on single sources.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 23 Page Placement A paltry six per cent of articles on gender-related issues appeared on the front page, with 68 per cent of the total run from page six to subsequent pages. There was however an improvement compared to the corresponding period last year, when the front pages carried only four per cent of all stories that saw the light of day and those published on page six and subsequent pages accounted for 64 per cent.

24 Media Council of Tanzania Appendix: Sampled stories on gender

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 25 26 Media Council of Tanzania Chapter Three 3 Corruption Reporting

Qualitative analysis During the period under review, the monitoring team noticed improvement in the quality of coverage on corruption and corrupt practices in the country. The coverage extended from political, social and economic settings right into the corridors of government offices and its agencies. The media were awash with reports about colossal amounts of ill-gotten money allegedly stashed in foreign bank accounts by highly placed public officials. Cases of corruption in social service delivery also featured prominently in the media. The articles were well argued. The Citizen and Daily News of February 14, 2013 and March 3, 2013, respectively, ran stories recommending that the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) have its own court where all cases related to corruption would be tried in order to expedite their administration. The papers said corruption cases were mov- ing at a snail’s pace, which most people interpreted as evidence that the government was not serious about ending the malady. Mwananchi of May 2, 2013 carried a story with a headline running thus: “Haya yafanyike kupambana na rushwa”, recommending mech- anisms to end corruption in the country. The story said the practice

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 27 denied people a number of basic rights. It appealed for concerted efforts by all to end corruption because the practice fuelled poverty and underdevelopment. The period under review saw a number of people, including government officials, arraigned in various courts of laws in connection with corruption or abuse of office. PCCB was on several occasions quoted as saying it was investigating allegations facing a number of senior government officials and their cases would be taken to court with minimum delay. This means that, given enough substantive evidence to support the cases, the media should be awash with massive coverage on the same in the upcoming semi-annual report. During this period under review, 22 (all but four published in Kiswahili) newspapers were scrutinized in connection with their coverage of developments relating to corruption. Most articles in the four English-language publications focused on debates about corruption and court cases. A total of 237 articles were scrutinized. Balance and fairness Out of all 237 articles on corruption captured during the period under review, 97 per cent passed the fairness and balance tests. They gave all parties to the articles the right of reply, which pointed to remarkable improvement in adherence to the code of professional ethics. The momentum ought to be sustained and even enhanced. Truth and accuracy The articles published during the period under review fulfilled the objectivity requirement. This could be attested to by an article in Mwananchi of January 21, 2013, which dwelt at length on corrupt practices relating to land issues brought in court and how ordinary people had to grease the hands of magistrates to retain ownership of pieces of land that were rightfully theirs in the first place. One of the stories originated from Korogwe, and was headlined: “Ma- hakama ya Ardhi Korogwe lawamani kwa kuomba rushwa” (Lands Court

28 Media Council of Tanzania faulted in Korogwe over soliciting bribe. The Citizen of February 7, 2013 ran a critical article headlined: “PCCB wants gas law to ensure transparency”. It called for total transparency in government dealings as a way of ending grand corruption. It cited the recent discoveries of natural gas and possibly petroleum, arguing that gas and oil policies and laws should be as transparent as possible and that the investors should be compelled to give information whenever necessary. News type The pie chart below shows that 73 per cent of the pieces were hard news and 13 per cent were feature articles. Op-eds, letters to the editor, editorials, cartoons and columns accounted for only 14 per cent of the total.

Sources The majority of articles published were based on workshops, press conferences and government utterances. Out of 237 articles on corruption captured and scrutinized during the period under review, 64 per cent had single sources and the rest were multi-sourced. The media must do more in order to reach more people, thus ensuring

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 29 wider coverage and have greater impact in fighting the scourge. The pie chart below says it all:

Length of the stories The monitoring team also looked on the length of articles published during the period under review. A short article was categorized as having up to eight paragraphs, a medium-length one up to 19 paragraphs and a long one 20 or more paragraphs. The pie chart below has the details:

30 Media Council of Tanzania Coverage areas The rural–urban imbalance narrowed where 56 per cent of the total stories (237) on corruption came from urban with the remaining (44 per cent) being sourced from rural. This is an encouraging situation but strongly indicated that corruption was growing deeper and stronger roots in rural areas as well. Page placement While 37.6 per cent of 237 items on corruption were covered from pages two to five, 28.3 per cent of the total appeared on pages six to ten, 20 per cent went to other pages, 12 per cent were given front page status, and 2.52 per cent were accorded centre spread pullout treatment or stand-alone inserts, as shown in the pie chart below:

Quantitative Analysis Kiswahili newspapers A total of 196 stories on corruption were monitored in 18 Kiswahili newspapers, which is equivalent to 83 per cent of the total. This is summarized in the table below, the bar graph showing the number of Kiswahili newspapers and the number of the stories published.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 31 English-language dailies A total of 41 stories on corruption were published in English-language newspapers, which is equivalent to 17 per cent of the total covered during the period under review.

