Media bias on the Zimbabwe Crisis
Posted: Sunday, August 18, 2002

by Ayinde
August 18, 2002

The BBC, Guardian UK, Independent UK, Daily Telegraph UK and most news feeds are misinforming the public about the Zimbabwe land affair. They choose to feature or highlight articles that sympathize with the White farmers that are crammed with lies.

They all claim that the shortage of food in Zimbabwe is due to the farm seizures, however this is not the entire story.

Many regions in Africa are presently experiencing a drought and that is responsible for low food production. Most of the White farmers in Zimbabwe grew tobacco while peasant farmers grow about 70% of the maize used in Zimbabwe. ( Famine in southern Africa Guardian UK )

The shortage of food is directly related to the drought and trade restrictions imposed by Britain and the U.S.

It should be noted that these farms are being seized and turned over in time to get the new farmers ready for the next crop season.

Another fact usually left out is that most of the farm workers were from Malawi or Mozambique and they received an average of about US$25 a month, furthermore living conditions on the farms were awfully poor.

These Malawian and Mozambican laborers were heavily dependent on their White employers, relying on them for 'free' or heavily subsidized housing and 'health care', as well as 'education' for their children. This is the modern day slavery that these White farmers wickedly benefited from.

Most of the food problems in Africa are directly related to the colonial policy of seizing the most fertile lands in Africa to produce food for Europe. Africans were to supply cheap labour. In many cases indigenous Africans who usually grew their own food were forced unto the worst lands and as such they became dependant of food imports.

Whether we like Mugabe or not has nothing to do with the fact that the frontline media reports fail to give the readers the true picture.

####

Articles that give a better picture of the situation:

Britain's Guardian: An apologia for imperialist intervention in Zimbabwe
By Barbara Slaughter; 3 April 2002
On March 14, in the immediate aftermath President Robert Mugabe’s election victory in Zimbabwe, the Guardian newspaper published an editorial pronouncing its verdict on the result.

The Guardian has, along with its predecessor the Manchester Guardian, been the voice of English liberalism for almost two centuries, priding itself on its encouragement of critical debate. As such it has a very definite constituency amongst the educated middle class. Undoubtedly therefore, some of its readers will have been concerned about the open colonial character of the recent British intervention in Zimbabwean affairs. The country’s opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) received financial and political support from Britain and even before the election had taken place, Prime Minister Tony Blair demanded an MDC victory and stated openly that no other result would be acceptable.
Full Article : wsws.org

Zimbabwe Under Siege
Aug 26, 2002 by Gregory Elich
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200209040535.html

Farm workers caught in the middle -BBC
(Not featured on BBC's front pages)

Zimbabwe: War on the Peasantry by George Monbiot

Wholly Derelict Journalism
Letter to the Editor
by Alex Jay Berman, Sept 09, 2002
http://www.swans.com/library/art8/berman02.html

My Journalistic Dereliction:
Response to Mr. Berman's Letter
by Gregory Elich, Sept 09, 2002
http://www.swans.com/library/art8/elich005.html

Zimbabwe: Life After The Election
by Baffour Ankomah, Sept 09, 2002
http://www.swans.com/library/art8/ankomah1.html 

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