Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News

and The Standard from 2017-2018.

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Social Sciences

Department of Media and Society Studies

Dissertation Topic:

Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The

Sunday News and The Standard from 2017 to 2018

(R153343N)

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

APPROVAL FORM
The undersigned certify that they have supervised the student John Rutope‟s dissertation
entitled: Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The
Sunday News and The Standard from 2017-2018. It was submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements of BSc Honours Degree in Media and Society Studies at Midlands State
University

SUPERVISOR…………………………………………… DATE…/……/……..

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My special thanks go to Mr. Caven Masuku, my research supervisor. A hardworking,
committed and intrinsically motivated guy, whom I wholeheartedly appreciate for all the
effort and love he showered me throughout this industrious period, may the almighty bless
him.

I would also like to thank the whole Media and Society department; particularly the lecturers
for their effort and time in accompanying me through this tiring journey, not forgetting my
classmates as well, your efforts are appreciated.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

aABSTRACT
The researcher explores the reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues by The Sunday
News and The Standard from 2017 to date. The research so to find out how the two newspapers
frame, give prominence to news reports on artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe.
The research used the framing, ideology and political economy theories to find out how far these two
newspapers give value to news on artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe. The
research was purely qualitative hence the researcher deployed qualitative research instruments,
particularly archival research, interviews and questionnaires. The researcher extracted newspapers
from the University library, special collections archive and used content analysis to analyse content of
articles of the two newspapers relevant to the study. The researcher also interviewed editors and
reporters of the two newspapers to find out how do they report on artisanal mining and environmental
issues in Zimbabwe. 20 Questionnaires were as well administered to readers of the two newspapers
specifically readers in Tynwald residential suburb in Harare. From the outcomes of the study the
researcher found out that the two newspapers had contrasting ways of reporting artisanal mining in
Zimbabwe and this has been directly influenced by political economy. On the other hand
environmental issues were not well attended to by both newspapers

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

Table of Contents
APPROVAL FORM .................................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... iii
aABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. iv
CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY................................................................................................................. 1
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................................. 2
PROBLEM STATEMENT............................................................................................................................ 3
OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................. 3
MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................................................... 3
SUB RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................... 3
ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
DELIMITATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 4
LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 4
STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ..................................................................................................................... 4
CONCLUSSION ......................................................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ..................................................... 6
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................... 6
NEWS REPORTAGE .................................................................................................................................. 6
SOCIOLOGY OF NEWS ............................................................................................................................. 8
JOURNALISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .................................. 9
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................. 10
FRAMING THEORY................................................................................................................................. 10
THEORY OF IDEOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 11
THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY ........................................................................................................ 12
CONCLUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 14
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 14
QUALITTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................ 14
TARGET POPULATION ........................................................................................................................... 15
UNIT OF ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................. 15
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES ....................................................................................................................... 16
CONVENIENCE SAMPLE......................................................................................................................... 16
PURPOSIVE SAMPLE .............................................................................................................................. 16

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS............................................................................................................... 17
QUESTIONNAIRES ................................................................................................................................. 17
INTERVIEWS .......................................................................................................................................... 18
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................ 19
DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 20
CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA) .................................................................................................. 20
CONTENT ANALYSIS .............................................................................................................................. 20
ETHICAL ISSUES ..................................................................................................................................... 21
CONCLUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER 4: ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 22
This chapter deals with organization analysis of two newspapers namely The Sunday News and The
Standard from 2017 to date. The Chapter also analyses vision statement, mission statement, core
values, political economy and funding mechanisms of The Sunday News and The Standard. ............ 22
MISSION STATEMENT ........................................................................................................................... 22
CORE VALUES ........................................................................................................................................ 23
OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................................... 23
SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 24
POLITICAL ECONOMY ............................................................................................................................ 24
FUNDING MECHANISMS ....................................................................................................................... 25
EDITORIAL POLICY ................................................................................................................................. 26
Editor..................................................................................................................................................... 26
Reporters .............................................................................................................................................. 27
The Standard’s reporters are responsible for looking for stories that goes in line with the company’s
mission statement and editorial policy. The stories should be as critical as possible and in that regard
the sources are timely selected so that they go in line with the organisation’s mission. The Standard
also gives space external reporters who are critical to the government and are in support of
upholding human rights to air out their views in case of artisanal mining such as Zimbabwe
Democracy Institute. Some prominent reporters of The Standard in this category includes; Nunurai
Jena, Tarisai Mandizha, Veneranda Langa and Chipo Masara among others. ..................................... 28
CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS....................................................... 30
RESPONSE RATE .................................................................................................................................... 30
REPORTAGE ON ARTISANAL MINING AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES BY THE SUNDAY NEWS AND THE
STANDARD ............................................................................................................................................ 32
DISCUSSIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 34
PROMINENCE ON ARTISANAL MINING AND ENVIRONMENT BY THE SUNDAY NEWS AND THE
STANDARD ............................................................................................................................................ 35

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
DISCUSSIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 37
INFLUENCE OF OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL PATTERNS IN FRAMING OF ARTISANAL MINING BY THE
SUNDAY NEWS AND THE STANDARD.................................................................................................... 38
DISCUSSIONS ......................................................................................................................................... 40
CONCLUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 40
CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, CONCLUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................. 41
SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................. 41
RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 42
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .............................................................................................. 42
CONCLUSSION ....................................................................................................................................... 43
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 44

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 1: RESEARCH INTRODUCTION

The study seeks to find out how The Sunday News and The Standard frame artisanal mining
and environmental issues in Zimbabwe from 2017 to date. The selection of The Sunday News
and The Standard newspapers in this study is determined by the two newspapers‟ contrary
ownership patterns, identical frequency of publication and their broader base of readership.
The study also focuses on reportage, prominence and depth given to environmental issues by
The Sunday News and The Standard. Reportage is a set of measures which are necessary to
manufacture journalistic news. The researcher‟s interest on the reportage of artisanal mining
and environmental issues was particularly driven by a module that deals with theories of
development and democracy. Artisanal miners are a group of people who illegally extract
bedrock minerals using unsophisticated methods. Environmental issues are harmful human
activities to the physical environment.

