Zimpapers Logo

Vuso Mhlanga Correspondent
“Foolish is the man who never reads a newspaper: even more foolish is a man who believes what he reads just because it is in the newspaper “ These cautious words penned by August Von Scholozer, the famed German historian (1735-1809) lend themselves pertinent, even more potent in our day, hardly more than 200 years after his death. His candid and cautionary words are telling.

The simple thought embedded in those words is; be wary, be open–minded when you read a newspaper. Granted, the media plays a no less significant role in informing and educating people.

However, the media as a whole and especially newspapers, the medium which this article will dwell on, can largely do a disservice to gullible, unsuspecting media consumers, who, with a sort of stoicism, tend to believe what journalists say, without questioning.

Thanks to freedom of expression, our nations boast a sizeable portion of media houses; private and state–owned. We cannot be dogmatic; the media in our cherished land is highly polarised, and each tabloid has its own bias and idiosyncrasies and premised suppositions but what is shocking is the extent to which some paranoid section of the so called private media, intent on preserving nostalgic memories of the Empire, go frenzy in peddling news bent on the negative.

As already hinted on, while one does not have the liberty to delve into specifics, it is common cause that largely a certain tribe of the private media has a propensity for the negative.

They are so cynical. I always quip that they are like nocturnal animals whose eyes are more acute in the dark. The extent to which some people in the media fraternity spawn cynicism is shocking and borders on the bizarre. It is especially with the latter in mind that the Latin timeless and candid adage gathers more pertinence; coveat emptor —Let the buyer beware!

The principle was enshrined in the context of advertising wherein consumers are alerted to the dangers of being duped by clever advertisers into impulse buying. The principle is still much alive today and its potency cannot be restricted to the region of advertising but has equal force to the media consumers as a whole.

The poignant message to media consumers is; beware of merchants of doom! One is compelled to ask: Are some media practitioners hired to coin narratives aimed at making people hopeless?

What is the alluring power of a negative story? Admittedly, as the old adage goes: “If it bleeds, it leads”.

Nevertheless, sometimes it’s so easy to discern the desperation some media practitioners succumb to, the needless labour they subject themselves to just to get a “muddy” story. One is puzzled; why do these practitioners of the media conduct themselves as if they have no choice but to go even beyond the limits of propriety just to write negative narratives?

A case in point is the extent to which some tabloids have gone to create a story about succession disputes in the other camp. Related to that is the story of an upcoming “thunderous” Party.

No story has been told as thus with such virulence and shamelessness by these media pundits that one can predict the thread of headlines of successive days to come.

Not that one would have turned prophetic but it is the same old story they keep resurrecting like the proverbial horse that the simple minded would keep on flogging.

The upcoming Party project for instance, one just sees grandiose headlines of the “developments” under way but upon perusing through the gist of the story, one sees the words of the spokesperson time and again.

The subject persona of the story is on mute, muzzled! So why clandestinely sneak remotely spaced insinuations and elusive hopes into becoming headlines?

Why the concerted insistence on such a dead narrative?

It is a case of dark, seeming pregnant clouds that are bereft of rain in a dry season, the sort of scorching heat we are currently experiencing in our land.

I am no politician, my nagging worry (I assume everyone has it) is the degree to which a sterile story is repeated with such zeal.

One goes to the previously asked question; are some media personnel mercenaries? This is in no way calculated to render any tabloid and its practitioners sacrosanct. Even if that is the case, is it not boring to do the same dull, old thing now and again?

History has taught us about the imperialistic project and how it thrives on the media to assume a seeming legitimacy by portraying the much cherished land in negative light.

We have seen it happening; it is unfolding before us albeit in various shades and ways one of which is to inadvertently employ an unwary section of the media to do the dirty tactics.

That may be a plausible explanation of the growing trend of writing negatively about one’s land and its people and its developments — everything pertaining to it is brazenly soiled in the mire of criticism and negative writing.

Some tabloids coverage of their land sound like foreign ones .They look at what is happening with blinkers and detached approach.