32 Media Council of Tanzania Appendix: Sampled stories on Corruption

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 33 34 Media Council of Tanzania Chapter Four 4 Court Reporting

The quality of articles on proceedings in courts of law showed sub- stantial improvement this time around in both Kiswahili and Eng- lish-language newspapers. A total of 1,344 articles were captured, where nine per cent revolved around Islamic Institute of Tanzania Secretary General Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, who was arraigned before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam. Sheikh Ponda apart, the media gave massive coverage to the case facing actress Elizabeth Michael alias Lulu, who is facing a manslaughter charge for allegedly killing actor Steven Kanumba sometime in 2012. Another case that enjoyed massive coverage during the period under review was that of the Defence and Security Director of Tanzania’s major opposition party, Chadema, Wilfred Lwakatare. He was initially charged with terrorism, but this was later quashed by the High court. Ponda, Lulu and Lwakatare are popular and prominent and not surprisingly their cases attracted massive media coverage – leading to rises in circulation figures. Judgmental Headlines “Trial by media” does not want to go despite a number of inter- ventions where editors defiantly usurp the powers of courts of law by using judgmental headlines. This could be attested to by sam-

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 35 pled stories from Habari Leo of January 16, 2013, which came up with the headline: Diwani Chadema kortini kwa kupachika mimba mwanafunzi (Chadema councillor in court for impregnating student), whereas Uhuru of the same day wrote: Diwani kortini kwa kubaka (Councillor in court for rape). Mwananchi January 16, 2013 had its share by coming up with a story headlined: Kizimbani kwa wizi wa hundi (Arraigned over theft of cheque). The sampled stories show the magnitude of violations of a cardinal rule, under which one is presumed innocent until proved otherwise by a competent court of law. Gender-based violence As shown earlier, 1,344 articles on court reporting were captured during the period under review. Six per cent of the total were stories on gender violence, mainly affecting women and minors. The MCT monitoring team is of the view that gender violence remains a serious problem, only that now the matter is being reported on and cases taken to court more often than previously – but the media must do more. Some sampled stories of gender violence appeared in Mwananchi of January 15, 2013: Kortini akidaiwa kumshambulia mama yake (One in court charged with assaulting his mother); Nipashe of January 21, 2013: Jela maisha kwa kulawiti mtoto (One jailed for life for defiling minor); and Habari Leo of March 7, 2013: Afungwa maisha kwa kumlawiti mwanafunzi (One jailed for life for having unnatural sex with student). Access to courts During the period under review, only two papers covered stories on journalists denied access to courts to cover the Lwakatare case. Mwananchi of April 16, 2013 reported: Waandishi wapigwa ‘stop’ kesi ya Lwakatare, while Tanzania Daima of the same date reported: Lwakatare asikilizwa mafichoni (Lwakatare speaks from a hide-out). This is not unacceptable because it curtails press freedom, a funda-