The study used qualitative research design since it is based on unquantifiable data.
Questionnaires, Interviews and archival research methods were used. Archival research was
an epitome of this study since much of the data was in newspaper archives. The study was
guided by political economy, ideology and framing theories. These theories were important
because they provided a theoretical perspective in unpacking the research.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The Sunday News is a weekly public owned newspaper printed and published in Zimbabwe‟s
second largest city of Bulawayo. The newspaper was founded in 1930 by the Argus owned
Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company Limited, making it one of the oldest newspapers
in the country and arguably the first weekly newspaper. The Rhodesian Printing and
Publishing Company Limited changed its name to Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited
upon the attainment of Independence. The Sunday News is largely viewed as biased towards
the government and the ruling party since in Africa it is difficult to distinguish between the
two. In a number of cases the public publication has find it difficult to cut its umbilical code
from the government since it gets its funding from the government and this prompted Masuku
and Chirenje (2014) to argue that it can clearly signifies that you cannot bite the hand that
feeds you.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
The above mentioned marriage has reduced The Sunday News like many other state
controlled newspapers into “mere praise and worship” mediums of the government.
According to Rusike (2016), they concentrate and exaggerate the achievements of the
government. The framing of the news by The Sunday News reflects only the good picture of
the government policies. The artisanal miners who are causing massive environmental issues
in Zimbabwe are labelled as “small-scale” miners by The Sunday News because a number of
them are supporters of the ruling party and they are given the privilege to do their denigrating
activities by government “bigwigs” for political mileage.

The public press in Zimbabwe has maintained a far right discourse in support of the
government, and therefore it has lost its fair share of readership base which is predominated
by Urbanites who are excessively critical of the government (Mano: 2017). With this in mind,
the rise of independent newspapers has been largely accepted by readers who according to
Mukasa (2003) are in search of a dynamic articulation of issues concerning them which is
evidently lacking in the public press.

The Standard newspaper is a leading weekly independent press in Zimbabwe and it is owned
by the largest independent publishing house, Alpha Media Holdings (AMH). AMH was
founded on the turn of a millennium by the AMH Group that is chaired by a Zimbabwean
media mogul Trevor Ncube. AMH Group is motivated in giving an alternative voice to the
government (Moyo: 2016). The Standard has regularly maintained the term “artisanal
miners” or even a more derogatory vernacular term “Makorokoza/ Isitsheketsha” in its
articles. Despite spirited attempts by this newspaper to analyse critical issues pertaining
artisanal mining, The Standard is carried away too much by politics.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study focuses on the reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in
Zimbabwe from 2017 to 2018. This study is relevant as it was derived and necessitated by
some of the modules taught within the Media and Society studies department. The researcher
has been oriented to print journalism, political economy and the media, text audience and
reception just but a few amongst the modules to be mentioned. The study is therefore relevant
in the sense that it connects theoretical concepts of media and society studies particularly on
how different ownership patterns of the mainstream print media in Zimbabwe influences the
framing of different media texts and how the audience consume them.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The problem of this study is as follows, “The reportage by The Sunday News and The
Standard newspapers on artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe from 2017
to 2018.” Reportage is a regular process or procedures which are necessary to construct
journalistic news. Artisanal miners are a group of people who illegally extract bedrock
minerals using unsophisticated methods. Environmental issues are harmful human activities
to the physical environment. The key units that this research dealt with are the framing,
importance, prominence, depth and depiction by The Sunday News and The Standard
newspapers on news pertaining artisanal mining and environmental issues.

OBJECTIVES
 To explore the reportage by The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers on
artisanal mining and environment issues from 2017 to 2018.
 To establish framing of news by The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers on
artisanal mining in Zimbabwe.
 To assess the prominence given to environmental issues by The Sunday News and The
Standard.
 To assess the significance given to news on artisanal mining and environmental issues
by readers of The Sunday News and The Standard.

MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION

 How does The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers report on artisanal mining
and environmental issues in Zimbabwe from 2017 to 2018?

SUB RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 Do The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers from 2017 to 2018 give
prominence to news reportage on artisanal mining and environmental concerns?
 How do ownership and control patterns of The Sunday News and The Standard
influences variation on their news framing?

ASSUMPTIONS
The study assumes that:

 All targeted respondents, responds well to all questions paused to them in time.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
 The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers‟ news framing of artisanal mining
and environmental issues is influenced by political economy.
 The Sunday News and The Standard newspapers give prominence to the articles on
environmental issues for economic gains.

DELIMITATIONS
Simon (2015) defines delimitations as characteristics that border the scope and define the
boundary of the study. The study delimits to two reporters, two editors from each newspaper
and twenty readers of the newspapers from Tynwald in Harare. Editors and reporters are
important because they provide with explanation to research data. Readers are also important
in analysing prominence given to news reportage of artisanal mining and environmental
issues. The study also delimits itself to prominence given to news framing, depth and
professional reportage of environmental issues and artisanal mining by The Sunday News and
The Standard. The study delimits as well to articles related to this topic between the calendar
year 2017 to date.

LIMITATIONS
According to Simon and Goes (2013), matters and occurrences which arise in a study that are
out of the researcher‟s control are the limitations of the study. Since the study uses qualitative
method, the accuracy of the data solely depends with unbiased and cooperation of
respondents. The use of questionnaires also limits this study to literacy level of the
respondents. The key challenge of depending on archival retrieval is that it does not give key
explanations of importance, prominence and framing of news. The major weakness of the
framing theory is that it assumes that audience are passive hence they interpret media text in a
way preferred by the media. This assumption is incorrect as it had been identified by
Birmingham scholars that audience are active.

STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY

The study consists of 6 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the research topic and provide
background to the study. Chapter 2 reviews literature and theoretical framework. Chapter 3
discusses research methodology and data collection methods. Chapter 4 comprises of
organisational analysis of The Sunday News and The Standard. Chapter 5 provides findings

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
of the study and discussions. Chapter 6 provides summary, conclusions and recommendations
of the study.

