Climate Change Journalism in the Zimbabwean Press: Some Empirical Reflections

Description

Page: 488-496

Takunda Maodza¹ and Stenford Matenda² (Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa and Department of Marketing, Public Relations and Communications, East London, South Africa¹ and Department of Public Relations and Communication, Walter Sisulu University’s Butterworth Campus, Mthatha, South Africa²)

This qualitative study is an inquiry into the state of climate change journalism in Zimbabwe’s main daily newspapers The Herald and Daily News. The Herald is a government-controlled newspaper while the Daily News is privately owned and does not suffer state interference in its operations. Guided by the sociology news production theory and the political economy of the media theory, the study seeks a nuanced understanding of the state of climate change reporting at the two selected newspapers. It therefore seeks to comprehend the challenges and prospects for this journalism genres in Zimbabwe. Data is gathered through in-depth interviews with purposively selected journalists at The Herald and Daily News. Findings suggest that two newspapers do not treat climate change seriously. The majority of the stories generated by the two newspapers are from press statements issued by government, or non-governmental organisations or are event-driven. This elitist approach to climate change journalism denies ordinary citizens a voice in fighting climate change.