Media and Politics

Read Kasoma, the Press in Zambia

 Expectations
• Understand how the media has shaped
politics in Zambia
• Be able to give an analysis of the media and
politics in Zambia from a historical point of
view.
• Be able to explain how the different types of
media affects politics in Zambia
 Mass Media and Politics
• The US is shaped by the media in its various
ways as far politics are concerned
• The first newspapers came on to the scene in
the 19th Century
• Radio and TV came in the 20th Century
• The press (Newspapers) were prominent in
politics in the US
• It can be argued that the press continues to
play an important role .
 Media and Politics in The US
• FDR is the first president credited with the art of
using the media well in politics
• Various scholars state that he held about 1000 press
conferences in 12 years of being in the white house
• He brought about shows such as the fireside chats
• He used his chats to influence public opinion on the
banking crisis, the 2rd World War etc. (
www.tamut.edu)
• Are US presidents still using the media in their
politics
 1 Party press
st

• During the time when the US was just forming

up, the two political parties formed up in 1790s
• They looked for newspapers to support them
• The regulations of the media was done through
the passing of the Alien and Sedition Act
• The TV period brought in the combination of
visual and audio
• The introduction of TV brought about the
relaying of campaigns on TV
 The Press and the politicians in the US
• There has been a relationship between the
media, owners and the politicians
• In the 1700 the newspaper owners realized
that they could criticize the governors
• And the governors realized that they could shut
the newspapers using policies and political
powers
• The rise of press freedom, the case of Zenger
vs New York Governor
 Media and Politics, the Bush era
• The media was used by the second Bush in the
fight against terror
• There was justification and endorsement by
the media in the build up to the first and
second gulf war
• The media was instrumental in the campaign
debates between aspiring candidates
 Media on Politics
• The Press in the US is mostly private owned with
advertising being the source of revenues
• There is the argument that there is little or no such thing
as free news
• It is argued that the media contributes to the cost of doing
politics through the media
• The politicians buy media space to communicate political
messages
• The media is also viewed as critical of the politicians of the
day e.g the Watergate Scandal, The Monica Welensky, etc
 Politics Before the colonialism
• The people constituted rights were exercised
in and within groups wherever they existed
• Clans, Lineage and elders presided over much
of the affairs of the day
• Chiefs and kings presided over peoples’
matters (public affairs)
• The Chiefs and kings controlled the use of
force in the various places
 Political History
• Whites dominated blacks’ public affairs between 1924
and 1963
• There was a federation between Rhodesia and Nyasaland
• In 1951, ANC in the then Northern Rhodesia was formed
under Harry M Nkumbula, KK was general secretary
• 1958, ANC split forming ZANC under KK which later
became UNIP
• This affected the struggle for independence
• The media at the time was owned and managed by the
White colonial masters
Political Environment (Some Highlights)
• The UDI issue from Zimbabwe ( the political
instability had an impact on the media and
politics in Zambia or Northern Rhodesia
• Construction of infrastructure, e.g pipeline
• Humanism philosophy (KK believed in the
oneness of all people)
• Man was not existing for the state but the state
for man under humanism
• It hated capitalism because of its selfishness
 Politics in UNIP
• UNIP Had split under Simon Kapwepwe in 1969 which
led to the formation of UPP which was banned
• In 1973 ANC was also faced with the situation of
splitting
• After independence president of Zambia was also the
president of the party
• Was voted by the conference of the party and
presented to the country as the candidate
• There was the parliament which played role of coming
up with laws of the land
 State under humanism
• The media was viewed as essential in the protecting of
the philosophy of humanism
• As a philosophy, humanism prevented exploitation of
human beings in any form
• The humanism encouraged nationalization of key
elements in the economy
• Mines were nationalized, encouraged African businesses
• Had a one party system
• The political party included all people with diverse views
• The media was seen as a partner in state building
 History of the Media in Zambia
• The first newspaper was the Pioneer published in 1906 in
Livingstone
• The Livingston Mail was started in 1907 by a politically ambitious
person, Frank More
• Had 10 percent news and 90 per cent adverts
• Had news, opinion, gossip speculations
• It was raw journalism
• Focused on whites and only featured blacks if they related to
whites
• Stood for racial segregation
• The livingstone Mail aligned itself to the political ideologies of
the times
 The Mail
• It stood for an independent Northern Rhodesian
government
• It stood for white supremacy
• Supported the federation
• Circulation was poor and assumed to have been
mainly in Livingston
• During war time, there were laws that were enacted
with the hope of reducing on the spread of false war
information
• This did not affect the mail
 Government on The Mail
• Did not do much on the racist policy due to
the reason that the Africans were not
educated to read the news paper
• The government had the policy of publish and
be damned
• Due to the reason that the paper had a poor
circulation
The Northern Rhodesian advertiser
• Started in 1935 on the Copperbelt
• Paper was for white miners and carried a lot of gossip
• Edited by Maackenzie and was owned by many
• 60 per cent adverts and news was mostly classified
under towns from the Copper belt
• Had similar policy on race like the the Mail
• Supported federation and against black
independence
• Criticized the government on critical issues
 The Northern News
• The Northern News newspaper has been known as the
beginning of the press in Zambia
• First newspaper to be owned by a foreign company
based outside Northern Rhodesia
• It was the only daily newspaper in the country from