CONCLUSSION
The preliminary chapter introduced background of the study, stated the problem statement
and provided the research objectives. It also outlined the research questions which clarified
the aim of the study that is an analysis on the reportage of artisanal mining and environmental
issues by The Sunday News and The Standard. The study clearly outlined the assumptions,
limitations and delimitations of the study.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK
The chapter reviews literature on news reportage, sociology of news and the role of
journalism on sustainable development and environmental issues. It also discusses theoretical
framework namely news framing, ideology and political economy. The three theories assisted
the researcher to understand the problem statement from a theoretical point of view.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Webster and Watson (2002) define literature review as the assessment body of research that
addresses the research question. It is important for the researcher to assess literature that is
available in premise of this research because it provides a foundational knowledge of what
has been previously found in the field. This study surveyed literature from published
textbooks, published and unpublished dissertations, journals, articles, newspapers among
other sources relevant to the study. Literature was reviewed thematically and themes were
derived from research questions of the study. Understanding literature on news reportage,
journalism role on environmental issues and sustainable development and sociology of news
helped the researcher to broaden his knowledge and identifying research gaps in this area.
The researcher empirically understood the role of the media in educating and influencing the
policy-makers especially on environmental related issues such as EMA in Zimbabwe.

NEWS REPORTAGE
Barbosa and Rabacca (2014) define reportage as a combination of measures which are
necessary to manufacture journalistic news. This combination of measures according to
Barbosa and Rabacca (2014: 638) includes: “…coverage, investigations, data selection,
interpretation and treatment, within certain techniques and requirements.” Skovgaard (2012)
suggests that it is reporting of facts of interest and importance to the community and
comprehensible to the audience. Skovgaard (2012 believes that news reports should serve
human interest. Zilizer (2005) postulated that, news text should consider audience who are
final consumers of the text. These definitions are important to the study because they give
clarity to what is reportage and how it is constructed by journalist for audience‟s
consumption. This literature is very relevant since it relates to how news of environmental
issues and artisanal mining are articulated by The Sunday News and The Standard.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
In manufacturing of news texts, Nolan (2008) argues that journalists need to adhere to the
professional code of conduct. Juana et al (2016) concurs by saying that news reports should
represent facts. Nolan (2008) further says journalists need to be recognised positions of trust
and their news reportage must carry public responsibility. Journalists are encouraged to
adhere to professionalism so that they can articulate issues that affect the societies.
Nevertheless, White et al (2009) claims that although the characterisation of news as
presentation of „facts,‟ is a notion expected, however what is actually on the ground is a
higher degree of subjectivity of news reportage. This literature is vital to the study because it
outlines that journalists should abide to professionalism in their articulation of news
reportage. The literature is relevant to this study in the sense that it gives the researcher the
knowledge of what is expected from the journalists in reporting artisanal mining and
environmental issues

Tuchman (1973) argues that news reportage is dynamic across different media houses and the
reporting of a similar event is likely to be different from single news reportage to another.
The difference in framing of a news event by two media houses especially in the use of
terminology and pictures signifies that ownership and control is important in news
production. Skovgaard (2013) noted that, reportage of a “same event” or issue carried out by
different outlets is likely to be different because of the diverse measures that are taken in
framing of the news text. This literature is crucial to this study because it signifies the
importance of political economy in the framing of news which is a critical aspect in this
study. This is very relevant in the sense that it conforms to the research questions of this
study as it is concerned with the influence of ownership in variations in news framing.

According to Tuchman (1973) the typifying of events-as-news is a procedural process

governed by the organizational structure that influence how news stories should be
constructed. Paratt (2012) noted that reportage is multi-faceted because it is not independent
from the subjective writer of the article. The fact that news reportage makes use of resources
for the covert of subjective positions has not liberated the media discourse to the political
economy of the media (Zilizer: 2012). This point further strengthens the fact that ownership
and control of news media has high influences on how the news text can be articulated. It is
also important for the researcher to be knowledgeable on such facts as they can help in
assembling and analysing data. The literature is also relevant to the study as portrayed
previously that the influence of ownership and control on news framing is a key research
question of this study.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

SOCIOLOGY OF NEWS
The interpretation behind the production of news is a difficult one between social scientists
who study the news and the journalists who right the news (Schudson: 1989). Social
scientists such as Gieber (1964: 18) Cohen and Young (1973: 9) and Fishman (1980: 23)
often talk of “social construction of reality,” “constructing the news” or “making news”
respectively. Fishman (1989) suggests that news is the result of the methods news-workers
employ. According to Cohen and Young (1973) news is manufactured by journalists.
Schudson (1989) noted that although journalists do write facts in news, they occasionally
bias, sensationalise and inaccurate news making it fake. Tuchman (1976; 97) sums up by
suggesting that, “to say that news report is a story, no more, but no less, is not to demean the
news, not to accuse it of being fictitious, rather it alerts us that news, like all public
documents, is constructed reality possessing its internal validity.” It is undoubtedly true as
outlaid by Tuchman (1976) that journalists not government officials or magic pick the words
that appear in news stories. In that perspective henceforth, the literature is relevant in that it
conforms to research objectives which are intended to analyse how The Sunday News and The
Standard frame artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe.

Sociologist, Weber (1889) observed a journalist as a “political person.” According to

Schudson (1989), the first attempt to formally study news production was derived from the
work of psychologist Lewin in 1951. Lewin (1951) propounded the term “gatekeeper” to
refer to processes similar to journalistic actions of determining what should be reported and
what should not be reported (White: 1950; Gieber: 1964). Contrary arguments laid above are
important to the study because they provide a cavity for the researcher to explore in relating
the arguments raised in as far as to how editors influences publications in this study. This is
very relevant to the research because the literature connects with the research questions on
how ownership and control patterns of The Sunday News and The Standard enhance
variations in reportage of artisanal mining in Zimbabwe.

Schudson (1989) argues that gatekeeping involves social organization of news-work. This
perspective was researched on by Molotch and Lester (1974), they created a typology of
news stories according to whether a news occurrence is planned or unplanned, and whether
the planners of the occurrence are or are not also the promoters of it as news. When an event
is planned and promoted as news by its planners, it is a „routine‟ news item and when an
event is planned by someone else but promoted by the media, it is a „scandal.‟ The third event
they observed is when an event is unplanned but promoted by the media it is an „accident.‟

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Molotch and Lester (1974) thus concluded that what is reflected in newspapers is not what‟s
happening in the world out there, but the practices of those who have the power to determine
the experiences of others. This literature outlines another perspective of news screening
which is not quite similar to political economy but the social organization of the media. This
perspective is crucial because it give the researcher various ways to assess news screening
hence it broadens the researcher‟s knowledge in the field. The literature is relatable to the
study because it still explains variations in news framing of artisanal mining as a result of
different organizational cultures.

JOURNALISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT
Viederman (2007), Charles (2010), Hansen (2013), Tshabangu (2013) and Samukange (2015)
noted that journalism has influence in shaping reality and it should use that power to promote
a sustainable policy on development and environment. Charles (2010) argues that journalism
is a critical component of the society and it should lead in addressing environmental issues
through advocacy, education, awareness and activism. Viederman (2007:5) defines
Sustainable development as, “…a participatory process that creates and pursues a vision of
community that respects and makes prudent use of all its resources…” The participatory
process of the community that Viederman (2007) suggests is enhanced by journalism in
contemporary community. It is therefore relevant to this study since it outlays what is
expected from the media in relation to professional articulation of environmental issues and
this knowledge is important to the researcher in measuring depth on reportage of
environmental issues by The Sunday News and The Standard.

Tshabangu (2013) argues that, the concept of connecting journalism to development first
originated in Philippine in the 1960s and was referred to as “developmental journalism.”
According to Ogan (1980), Philippine journalists were encouraged to report more
development news. Chalkley (1968) claims that Philippine journalist was tasked to positively
promote facts of economic life and to interpret those facts to open eyes of readers to possible
development solutions. In Africa, Ansah (1998) noted that the dominant argument in post-
colonial Africa was that, because Third World nations are newly emergent, they need time to
develop hence the media must cooperate in stressing positive, development-inspired news
and ignore negative societal ideologies. This literature draws the concepts of development
and journalistic role which is very important to the study. This literature is very relatable to

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
this study in the sense that the perception that journalists of The Sunday News and The
Standard have on development journalism influences the prominence they give to news
reportage on environmental issues.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Eisenhart (2015) define a theoretical framework as a structure that guides research by relying
on formal theory. The theoretical framework is the “blueprint” for the entire research inquiry.
This research was guided by three main theories namely, news framing, ideology and
political economy.

FRAMING THEORY
The theory was first propounded by Goffman in 1974 under the title “frame analysis.”
According to Scheufele (1999) and Fairhurst and Sarr (1996), framing theory has its roots in
a number of disciplinary traditions, and different scholars have defined it as a concept at
different levels of analysis. This study is inspired by framing theory which emphasise the role
of media in construction of reality. Goffman (1974) argues that, people interpret what is
going on around their world through their “primary framework.” Tewksbury and Scheufele
(2007:18) describes Primary frameworks as “relatively stable and socially shared category
systems that human being use to classify new information.” This theory is equally important
to the study because it theorise how audience interpret news text. It is therefore relevant in
the sense that it gives a hypothetical explanation to the study especially on the assessment of
prominence given to environmental issues by The Sunday News and The Standard.

Fairhurst and Sarr (1996) suggest that the media is involved in creation of reality the way that
they portray a situation shows that there is a thin line between reality and the media. In its
general terms Gamson and Modigliani (2017: 143) argue framing is, “central organizing idea
or story line that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events.” Gitlin (1980:7) says that,
news framing give “meaning” since they are “interpretative packages” that “cognize,
interpret, present, select, emphasize and exclude symbol-handlers which routinely organize
discourse.” Converging views canvassed by scholars above are paramount important to the
study because they show contrary efforts by both the media in framing reality and how it is
consumed by the audience.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Wahl-Jorgensen and Hanitzsch (2009) suggest that treating frames as core ideas or story lines
provide an insufficient basis for consistent measurement or theory. To them, framing is a
“process” not an “event” that is influential in media shaping of public opinion. Scheufele
(2000) and de Vreese (2002) noted that frames have several locations, including the
communicator, the receiver and the culture. This literature is relevant in the sense that it
outlays ways in which the media frames the news and thus it is relatable to the reportage of
artisanal mining by The Sunday News and The Standard.

THEORY OF IDEOLOGY
This study also conceptualises the theory of ideology to establish the basis of power relations
in journalism. The concept of Ideology was propounded by Louis Althusser and was first
published in 1970. To Althusser (1970), ideology represents the imaginary relationship of
individuals to their real conditions of existence. Althusser (1970) argues that ideology is
materialistic in existence and it manifests in apparatuses which are ideological apparatuses
and repressive apparatuses. Althusser (1970) argues that media is an ideological apparatus
that is used by the elite to maintain dominance over their subjects. Deuze (2005) and Golding
and Elliott (1979) postulate that Journalism studies over time has been a distinctly ideological
development. This theory is important in the sense that it theorises power relations vested in
media text and it conforms to the study. This study derives intelligence out of the theory of
ideology in an attempt to envisage power relations portrayed in the framing of artisanal
mining.

Deuze (2005) argues that journalism is an ideology. Schlesinger (1978) concurs that
journalists are occupational ideologists. Soloski (1990) talks of an ideology of
professionalism in reference to journalistic activities and Schudson (2001) defines broadly of
occupational ideology of journalism as cultural knowledge that constitutes news judgement.
Soloski (1990) identifies ideology as an instrument in the hands of journalists and their
editors to naturalize the structure of the news organization or media corporation one works
for. Dahlgren (1992) speaks of journalism ideology as a collection of values, strategies and
formal codes shared by organizational members. This theory is very important in this study as
it strengthens the researcher‟s hypothetical understanding of journalistic ideology in framing
of news texts. The theory underscores its validity to this study in connection to the influence
of political economy in variations in news reportage of artisanal mining by The Sunday News
and The Standard.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Deuze (2005) suggests that journalism as an ideology incorporates beliefs characteristic of a
particular group, including the general process of the production of meanings and ideas. He
further argue that the creation of news stories, in a newsroom set up, the selection of words,
pictures, sources among others to bat trace the facts is done carefully and deliberately by
journalists thus producing an ideology. Shoemaker and Reese (1996) instead talk of a
dominant occupational ideology of journalism on which most news-workers base their
professional perceptions and praxis on. The difference in framing of artisanal mining in this
context is affected by the ideology located in the newsroom of The Sunday News and The
Standard.

THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

According to Schauerte (2007), the theory of political economy is traceable to the works of
physiocratist, Francois Quesnay in the mid-eighth century. According to Mosco (1995),
political economy studies social relations, specifically power relations that mutually combine
production, distribution and consumption of resources including communication resources.
Mosco (1995) further asserts that political economy manifest in the study of three features
which are social change, social relations and moral philosophy. The theory relates to the
study since the study itself is concerned with the influence of political economy on the
variations in news framing of artisanal mining by The Sunday News and The Standard.

