A study of Radio Zimbabwe’s messages and audiences in a time of crisis Selina Linda Mudavanhu MDVSEL001 Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department of Film and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN Supervisor: Dr Wallace Chuma August 2014 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town Dedication In loving memory of my mother, Mhamha Charity Rushesha Mudavanhu, and my brother, Mkoma Lenny, Leonard Mudavanhu, who passed away when I was in the middle of writing this thesis (the former on the 22nd of September 2012 and the latter on the 11th of December 2013). May your souls continue to rest in peace, I love you both deeply! ii Table of Contents Dedication .................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... ix Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................. x Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Gaps in existing literature and contributions this study makes ................................................................. 3 Why focus on radio during a crisis?.......................................................................................................... 6 Why focus on rural women? ..................................................................................................................... 7 The contextual landscape of the study ...................................................................................................... 7 Broadcasting context in Zimbabwe......................................................................................................... 12 Radio Zimbabwe ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Structure of the thesis .............................................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................ 18 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 18 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................................... 18 The Propaganda Model ....................................................................................................................... 18 Gramsci and Hegemony ...................................................................................................................... 20 Media, Power and Hegemony ............................................................................................................. 21 Analysing audiences: the critical audience research perspective ........................................................ 32 The relevance of poststructuralist approaches to analysing Radio Zimbabwe and its audiences ....... 34 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 3: Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 39 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 39 Literature Review: Radio ........................................................................................................................ 40 Radio in Africa .................................................................................................................................... 40 Radio Studies in Zimbabwe ................................................................................................................ 52 Radio and the sociology of everyday life ............................................................................................ 56 Literature Review: The Media and Crises in Zimbabwe ........................................................................ 61 The Liberation War and pre-1980 media discourses .......................................................................... 62 Mediating Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe ................................................................................................ 66 Literature on the media’s representations of the post-2000 crisis ....................................................... 68 iii The land and the elections in print media news .................................................................................. 69 Depictions of the post-2000 crisis in Zimbabwe in the international media ....................................... 75 Zimbabwe’s crises, the media and their audiences ............................................................................. 78 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 80 Chapter 4: Methodology and Research Design ...................................................................................... 81 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 81 Qualitative research methodology .......................................................................................................... 81 Limitations of the qualitative methodology ........................................................................................ 83 Feminist research practice ....................................................................................................................... 83 Insider/Outsider status ............................................................................................................................ 85 Data Collection ....................................................................................................................................... 87 Researching Radio Zimbabwe broadcasts .......................................................................................... 87 Conducting research in a rural village in a time of political and economic volatility ........................ 88 Negotiating entry into the field ........................................................................................................... 88 Interviewing the women...................................................................................................................... 91 Selecting interviewees: Purposive sampling ....................................................................................... 92 Semi-structured interviews ................................................................................................................. 93 Field notes ........................................................................................................................................... 94 Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 95 Analysing Radio Zimbabwe texts ....................................................................................................... 96 Analysing the interviews with the women .......................................................................................... 97 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 98 Chapter 5: Dominant Discourses: The Land & the Liberation Struggle ............................................ 99 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 99 Radio Zimbabwe presenters: ‘objective’ facilitators of discussion or political activists? .................... 101 Radio Zimbabwe discourses ................................................................................................................. 102 Our land (Ivhu redu) ............................................................................................................................. 102 “Our God gave us an inheritance, our land is our inheritance” (“Mwari wedu wakatipa nhaka, ivhu redu inhaka yedu”) ........................................................................................................................... 103 Politicising the land: