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Kudos to the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists!
Last year’s National Journalistic and Media Awards (NJAMA) recognised institutions that are usually taken for granted. For me, it was the first time that such commendations have been made.
Usually, people make tenuous arguments about their importance, but rarely do they pay homage to that significance the way NJAMA did last year.
ZUJ honoured friends of the media. And one of those friends was The Herald’s Editorial Library and its personnel whom they honoured for their resourcefulness.
The citation read: “Background information is a must for any thorough and well-researched story.” They went on to state that The Herald’s Editorial library “is the most dependable media library in the country. Every bit of newspaper recorded history is found there.”
I hope we do not begrudge this factual element. For more than 120 years, The Herald Library has kept bound volumes of newspapers, a service that started in 1892. There are also newspaper clippings, organised by subject and/or name.
It is one of the most painstaking jobs that the library staff has to perform, apart from attending to library users’ diverse information needs.
Just about anything and everything that has been published in the newspapers is available.
Although it is popularly known as The Herald Editorial Library, the truth of the matter is that it collects, organises, classifies and manages information from all the nation’s newspapers. It is also the biggest. And now with more newspapers available, they add value to newspaper information in the country. Other libraries such as the National Archives of Zimbabwe offer additional materials and services.
The manner in which the information is organised is multi-faceted. A recent analysis of the service made me realise that the nation is sitting on a rich resource which contains lots of answers on issues that we face on a daily basis, and that in most cases we are re-inventing the wheel, when all that is required is little bit of effort.
A sojourn into the library’s collections will also make you appreciate the tremendous work done by the pioneers. Admittedly, at one point it served a select group, but the same cannot be said about it now, since it is an information resource for national interests.
It also makes you see how the production of newspapers has evolved since 1891. Comparing the colourful and sometimes glossy newspapers that abound today with the more than a century old publications also gives the reader the view of how the journalistic profession has changed, although they continue to answer the five questions: what, why, where, when and how.
Now, with the digital age, there is need to ensure that the electronic formats that are being generated will withstand the various changes that might emerge just as these print formats have done.
Let me give examples of some of the things that I found. National hero Dr Edson Sithole’s disappearance and fate remain a mystery for the nation.
He was abducted by Rhodesian Special Branch operatives on October 15, 1975. I wondered how best we can educate each other about such personalities, especially an inquest to determine how General Solomon Tapfunaeyi Mujuru died is underway.
People might have information, but if not recorded, they eventually forget some of the details. In some cases, they pass on with that rich historical information. The best way is to check on the recorded and/or written information. This is where the Editorial Library becomes very important.
Whatever information the writer or researcher finds, they use it to meet their objectives. In Dr Sithole’s folder, I was surprised to see an analytical piece he authored in 1958, which was published by the Southern Rhodesia Herald. It was titled: “Rising tide of African nationalism has no uniformity, but there is a common goal”.
Wrote Dr Sithole, “The continent of Africa is on the move. Everywhere from north to south, east to west, a tremendous tide of African nationalism is rising fast. Some of this nationalism is still in its infancy, some in its adolescence, while some has attained its adulthood . . . but all aims at one goal – ‘freedom from the forces of colonialism and imperialism'”.
The analytical piece looked at what was going on across the continent. And, dear reader, the gizmos that people enjoy today such as satellite TV, the Internet and radio were not available. But going through that file, it was easy to understand why personalities like him were a thorn in the flesh for the settler colonialists.
I also compared and contrasted two bound volumes – November 1964 and September 1978.
In the 60s, the newspaper was still very much white-dominated. But I found an interesting story in the November 13, 1964 issue, accompanied by a picture of smartly-dressed gentleman. This was Dr Dexter Chavunduka, the first black Zimbabwean to qualify as a veterinary surgeon.
The September 1, 1978 issue had a head and shoulder picture of Chief Mudzimirema from Marondera. The caption reads: “Chief Mudzimirema from Marandellas area has died at his home. He was said to be 116- years-old and had led his people for 50 years. Chief Mudzimirema worked with the Pioneer Column at Fort Victoria (Masvingo), Fort Charter and Fort Salisbury (Harare). He had 64 children, and is survived by four of his 10 wives.”
National days of prayer were also an issue for the media even then.
As the guerrilla warfare was raging, nine-year old Ruth Sampson wrote “a prayer for peace in Rhodesia” which was published on September 1, 1978: “Dear Lord, please help all the soldiers who are on the border fighting for peace in this land and risking their own lives.
“Lord I pray that they will do the right things. Lord please help all those people who have had someone killed in their family not to hate the terrorists.
“All those soldiers that are in hospital and St Giles (rehabilitation Centre) suffering, I pray that you will bless them. Help us all to pray for our enemies. Amen!”
What ZUJ did last year was a step in the right direction, and also the first step in realising that access to well organised information will ensure that the nation is well-informed.
Any type of library and information is expensive to run. Apart from requiring qualified personnel, it will only succeed in doing its work if it is well funded.
Africa, for a very long time has paid lip service to the importance of information to enable development, but has not matched that with investing in information resources.
We hope that the information society will make policy makers and other stakeholders realise the importance of investing and valuing these information resources, for every story has a background.