Boyd-Barrett (1974) claims that, the rediscovery of critical traditions in the 1960s and the
influence of radical economists such as Baran and Sweezy (1966) helped to bring the concept
of political economy to media studies. Schiller (1969) noted the radicalizing potential of
political economy to the media and the one-to-one relationship between macro-economic
needs and media content. Such discussions on the influence of media control and ownership
on the framing of media discourse are insightful to the researcher in terms of
conceptualisation of political economy. The theory is very relatable to the study since it link
ownership to media content which is one of the aim of this research to find out how
difference in ownership and control of The Sunday News and The Standard influences
variations in reportage of artisanal mining.

Schiller (1969) noted the perspective on the power of advertising in the construction,
distribution and consumption of media products. He noted that audiences are consumed by
manipulated needs. Symthe (1980) suggest that media are producers of not only
entertainment commodities, but of audiences. He asserts that audiences-as-commodities are
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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
sold on to advertisers as surplus value by devoting their time to consume advertising
messages. In that regard, Murdock and Golding (1991) noted that, advertisers end up directly
or indirectly exerting influence on the discourse that the media should to frame. This theory is
very important to this study because it illuminate various political economy influencers of
discourse that is visible in media texts. This theory fit into the study in analysing power
contestations in news production thereby determining how issues are framed particularly by
The Sunday News and The Standard on reportage of artisanal mining.

CONCLUSSION
The chapter reviewed relevant literature to the study. Various scholars researched on
reportage of news, sociology of news production and role of journalism on sustainable
development and environment. This background has provided the researcher with a base to
rely on. The chapter also discussed theoretical framework that guided the study. News
framing, ideology and political economy helped the researcher to understand the problem
statement from a theoretical viewpoint.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses methodology and data collection methods used in this study which is
purely qualitative. It explains and discusses the importance of sampling techniques, data
collection methods and data analysis techniques. The Chapter outline and discuss on how
research ethics were enhanced.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Denzin and Lincoln (2011) argue that research methodology is a way to solve a research
problem. Myers (2009) broadly states it as systematic way that can be understood as a science
of studying research. Bryman (2012) additionally asserts that research methodology considers
the logic behind the methods which are used in context of the research study and reasons for
using a particular method or technique instead of another. Although other distinctions in
research modes exist, the most common classification of research methods is qualitative and
quantitative (Myers 2009).

Gray (2009) argue that the choice of research methodology is determined by researcher‟s
expectations of research results, in that regard a research methodology is influenced by
whether the research is inclined towards a positivist, interpretivist, or other perspective.
Myers (2009) claims that qualitative research methods were specifically developed in social
sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena. Hence the
interpretative nature of this study and subjectivity of its aims, as it is concerned with
assessments of attitudes, opinions and behaviours made it imperative for the researcher to
conduct a qualitative research inquiry.

QUALITTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

This study undertakes a qualitative research design since the research objectives requires
interpretative data. According to Bryman (2012), qualitative research design relates to
understanding some aspects of social life and its methods generate words rather than numbers
as data for analysis. Qualitative research broadens the researcher‟s understanding of how
things came to be what they are in real social world (Hancock et al 2009). In that case,
qualitative research was relevant to this study because it enabled the researcher to explore

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and The Standard from 2017-2018.
how people experience something, or what are their views on a particular social topic like
reportage of environmental issues. Thus qualitative data is of paramount importance to this
study as Gray (2009) further argues that qualitative research data is highly contextual because
it is collected in a “real life” setting; hence it goes beyond giving a mere snapshot or cross
section of events.

In essence of this study, qualitative research method has enough advantages to the researcher
since it gives depth and detail of issues covered. Interviews for instance are not limited to
particular question but rather can be directed or redirected by researcher in real (Yin 2014).
Barbour (2014) also proclaims that questionnaires are appropriate to a study similar to this
one because they can reach wider audience especially newspaper readers of The Sunday News
and The Standard.

TARGET POPULATION
Lavrakas (2009) defines a target population as the total set of units for which the survey data
are to be used to make extrapolations. Thus, the target population defines units which the
results of the study are meant to generalize. In terms of geographical area, this research was
demarcated to 20 newspaper readers from Tynwald residential suburb in Harare. The
selection of readers in Tynwald was mainly necessitated by the economical aspect of the
location to the researcher but apart from that, the nature of the residents of Tynwald who are
mainly middle class who can access newspapers and are literate enough to read and answer
questionnaires. In this case, readers outside Tynwald were not chosen because of lack of
funds for the researcher to incorporate a bigger target population. 2 newspaper editors and 6
reporters of mining and environmental desks from each of The Sunday News and The
Standard also made up the target population of this study. The selection of specified editors
and reporters follows the research topic which deal with reportage of artisanal mining and
environmental issues and the target number conforms to general number of them in a
newsroom.

UNIT OF ANALYSIS
Bryman (2012) describes a unit of analysis things or anything the researcher intends to
closely observe, explain and evaluate. Denzin and Lincoln (2011) argue that they might be
families, communities, organization, groups, programmes, articles, or a theme. In this study,
the researcher intended to examine the framing of artisanal mining and environmental issues

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
by The Sunday News and The Standard. The researcher is as well interested in analysing
prominence given to the issues, depth in reportage of the issues and professional reportage of
these issues by the reporters.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
King and Horrocks (2010) define sampling as the collection of some part of totality on basis
of which inference about a totality is made. The researcher used sampling to systematically
select elements for instance in the distribution of questionnaires. The researcher also used
sampling to choose the most appropriate elements especially in selection of editors and
reporters for interviews. In case of sampling archival newspapers, the sample size was
infinite because there was no exact number of newspapers that were analysed for their
content. In that regard, sampling frame of at least 1 newspaper of either The Sunday News or
The Standard per month was employed in apportioning elements of study into sampling
groups. The researcher employed two major non-probability sampling techniques namely:
convenience and purposive.

