Journalism should be publicly-funded: Charamba

Gibson Nyikadzino-Zimpapers Politics Hub

Deputy Chief Secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet (Presidential Communications) Mr George Charamba has reiterated calls for the public funding of Zimbabwean journalism, maintaining that the practice is a public good.

Mr Charamba, writing on his official X account, said there were many ways in which media could get public funding by the State and through tax concessions as happening in other jurisdictions, to ensure plurality and protection of fringe publications. He said his longtime calls for the public funding of journalism have faced a pushback, with voices pitching that he wanted to corrupt and control the country’s media space. The reiteration also comes after Zimbabwe’s media sector continues to face sustainability issues and operational challenges linked to the advent of new media technologies and online journalism.

“In many jurisdictions, the media get public funding in many ways: direct funding by the State – not Government! – or, indirect funding through numerous tax concessions especially around inputs into their production processes.

“More sophisticated jurisdictions give ‘bottom-up’ support, which is to say greater support is extended to smaller, struggling fringe publications to ensure plurality of voices,” Mr Charamba posted on X. He said while Nordic countries are some of the examples where State support is provided, in Zimbabwe support towards journalism has been slandered by people who have sought to raise the idea of a free press and media as one that is funded by foreign governments through pseudo non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

For over two decades, some quarters of Zimbabwean media and civil society organisations received external grants from organisations like the US’ National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the USAID to influence the narrative in favour of foreign interests advancing a regime change agenda in Zimbabwe.

Mr Charamba added: “Here State support faces aspersions from the same media and readers who think funding from foreign governments channelled through pseudo-NGOs or institutions like USAID – when it lasted – is the shibboleth of free press/media in the sense of an institution insulated from the State.

“You would think they don’t know which State(s) is/are behind their (N)GO benefactors! It is an ignorant view of the political economy of the communication industry. Completely illiterate and duplicitous.”

According to Mr Charamba, the binary between the so-called private media and Government media was deliberately deployed to imply both quality and probity, a false dichotomy that created a riven and polarised the media environment in Zimbabwe.

“Meanwhile, not once did any of the so-called private media turn down advertorials from the State, which amount to 60 percent of media proceeds in any jurisdiction worldwide. Note once, too, did we see any private media give away media products to the public for free, while restricting income to private sector business.”

He added that now in the absence of foreign media funding, journalists, trade unionists, managers and proprietors have now woken to what in the West is a truism.

“Journalism is a public good which can and should be publicly funded!”

Source: Journalism should be publicly-funded: Charamba – herald

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