They have ideological sieves designed to allow only the negative in .One is pardoned for mistaking some sections of the tribe of private tabloids for those of foreigners of the crop of The Economist.

The magnitude of negativity and feigned ignorance is not different from the ideological thrust of The Imperial writers such as Conrad who saw Africa as a dark continent.

Our elites of this trade of words surely should spare us that disheartening rhetoric!

True, the situation obtaining in this land, as in any other land not so perniciously subjected to harsh criticism, is a far cry from being idyllic.

But positive developments can be found. Media elites should be the cultural custodians. They have an obligation to educate us — to sharpen our sensitivities of what is happening through balanced reporting. One does not believe there is no land without positives.

If one claims that it must be seen as cynicism reminiscent of the folks in Palestine during the time of Jesus who held steadfastly to the notion that nothing good could come out of Nazareth. How mistaken they were!

The dominant narratives in our tabloids should be informative, making our hearts radiant. What we read shape us — for good or for bad. Psychologists tell us that an incessant barrage, even a constant trickle, of the same information will gradually engender a mindset that is in full accord with the fed data.

Every bit of information no mater its colour has a moulding effect on us if constantly hammered.

It is not the intention of one to make tradesmen of this noble profession blind to negative developments.

We credit newspapermen in their attempt to expose the ills in our societies and at times, the excesses of the Government. Who forgets the Willowgate scandal? Well, that’s commendable journalism.

The problem that is increasingly obtaining is that of lazy media practitioners. Some may be opinionated and they detest making a thorough and informed research lest their perceived world would crumble.

They spare themselves the painstaking effort of verifying the authenticity of their intended stories or scoop as they term it in the fraternity of the media. They are naive, or they render themselves gullible in their pursuit of lucre.

This does not mean that every media practitioner is of this fold; others are rigorous and open minded, they strive to produce balanced and inquisitive work that is aimed at educating us and sensitising us to important developments in our land, for instance the historic visit of the Chinese president in our land.

They strive to preserve our history and culture as people of colour and help us forge a healthy identity as a people.

They reinforce our shaky self esteem after centuries of mental brutalisation by our erstwhile masters. They are the intellectual cultural edifice we look to.

Folks in the land, to a larger degree depend on the media for news, for the way to go.

My heart bleeds every morning when I see men and women peering on newspapers before embarking on their business of the day. I see some with dispirited countenance and bearing after having a look at the daily tabloids.

They hardly find something to nourish their spirits, to give them hope while they toil endlessly to find something on which to subsist on.

You see them shacking their heads in disbelief; you see in them a nagging demeanour of resignation. Some believe what they read at face value. They are at the mercy of these merchants of doom!

One remembers a story, albeit rather hazily. The gist of the story is this: in a certain experiment, flies were harnessed into a water jar. The jar was shut for a considerable time. The flies tried in a vain fashion to fly high, however, as could be anticipated, each attempt was met with dismal failure, they hit the lid of the claustrophobic jar. Even more telling is the fact that when the jar’s lid was finally taken off, the flies did not get out — they had been conditioned by the lid not to aim high.

The experiment may not be authentic but the message is nonetheless clear, a constant subjection to negative narratives sap the strength of many people, it make them believe they have lost the war of life. The other disturbing trend is of the polarisation of the newspapers — each tabloid is a world in its own.

Of course no one is in any way recommending practitioners of the media to be parrots, mimicking each other; however, one at least anticipate that newspapers be complimentary in weaving the national discourse, helping one to discern the unfolding picture through an informed analysis of the given pieces. Where one tabloid is lacking, the other fills in.

The situation that is obtaining is of rigid media practitioners religiously dancing in tune with the conservative and even stoic editorial policies of their tabloids. It is undeniable that ideology matters but objectivity and candour in analysis should not be sacrificed for expedient causes. The consumers of the media hardly benefit from that. The media as has been seen already, owes us; it has the responsibility to challenge sacredly held notions that are not true and to bring the world closer to us.

Again, events happen every day and the media also reserves the prerogative of helping us to find meaning and the significance of those events.

[email protected]