CONVENIENCE SAMPLE
McNealy (2015: 156) describes a convenience sample as one that a researcher acquire by
going to public “locations and asking passers-by to participate.” Hancock et al (2009)
defines a convenience sample as the selection by the researcher of available elements and
those who are likely to participate even perhaps over a specific period. In this study, the
researcher went to roadsides in Tynwald, and approached passers-by who were interested in
answering questionnaires. The researcher used this method to pick out 20 newspaper readers
for data collection. The method was appropriate in administering questionnaires because it
linked the researcher with the most accessible subjects. Given the limited resources that the
researcher of this subject had, this was the most suitable technique to use. The technique was
the least costly, saved time, effort and money.

PURPOSIVE SAMPLE
McNealy (2015: 157) defines a sample that have “the characteristics…necessary to answer
questions about a certain matter or product” as a purposive sample. The researcher selects the
sample based on the practical knowledge of the research area (Kroeber and McMichael
2008). In this study, the researcher used purposive sampling to select editors and reporters for

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
interviews. Using purposive sampling, the researcher avoided interviewing all the editors and
reporters of The Sunday News and The Standard but with the background knowledge he had,
he approached only Mining and Environmental desks to pick his elements for data collection.
This method enables the researcher to actively select most productive sample to answer the
research questions and it facilitated examination of a broader range of subjects.

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Data collection methods or techniques are instruments that are canvassed in carrying-out a
research such as; archival analysis, questionnaire and structured interviews (Bryman 2012).
In this study, data was collected through unstructured interviews, open-ended and close ended
questionnaires and archival analysis.

QUESTIONNAIRES
King and Horrocks (2010) describe a questionnaire as an orderly printed or typed form or
forms comprising a number of questions that are mailed or physically submitted to
respondents who are expected to read and understand the questions and write down the reply
in the space meant for the purpose in the questionnaire itself. The researcher used structured
questions to ensure standardisation of questions so that respondents answered to same set of
questions. The researcher administered questionnaires physically to 20 readers of The Sunday
News and The Standard in Tynwald of which 10 of them were males whilst the other 10 were
females. In that regard, the researcher used both open-ended and close-ended questions to
extract data. The researcher used close-ended question like, „How often do you read
environmental articles from The Sunday News or The Standard?‟ or an open-ended question
like, „Why do you prefer reading political articles to environmental articles?‟

Green (2009) noted that good quality data is ensured by developing right questions that
precisely present the kind of data that the researcher is looking for. Accordingly, the
researcher followed precisely the above principles of questionnaires, with right kind of
questions presented to the respondents. The researcher allowed respondents to answer the
questions on their own. The questionnaires were well sequenced to avoid misunderstanding,
ambiguous and boring to answer. The questions were clear and simple to avoid
misunderstanding by the respondents, impartial to prevent giving a biased picture of the true
state of affairs and conformed as much as possible to the respondent‟s way of thinking.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Questionnaires had some of the following advantages to the researcher; low cost but covered
a large universe, quality data since the data was free from bias of the interviewer,
respondents, who were not easily approachable were reached conveniently, respondents have
enough time to give well thought out answers and large samples were used, thus the results
were more dependable and reliable. Nevertheless, slow and low rate of return of duly filled
questionnaires was a major cause of concern for this method. The method was also limited to
educated and cooperating respondents.

INTERVIEWS
This research used In-depth interviews and personal interviews. King and Horrocks (2010)
argue that, interview method involves presentation of verbal incitements and reply in terms of
verbal replies. Interviews and discussions are similar to everyday conversations, although
they are focused on the researcher‟s need for data (Green: 2009). The researcher used semi-
structured interviews which included both strictly predetermined order and at times enabling
a free-flowing conversation. Interviews data was much reliable and valid especially with the
type of questions asked and how they were asked. The researcher used personal interviews
basically by engaging in a face-to-face contact with newspaper editors and reporters.

The researcher maintained an eye contact with newspaper reporters or editors whilst taking
notes as they interact. Probing technique was essentially used to extract in-depth data by the
researcher. Gray (2009) suggests that probing interview technique is whereby the researcher
uses verbal and non-verbal means to encourage a respondent to continue speaking.
Maintaining an eye contact, nodding head or a phrase like, “could you elaborate more on that
point?” are examples of probing. Field notes were collected through audiotape and short
notes were also written down but were done carefully to avoid distracting the discussions.

Interviews were very beneficial to the researcher during the course of the study, in terms of
broader information and depth data obtained. This was also helped by the fact that the
researcher was flexible during interviews to restructure questions to suit context unlike in
questionnaires. The interviewer also used his personal inquisitive skills to overcome
resistance.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
The nature of this research study probably aligns it mostly to archival research method. This
study is interested in analysing reportage of environmental issues and artisanal mining by The
Sunday News and The Standard from 2017 to date. Henceforth, more of this research‟s data
resided in archival newspapers thereby making archival research method a necessity.

Ventresca and Mohr (2010) describe archival research as consisting of analysing contents of
documentary materials such as books, magazines, newspapers and contents of other verbal
materials spoken or printed. It includes a broad range of activities applied to facilitate the
investigation of documents and textual materials produced by and about organizations
(Hancock et al 2009). Prior to 1940, as Yin (2014) argues archival research was limited to
quantitative analysis of countable material in archived documents. The analysis might be
relatively subtle especially in case of this study when the researcher is interested in studying
attitudes of for example a newspaper towards awareness or education to its readers.

In essence of this study, the researcher analysed a total of 22 environment and artisanal
mining articles of which 11 articles were from The Sunday News and the other 11 articles
from The Standard from 2017 to date. Purposive sampling was used to select articles because
it necessitated the choice of the most appropriate elements for study. The researcher selected
an article each from both newspapers per month such that for the total period covered, a total
number of 22 articles were examined. The researcher was able to analyse frequency of
articles on environmental issues and artisanal mining in both newspapers in order to
determine the prominence given to the stated issues. The researcher was also able to look on
where articles on environmental issues and artisanal mining were positioned in the
newspapers to know importance given to those kinds of stories. In analysing archival
newspaper content, the researcher was also able to measure the depth of those articles in
terms of evaluating arguments raised by the reporters. The researcher accessed hard
newspaper copies in the University library for analysis.

