Harare, (New Ziana) – Promoting media viability and sustainability are among aims of the new Zimbabwe Media Policy which Cabinet approved on Tuesday, the Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Jenfan Muswere has said.
Briefing the media on the Cabinet meeting highlights on Tuesday, Muswere said the media policy will also seek to nurture and instill national values, ethics and citizenship, thereby promoting a shared understanding of Zimbabwe’s history, vision, and developmental aspirations.
He said this will in turn advance and protect Zimbabwe’s national interests and promote the country’s social, economic, cultural and political well-being.
“Cabinet considered and approved the Zimbabwe Media Policy. The objectives of the Policy are to defend Zimbabwe’s image, sovereignty and territorial integrity, to achieve a strong and converged digital economy, to promote the growth and development of a vibrant, diverse media industry in Zimbabwe, to transform Zimbabwe’s media landscape through the development of modern, efficient, and sustainable infrastructure, to promote professionalism and capacitate the industry, to develop and enforce a comprehensive code of ethics in order to and raise the standards of media practice in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Muswere said the policy will assert and maintain Zimbabwe’s media sovereignty in order to ensure the country’s independence and self-determination in the production, dissemination, and regulation of media content.
It will also foster a linguistically inclusive media landscape where all officially recognized languages are valued, promoted, and used to reach diverse audiences and communities as well as govern the whole sector, including internet based broadcasting.
The sixth pillar of the policy, which is Local Content Promotion, addresses challenges such as funding constraints, limited producer capacity, the dominance of foreign content, and an inadequate regulatory framework.
“To promote local content and counter foreign dominance, the Policy maintains a 75% local content quota for all broadcasting licensees, except for specialized ones, which will have a 50 percent quota,” said Muswere.
“The Policy also introduces incentives for local content production, protection of intellectual property rights, and enforcement of regulations limiting foreign content dominance.
“Additionally, the Policy supports local cultural preservation, digital technology uptake and initiatives promoting employment, information dissemination and access to information,” he said.
Muswere said Thematic Working Groups will be established to focus on specific policy pillars, while the Ministry will take the lead in coordinating and implementing the policy.
