VOA常速英语2008年-Zimbabwe State Media Accused of Breaking Electi

By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
13 March 2008

The Zimbabwe state media has been accused of bias¹ in favor of the ruling ZANU-PF party by media monitors observing the run up to national elections on March 29. And as Peta Thornycroft reports, monitors say the Zimbabwe Election Commission, mandated³ by law to ensure balanced media, is failing to do its job.

The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe says in a report issued this week that the ruling ZANU-PF party has effectively hijacked⁴ the state television and radio broadcaster, ZBC, as the party's own private broadcasters.

Abel Chikomo, advocacy coordinator⁵ for the Project says that the national broadcaster behaves as if it is ZANU-PF's own private radio and television station. This he says is in "flagrant" violation⁶ of electoral and broadcasting laws.

"For the month of February only, between the 5th February to the 29th February, [Zimbabwe TV] accorded a total of 3 hours 22 mins to the ruling party only," said Chikomo. "This is in addition to the 4 hours the ruling party got [for] the launch of their manifesto⁷, which time was [given to nobody else]."

"ZBC [even suspended] all programming to ensure they ran the ZANU-PF manifesto live, without any interruption. We believe there is no better indication of the bias, and inequality and unfairness of the reporting of elections than what we have seen already," he added.

In addition, the project issued a stern rebuke⁸ to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which it says has failed to fulfill⁹ its mandate² to ensure that the public broadcaster is balanced and fair, in both content and time, toward all political parties and candidates.

The chairman of the commission, Judge George Chiweshe, told VOA that the commission has set up its own monitoring body and began its work just this week.

"So they started working in earnest this week really and we have not got a report from them, because it is only four days into the week. But what they will be doing is ensuring that the various requirements they are required to do respect of what part of the election activities and so on [that they cover]; these are being adhered to," he said.

There are no independent broadcasters based in Zimbabwe. And, the state controls all the daily print and electronic media within the country. There are a handful of independent weekly publications.

The Project's Chikomo says the state media has also failed to educate the electorate¹⁰ about the practicalities of the election and of voting. In addition he says, the public has not been informed about changes in electoral and media laws which resulted from the South African-mediated talks between the ruling party and the opposition¹¹ Movement for Democratic Change.

"It's not just about that there is no fair coverage¹² on ZBC," said Chikomo. "We still don't have the daily news, or any alternative daily source of information in this country to date. So there is no political will or commitment on the part of ZANU-PF, the ruling party, or the government to ensure that they implement¹³ what they seem to have agreed in South Africa."

Opposition parties have also complained that Mr. Mugabe has been using government-funded inducements to win support from the electorate, including salary hikes for civil servants and the army and agricultural equipment such as tractors for people in rural areas.

Judge Chiweshe told VOA he couldn't comment on whether this is unfair or illegal.

"We are the last people able comment on issues like that because they are of a political nature, in essence," said Chiweshe. "It is difficult for us to comment on what is inducement and what is not inducement, unless of course someone has filed a charge, and it has been sustained in the proper forum¹⁴. I cannot say anything, my hands are tied. If I say it's wrong, then it means I am taking a position prematurely¹⁵ because the facts have not been put before me.

The Media Monitoring Project and opposition parties say that in the current climate it is not possible to hold elections that are not biased¹⁶ in favor of the ruling ZANU-PF and President Robert Mugabe and that the Zimbabwe Election Commission needs to urgently ensure the public media such as Zimbabwe Television, ZTV, complies with the law.

1 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

4 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

8 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

9 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

10 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

14 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

15 prematurely   

adv.过早地，贸然地

参考例句：

• She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句

16 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。