With archival research, the researcher was able comprehend a basis for; explaining key
questions, establishes a base of evidence and supports debate about familiar forms and
mechanisms. The method was advantageous to the researcher because material for study was
accessible, cheap and easy to analyse.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

DATA ANALYSIS
Marshall and Rossman (2017: 150) describe data analysis as “the process of bringing order,
structure and meaning to the mass of collected data.” It is described as messy, ambiguous and
time-consuming, but also as creative and fascinating process (Green: 2009). The researcher
used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and content analysis to deduce and induce logical
premise in this study.

CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA)

Data retrieved from archives was analysed through CDA. CDA stems from a critical theory
language which sees the use of language as a form of social practice that reveals power
relations between social groups (King and Horrocks 2010). Researchers as Hancock et al
(2009) argue are interested in how discourses are organised to be persuasive or to present an
intended world view. Gray (2009) asserts that CDA as data analysis tool incur three different
dimensions when analysing qualitative data. The first dimension is the object analysis
dimension that includes analysing verbal and visual texts. The second dimension is the
analysis to which the object is produced and received; writing, speaking, reading or listening
by human objects. The last one is the socio-historical conditions which govern all the above
processes.

In this study, the researcher used three different kind of analysis which are; text analysis,
processing analysis and social analysis to analyse discourse. Using these methods, the
researcher was able to deduce meaning from articles in terms of measuring depth of the
language used in articles on environmental issues and artisanal mining. It openly challenge
the power expressed in media text, the stories they tend to give importance to upon the
weaker components of the society which happens to be the readers.

CONTENT ANALYSIS
This technique as Hancock et al (2009) suggest was rooted in quantitative approaches though
it is extensively suitable in analysing of documents. According to Barbour (2014) content
analysis in social sciences is used for studying content of communication by engaging
different aspects of content. Content analysis looks at the presence of words in texts and
unpacks meaning and relationship to each other.

The researcher used content analysis to explore the use of words in text articles on artisanal
mining and environmental issues between 2017 to date. The researcher using content analysis

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
was able to deduce meaning of words or names with embedded contextual connotations. Text
and semiotic analysis are very critical aspects in the formulation of a message or article
which need to be examined carefully to comprehend the intended meaning.

ETHICAL ISSUES
Ethics is a set of virtues that bounds what is generally agreed as right or wrong, just or unjust
and acceptable or unacceptable. Nolan and Behi (2016) avow that in research, ethical
considerations influence whether a study is ethically acceptable. Acknowledgement of
sources is a key ethical consideration in research. It is defined as citing of reference sources
to avoid plagiarism. In this research academic sources were properly cited. Another important
ethical issue is informed consent of participants. Informed consent is making participants
aware of the scope of the research and objectives of the research. Using unorthodox ways like
deception to obtain data is unethical and should not be tolerated in academic research. The
researcher avoided use of deception to acquire data; covert research is not good for the
integrity of a researcher. Protection of the identities of participants is also a critical ethical
issue in research. Some participants may not want to be disclosed their identities. The
researcher took this aspect in consideration and identities were protected.

CONCLUSSION
This chapter conversed methodology of the research. It explained and discussed the
population of interest, sampling techniques and segmentation of population of interest. It
further deliberated data collection methods and analysis of the research and settled with
converse of ethical considerations.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 4: ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

This chapter deals with organization analysis of two newspapers namely

The Sunday News and The Standard from 2017 to date. The Chapter also
analyses vision statement, mission statement, core values, political economy
and funding mechanisms of The Sunday News and The Standard.
VISION STATEMENT

Cornellisen (2004) argues that a vision displays what the organization wants to achieve in a
long run and it motivates staff members to work towards achieving that goal. Vision
statement of The Sunday News is incorporated in its parent company, Zimpapers which says,
„to be the leading integrated media, commercial printing and packaging company in
Zimbabwe and beyond.‟ The premise of this study is to verify if the Zimpapers is able to
uphold its vision statement in reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in
Zimbabwe from 2017 to date.

The vision statement of The Standard is also incorporated in its mother organisation, Alpha
Media Holdings (AMH) which is as follows, „To be the most successful media group in
Zimbabwe, with each operating division in the top three of its sector in terms of: Market
share, Profitability, Brand recognition and Turnover.‟ This study would like to find out
whether AMH is capable of balancing profitability vision through professional reportage of
artisanal mining in Zimbabwe from 2017 to date.

MISSION STATEMENT
Collen (2004) defines a mission statement as a broad expression which reflects the overall
purpose for the existence of an organization, related to the values and objectives of the major
stakeholders. The Sunday News‟ mission statement is imbedded in the Zimpapers‟ which says
„to publish newspapers, magazines, produce print and packaging products as well as offer
broadcasting services of the highest quality at competitive prices that add value to our
stakeholders.‟ Although this mission is inclusive in terms of catering all stakeholders of the
organisation, it is difficult for Zimpapers to fulfil the above mission because of the diversity
of interest of its various stakeholders. This study is interested in finding out the extent to
which the Zimpapers‟ mission statement is achieved through reportage of artisanal mining.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
The Mission Statement for AMH which incorporates The Standard says, „To provide
effective leadership to the group for the provision of world class multimedia products and
services, serve and inform the public, to be professional, while enhancing shareholder value,
upholding press freedom, human rights and cultivating democratic values.” The study
analysed the extent to which the AMH mission statement is fulfilled in the reportage of
artisanal mining in Zimbabwe from 2017 to date.

CORE VALUES
According to Kane (1981) core values are set of beliefs that specify universal expectations
and preferred modes of behaviour in a company. Zimpapers‟ core values are to ensure
prosperity and wellbeing of its shareholders, employees and customers. The epicentre of this
study is to analyse the extent to which Zimpapers uphold its values in professional reportage
of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe.

The core values of AMH are Professionalism, Accountability, Teamwork, Integrity and
Excellence. In context of this study, the reportage of artisanal mining and environmental
issues recommend the media to be professional and accountable. The study analysed the
extent to which professionalism, accountability and excellence was enhanced in the reportage
of artisanal mining in Zimbabwe.

OBJECTIVES
Zimpapers strives to provide a multimedia platform on which advertisers, the group allows
each marketer to achieve their communication objectives by; allowing them to reach their
target audience, providing different media platforms to best deliver their message and giving
a selection of media to fit in their budget. The researcher analysed the extent to which
environmental reportage attracted advertisers and furnished target audience with reliable
information on artisanal mining.

