Editorial Comment: Horrified by ‘the journalism’ than the smudge Itai Dzamara
Itai Dzamara

Itai Dzamara

Since Itai Dzamara allegedly went missing in March last year, we have tried to be as cautious as possible not to bandy his name about recklessly. This is all out of compassion and empathy with his wife and innocent kids who are obviously in pain and desperate for answers. We are human too and occasionally suffer losses.

Secondly, we believe the authorities are doing whatever is in their power and resources to account for Dzamara’s whereabouts. We are not going to join the bandwagon of those whose conclusions are driven by ulterior agendas which have nothing to do with the interests of the affected family.

Thirdly, the shamelessly political reporting on the Dzamara misfortune, with its single-minded accusation of Zanu-PF and the Government, inadvertently or by design, gives cover to any forces with a nefarious agenda who might have abducted Itai, to do whatever they want with him while the nation blames the authorities.

And the private media has been complicit in propping that decoy, so long as they can spite the ruling party. This is insensitive to the immediate Dzamara family and against the spirit of Ubuntu/hunhu and so shameful.

Yet yesterday gutter journalism in this country hit a new low even by its own very ignoble standards, when two private dailies showed us a grainy, barely discernible smudge on their front pages which they called a “harrowing picture” of Dzamara under captivity by State security agents. Zimbabweans who were buying the early morning papers and had not yet seen the “picture” were described as shocked, horrified and angry to see it.

That’s how ridiculous freedom of expression can get. Patson, Itai’s younger brother, reportedly revealed the “picture” from hell to journalists at a press conference in Harare. There were reporters ready to feast on it so long as they could discredit Zanu-PF, the alleged culprits. No clue of who originated the “picture” with a masked face the papers claimed were “bandages”.

Having made up their story and seeking to give it substance, the two papers tried to bring in the voices of Zanu-PF and the police. Zanu-PF spokesman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo had a ready rebuttal: he asked how a whole political party could be responsible for the whereabouts of one person. Of Patson, he said: “If he knows who did it, he should go to the police and make a formal report.”

That puts the ball in Patson’s court.

But from the wild accusations he was making against the Government, the President, party and State security agencies, this Patson sounds like a person who desperately craves publicity for selfish reasons rather than in a quest to solve the mystery of his brother’s whereabouts. He wants to provoke a reaction to give him political mileage we don’t know to what destination.

Government should call his bluff and ask him to name and shame. He cannot pretend that he is afraid to disclose the truth when he already claims to know who is holding his brother captive and he has sympathisers in the “system”.

The police have called on anyone with information to come forward in compliance with a court order. Patson should not be allowed to go on a madman’s smear campaign as if he wears a badge of immunity himself. He should be exposed for the charlatan that he appears to be.

On the other hand, the private media should join this smear campaign fully knowing that they shall carry their own cross when the time of reckoning comes. There are legal and ethical issues which govern their practice. There are limits to the notion of freedom of expression, which by its nature bids them report responsibly.

Instead of which they have resorted to the invective of a drunkard before anyone has been arrested, let alone convicted, by any court of law.

The long and short of it is that they have abandoned journalistic principles and jumped into the political ring and they must be ready to play and be treated by the rough rules of the political arena. This is a horrifying brand of journalism.

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