CHAPTER THREE

Abstract

This is a study of both media texts and contexts. First, the research focuses on media representation of national elections in Zimbabwe during a 24-year long, multi-faceted transition. This is done through a predominantly qualitative content analysis of selected media texts. Particular focus is paid to editorial comments during the first two ‘transitions’, i.e., during the first and partly second decades of independence. The selection of editorial comments stems from the fact that these are a significant reflection of the official editorial position(s) adopted by a newspaper on a particular topic, and is often reflected in news and other genres. In the ‘third’ transition, however, the analysis broadens to include front page news stories. This was necessitated by the fact that this period, which is covered by Chapters Six to Eight, was the most intensely politically contested, with the press becoming—more than ever before—sites where the contestation played itself out.