36 Media Council of Tanzania mental human right in that the people need to be informed on what is happening around them without let or hindrance. Truth and accuracy There was no serious mischief during the period under review. Most articles were accurate and balanced. But there was a serious problem with respect to headlines, most of which were judgmental. In its concerted effort to improve court reporting, MCT has com- piled excellent guidelines on the matter and has been conducting tailor-made training on court reporting. It is clear, though, that more training is needed. Backgrounding of stories All stories covered during the time had ample background information which would, in the view of the monitoring team, be enough to enable even a first-time reader to follow particular news stories. For example, cases at resident magistrate’s courts involving Lwakatare, Sheikh Ponda and Lulu as well as the Court of Appeal case by since-reinstated Sumbawanga legislator Aeshi Hilary (CCM) were always rich in background. This made it easy for even first-time readers to be acquainted with the story. Contempt of court During the period under review, no reporter or media house was censured by any court of law for putting it into disrepute. Sources Articles emanating from courts revolve around judges, magistrates, prosecutors, defence counsel, attorneys and witnesses. During the period under review, judges and magistrates stole the show: they were sourced in 65 per cent of all the stories scrutinized by the MCT monitoring team.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 37 Photographs Photographs taken from courts during the period under review adhered to MCT ethical code of professionals as apply to photojour- nalists, thus steering clear of the wrath of courts of law. A total of 124 pictures were captured, most of them on Sheikh Ponda, Lwakatare and Lulu. Pictures of Godbless Lema dominated the media when he won his appeal at the Court of Appeal and was reinstated as Member of Parliament for Arusha Urban constituency. Coverage areas The rural-urban imbalance, which has a long history, calls for urgent redress. Out 1344 court stories monitored during this period, 92 per cent originated from urban areas. The reason is simple: all tiers of courts are based in urban whereas the rural has only primary courts which during the time understudy constituted eight per cent. Page placement Twenty per cent of the 1,344 court stories published appeared on the front page, 38 per cent featured on pages 2, 3, 4 and 5, and the remaining 42 per cent on other pages.

Quantitative analysis Kiswahili newspapers During the period under review, 12 Kiswahili newspapers were monitored. Out of 1,344 court stories published, these papers ran 1231 stories – equivalent to 92 per cent of all stories monitored from January to June, 2013. The coverage of court stories showed an increase of 55 per cent compared to the number published during the first half of 2012 period – 1,074. The figure below summarizes the scenario:

38 Media Council of Tanzania English-language dailies Four English-language newspapers were monitored, this time the number having risen by 65 per cent compared to the same period last year (January-June 2012) when there were 113 court articles. The details are as presented in this chart:

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 39 Appendix: Sampled articles on court reporting

40 Media Council of Tanzania Chapter Five 5 Constitution Reporting

Introduction Since the onset of Constitution Review Process in 2012, the MCT monitoring team has been doing regular monitoring on Constitu- tion stories, chiefly to see how the media report the process and if they do so within the ambit of the MCT code of conduct or any other professional guidelines. This report encapsulates the findings of the MCT team that monitored the mainstream print media published between January 1 and June 30, 2013. As usual, though it is by no means a positive trend, government officials and political parties and rights activists were once again the major sources of news and information during the period under review. Scope During the period under review, the monitoring team came across 679 articles. The newspapers and respective numbers of monitored stories appear in the two graphs below:

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 41 English-Language Newspapers

Kiswahili Newspapers

42 Media Council of Tanzania Coverage Findings during the time showed that matters of national nature had a lion share of 390 articles, equivalent to 57.43 per cent, whereas articles with rural leanings constituted 89 articles which is equivalent to 13.10 per cent and urban on the other hand carted home 200 articles which are equivalent to 29.45 per cent. Pie chart

Types There are some visible similarities in the patterns of presentation between this period understudy and the 2012 second semi-annual (July-December). Findings show that hard news dominated the stage, followed by feature articles and then editorials. Hard news accounted for 258 items out of 679 monitored stories, equal to 38 per cent, while July-December 2012 had 137 (or 54 per cent) out of 254 stories.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 43 Features accounted for 31 per cent of all the items scrutinized, with editorial comments accounting for 8 per cent, and columns, letters to the editor, op-eds, vox populi, profiles, cartoons, pictures and supplements constituting the remaining 61 per cent. Types of articles

Length In scrutinizing articles published, the monitoring team also deter- mined length. Most – 446 (or 65.68 per cent) of the 679 – articles were short, measuring no more than eight paragraphs. Medium-length articles of nine to 19 paragraphs totalled 190 (7.98 per cent), and longer stories of at least 20 paragraphs numbered 43 (or 6.33 per cent of the total). Page Placement Although issues relating to the Constitution are considered espe- cially critical in that they have a direct bearing on the destiny of the country and the people, only a paltry 67 (equivalent to 9.86 per cent) touching on the matter made the front page, while 180 were placed in pages two to five and 190 on pages six to ten,. The rest appeared in centre spreads and pull-outs, as shown in the figure below:

44 Media Council of Tanzania Sources Government officials led the pack as the biggest source of constitution articles during the period under review, boasting 171 out of 679 stories. This indicates that media houses still subscribe to the traditional concept where “big names make news”. This is what happened in the previous semi-annual study findings, where government officials also stole the show by bagging 75 out of 254 monitored then. The table below summarizes the distribution of sources. Source distribution:

