THE PROPAGANDA MODEL AND THE MEDIATION OF THE LAND QUESTION IN ZIMBABWE

Abstract

This article critiques the mediation of the Zimbabwean land reform programme in the period 2000–2010 by both the state-controlled and the privately-owned press. Its thrust is to establish the framing patterns that emerge and relate these to Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. The bold claim by Herman and Chomsky that the media, particularly in the West, pander to the whims of the powerful political and pro-capital elites is explored. Using a qualitative case study approach, data for this study were collected from four Zimbabwean Weeklies, namely The Sunday News and The Sunday Mail, which are stateowned, and The Independent and The Standard, which are privately-owned. News stories on the land reform programme drawn from these weeklies over the 10 year focus period are analysed with the view to ascertaining the tenability of the Propaganda Model. Using the tenets of the Propaganda Model and critical discourse analysis, the study exposes the polemical representations of the land issue by the press. The emerging polemics are attributed to the overbearing influence of ideology, ownership, corporate pro-capital interests and biased source selection. However, the tripartite alliance which the propaganda model claims as existing among government, capitalists and media owners comes unstuck in the Zimbabwean media-scape. There is evidently a fractious relationship between state media and private media in Zimbabwe. The political and economic contestation of power in the nation manifests in the press. It is quite clear from the findings of this study that there is still need for a model that comprehensively attempts to capture the role of the press and its place in Africa.