1953 to 1969
• Founded by Welensky and friends
• Government was connected to the newspaper
• It became Welensky’s political mouth piece
• Argus Group took over in 1950
 Northern News Continued
• Argus Group continued being pro Welensky
and pro federation
• Never carried stories about Africans continued
being pro white
• Condemned equal pay for all in the mines
 Central African Post
• Founded by Alexander Scott, a doctor in Lusaka
• Founded the African Times and the African Mail
• Aim was to link the government to the people
• To show the people what government was doing
• It had a clear standing on political matters
• Very outspoken on politics, the race issues
• It could be argued that the paper served as the
opposition
 The African Post cont…
• Castigated the whites on their strike
• It was very anti black
• Never wanted the whites to be dominated by
the blacks
• Condemned inter marriages
• On 2 occasions the post spoke in behalf of
blacks, encouraging butchery owners to sell
good meat to blacks as well as Africans to form
unions
 Mutende Newspaper
• First government newspaper (1936=1952)
• Was formed to inform rather than to educate
• It also informed the Africans about issues within and outside
the country
• Educated Africans on the role of the newspaper as a
communication tool
• Had no reporters, the readers submitted reports
• Lack of adverts killed the newspaper
• It did not want to be criticized
• Mutende died because it could not offer the people an
independent newspaper for Africa
 African Eagle 1953=1962
• For less advanced Africans and the northern
edition for the advanced Africans
• Owned by CAG Paver based in Southern Rhodesia
• It inherited the circulation of Mutende 13000
• It published inaccurate information
• Did not comment on hot issues
• It became against African nationalism due to
violence exhibited by UNIP and ANC
• It was pro government
 Privately African Owned Newspapers
• African times edited by Elias Mtepuka from Daily
Mirror in London
• It was Lusaka based and published weekly
• Came into being at the time when independence was
on the minds of most Africans in northern Rhodesia
• Many Africans believed that the paper would be on
their side
• It was against federation
• The paper died in 1958
 African Life 1958-61
• Published and edited by Sikota Wina in Ndola
• Not clear where he got his money
• It virtually became a UNIP mouth piece
• Highlighted the release of KK from prison, the
attack on Mainza Chona
• This affected the ANC because it made UNIP
to look like it’s the only political party
 African Mail (1960-65)
• Founded by Dr Scott
• This later became Zambia Daily in 1983
• It was pro African even if it was started by the whites
• It gave publicity to the African nationalists in Rhodesia and
other African places
• Supported UNIP but only the positive part
• It condemned the killing of Mrs. Burton and her children
• It went against federation therefore it called Welensky
names
• Lack of adverts, lack of machinery and poor distribution
made the paper cease
 The press in Zambia (1964-
• The pro white newspapers withdrew, owned by the
Argus company
• The freedom of the press did not mean the press to
publish anything it desires KK
• Zambia times and Zambia news came up this time by
Lonrho
• Though owned by whites, they were pro Africans
• The press was pro government and worked on
supporting the fight against racism
• The Zambian times became the times of Zambia
 Press In Zambia continued
• It was under Richard Hall who was welcome by KK
• It was Zambianized through the hiring of African
workers
• Hall believed in objective journalism
• Was against racism hence condemned the UDI
• They supported KK’s and government policies whilst
contradicted him on other issues
• Hall resigned and was replaced by Kamana
• He was outspoken and viewed himself as the
opposition
 Government vs the times of Zambia
• The publication of nude photos
• Being outspoken against the government
• The editor considered himself as the
opposition
• In 1971, the government took over the
newspaper
• Kamana lost his job and VJ Mwanga took over
• The government had its hand on the content
 Zambia daily mail
• Formerly the African Mail later the Zambia
mail
• The paper was critical when it was bought
• Criticized the government eg it criticized the
government’s red tape
 KK and the Media
• In 1972 a conference was held aimed at making
the mass media as an instrument of national
building
• Called on the media to be pro humanist in their
service
• It can be argued that it was another way of
making them less critical of the government
• One party state but the constitution promoted
freedom of the press
 Freedom of the press
• The reporter in the new Zambia believed in the
rights as enshrined in the constitution
• On the other hand freedom of the press meant
that the press published what the government
considered right for the people
• The government often muzzled the press
though on paper there was freedom of the
press but in reality it was different
• The government hired and fired journalists
 Broadcasting in Zambia
• Broadcasting in Zambia can be traced to the time
just before the Second World War
• Europeans accessed the radio signals from
outside northern Rhodesia
• In Northern Rhodesia, broadcasting was started in
Kabwe though it was aimed at giving the Africans
less access to the foreign broadcasting services
• The aim was not to have the Africans know about
the anti colonialism news in other countries
 Broadcasting in Zambia
• In 1940, the government broadcasting was started aimed at
bringing the British government closer to the people
• Was aimed at refuting or controlling the war information
during the second world war
• Radio broadcasting started in 1945 in lusaka
• In 1964, the Zambia Broadcasting corporation was formed
which started broadcasting in Kitwe in 1961
• It was bought off by the Government of Zambia in1964 with
broadcasting services covering the urban areas
• In 1991, the MMD opened the airwaves which saw the rise
of private media organisations
 Broadcasting Media and Politics
• The Broadcasting media has contributed to the
formulation and formation of public opinion
• They have brought about live political
campaigns during elections
• Political talk shows where people can call in live
• Public/state media has been accused of being
pro government