Source Number of stories Per cent Government officials 171 25.18 Ordinary people 65 9.57 Political parties 100 14.72 Religious leaders 8 1.17 Activists 41 6.03 Experts 55 8.10 NGOs 39 5.74 CBOs 8 1.17

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 45 Media houses & journalists 138 20.32 Unclear 7 1.03 Interested groups 14 2.06 Press Conferences 9 1.32 Seminars 4 0.58 Government authorities 4 0.58 International Organizations 9 1.32 Document/Guidelines 7 1.03 TOTAL 679 100.0

Themes News stories or articles on the Constitution fell under four cate- gories: Union, Natural Resources, Constitution Review Process (CRP) and Governance. The monitoring captured 349 stories on CRP, 153 on natural resources, 88 on governance and the Union, as illustrated in this bar graph:

46 Media Council of Tanzania Constitutional Review Process (CRP) These are stories that reported matters relating to the entire review of the Constitution of Tanzania, which went under way from 2012. CRP is therefore considered a core theme. It was the subject of 349 of the 679 stories monitored, which was equivalent to 51.5 per cent. Some sampled stories under this theme were carried by Tanzania Daima of June 26, 2013, headlined: “Uchambuzi wa Sumaye kuhusu katiba mpya” (Former Prime Minister Sumaye’s analysis of the pro- posed Constitution of Tanzania); The Guardian on Sunday of May 5 - 11, 2013, with a story warning that if people’s views were disre- garded there was a danger of the Union breaking up; and Mwananchi of February 17, 2013, with a whole pull-out on constitutional reform including a piece headlined: “Walemavu: Mchakato wa Katiba Mpya umetusahau” (People with disabilities say Constitutional Review has sidelined them). Natural Resources Natural resources were picked as a theme for the monitoring team to assess because they have great significance in the people’s daily lives and will continue to do so for generations to come. The table below illustrates the comparative coverage:

Natural Resources Number of stories Per cent Land 39 26.2 Ocean, lakes and rivers 12 8.0 Minerals 10 6.3 Forests 6 4.0 Environment 17 11.4 Natural gas 60 40.3 Game reserves 9 5.4 TOTAL 153 100.0

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 47 Union A total of 88 articles revolved around Union matters; 62 were hard news and event-based while the remaining were opinions and an- alytical pieces. Some of the sampled hard news and analyses appeared in Mtanzania on June 19, 2013 and Nipashe of June 26, 2013 headlined, respectively: “Athari za kuvunja Muungano ni kubwa” (Break-up of the Union will have serious implications) and “Serikali tatu zitatusambaratisha – Prof. Shivji” (Going for three-government system will see us fall apart – Prof. Shivji). Governance Governance as a theme comprised human and other rights, government procurement and contracts, and leadership ethics. There was remarkable improvement on this score: 88 articles were scrutinized during the period as opposed to 38 during the period between July and December 2012. Out of the lot, 14 articles related to human and other rights and four were on government procurement and contracts. The monitoring sample story on procurement and contracts was from Nipashe of January 14, 2013, headlined: Wataka mkataba wa Buzwagi urejewe upya wanufaike nao (They want the Buzwagi mining contract reviewed for their own selfish ends). Recommendations Comparative analysis showed greater changes between findings in this period understudy and that of July to December 2012 in terms of number of stories that were reported. This means some recommendations made in the earlier findings urging media houses to take a leading role in informing the population in the constitution making process has started yielding results. The media still can do more if they: • desist from the culture of standing as mere mouthpieces of government officials and political parties or individual politicians.

48 Media Council of Tanzania • Demand that the government and its officials enter into only those contracts sure to benefit both investors and Tanzanians and involve residents in the respective places, thus avoiding needless wrangles. Conclusion On the whole, the Tanzanian media have played their role reason- ably well by reporting positively about the Constitutional Review Process (CRP). A total of 529 stories (or 77.90 per cent) out of 679 were progressive in that they contributed positively to the process. The remaining 150 (22.09 per cent) out of the 679 monitored were neither positive nor negative.

Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 49 Appendix: Sampled articles on Constitutional Reporting

50 Media Council of Tanzania Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 51 52 Media Council of Tanzania Print Media Monitoring Report: January - June 2013 53 54 Media Council of Tanzania