The objectives of AMH are to produce newspapers of the highest quality profitably that
serves the best interests of the society. It strives to give a fair, balanced presentation of each
week‟s news. It also seeks to service existing markets and maintaining cordial relations with
customers and business people. The study analysed the extent to which environmental
reportage was presented fairly and balanced facts. Again it also analysed the influence of
environmental reportage to open news market.

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

SHAREHOLDER STRUCTURE
The Sunday News is a subsidiary of Zimpapers, a publicly owned company listed on stock
exchange. The government is the major shareholder with 51% stake through Zimbabwe
Mass Media Trust. Therefore, the government through its major shareholding is in charge of
making critical decisions like hiring and firing of CEOs and Editors through the Ministry of
Media and Information. Old Mutual, an insurance and assurance group owns 24% stake in
Zimpapers, Edward Nominees owns 11%, InterMarket and NSSA both owns 3% each,
Zimpapers Pension Fund and EFE Securities has 2% between them whilst Glenhazel
Investments, Shara Shepherd, Munich Reins, NNR and CSA have 1% each. Zimpapers is
legally owned by the public though it is controlled by the government. The government
cautiously appoints CEO and Editors who abide to the ruling party policies so that they can
spearhead its agenda. In that regard, Zimpapers publications like The Sunday News rarely
criticize policies of the government which support artisanal mining.

AMH which publishes The Standard is chaired by Trevor Ncube. He is followed by company
directors which includes; Nyasha P. S Zhou, Sternford Moyo, Mari Budesa, Rashid Maliki
and Mohamed Nanabhay and Kangai Maukazuva. AMH is a (Private) Limited company,
with 61% shares owned by Vusumuzi Investment (Private) Limited and 39% owned by
Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF). Vusumuzi Investment is a 100% Zimbabwean
owned company and MDLF is a non-profit venture fund that invests in media in emerging
markets. Trevor Ncube, a notable critic of the government is in charge of the AMH hence its
publications are critical to the government policies and directly or indirectly attack
government efforts in integrating artisanal mining.

POLITICAL ECONOMY
Mosco (1996) propagates that political economy studies social relations, specifically power
relations that mutually combine production, distribution and consumption of resources
particularly communication resources. Marx (1867) purports that, those who owns the means
of production have a say in what is produced. Murdock and Golding (1973) concur by
suggesting that the different media products cannot be viewed in isolation to the ownership
trends of their media houses. In that essence, Anderson and Ross (1998) argue that funding is
the most determining factor for editorial policy of any media organization. The discourse
propagated by both The Sunday News and The Standard in reportage of artisanal mining and

24
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
environmental issues is largely influenced by ownership and control patterns of the two
newspapers.

On other hand, The Standard has maintained a critical narrative of the government since
Trevor Ncube, the founder and Chairman of the Group fiercely oppose the ZANU PF regime
especially the one led by Robert Mugabe. In context of this study, it is vital to note that The
Standard has a negative perception on artisanal miners whom they often refer to as
“Makorokoza/Itsheletshela” a derogatory vernacular term for artisanal miners which means
“illegal panners” (Mawowa 2013).

Curran and Gurevitch (2000) also assert that political economy seeks to reveal power
relations with capitalist enterprises to influence production, distribution and consumption of
media products. The Sunday News and The Standard are both influenced by their advertisers
when reporting on artisanal mining. The study found out that mining activity which is the
backbone of our economy shapes news production of the two newspapers from 2017 to date.

FUNDING MECHANISMS
The mechanisms that a media organisation uses to access funds are very critical in analysing
media content and reportage (Doyle 2008). Ownership patterns and funding mechanisms
largely influences the editorial policy and mission of any publication. Golding and Murdock
(2007) believe that the relationship between the ownership patterns and content published by
a certain media is very symbiotic. The Sunday News which is owned by the government is
pro-government of the day. The Standard as well is not independent from the forces of
funding and control. The fact that the newspaper is funded by forces which are critical to the
government has led it to follow suit by reporting negatively. The privately owned publication
is anti-government to an extent that whatever the government is for, the newspaper is against.
The fact that the government is in support of artisanal miners gives The Standard a room to
criticize.

Curran and Gurevitch (2000) further purport that the survival of any publication largely
depends on its ability to attract advertisements. According to Herman and Chomsky (1998),
advertisement revenue account for almost 70% of any media organisation. Apart from
advertisements, both organisations are funded through copy selling. The Sunday News and
The Standard sale their copies to their broader bases of customers through newspaper
vendors. Zimpapers also acquire government grants through the Ministry of Media and

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Information which however in return exerts some pressure on what the public press has to
publish.

EDITORIAL POLICY
Du Plooy (1995) argues that editorial policy is a document of general information that
governs the way in which a given media carry out its activities. To Boyd-Barret and Newbold
(1995) editorial policy is the institutionalisation of objectives that hold what the company
believes in the end and direction it moves towards. It is the set of principles of a publishing
organisation that aligns its modus operandi to the mission statement, vision statement and
values. The Sunday News‟ editorial policy is to give readers credible information as accurate
as possible both for local and international events. The content must be devoid of
sensationalism, supportive of Zimbabwe‟s goal through covering positively the elected
government. Although this editorial policy talks of providing credible news, it clearly
stipulates that it will supports the elected government of the day. Arguably, this policy has
aligned the state controlled press to its discourse rather than providing credible information to
readers. The Sunday News is therefore government‟s mouthpiece in protecting artisanal
miners who are rescinding the environment.

The Standard‟s editorial policy states that; the editorial board is totally committed to
delivering accurate and impartial news to inform the public. The media house focuses on
seeking the truth, to give significance to all relevant opinions and ensure that no significant
tree of thought is downplayed. This editorial policy clearly depicts that The Standard is
driven by providing a critical perspective to the government which is part of its mission
statement. The private publication strives to be professional in reportage of issues through
delivering accurate and impartial facts to the public. Nevertheless, the fact that the newspaper
is overwhelmed in defending “all trees of thought,” means it vehemently clash with the
government. In that regard, The Standard is therefore carried away by only giving an
opposing view to the government that as well affects impartiality of news.

ORGANOGRAM

Editorial

The editorial department is core for any newspaper organization since collection, selection,
processing and packaging of news items takes place here. Editorial team at The Sunday News

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Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
is in threefold, it includes the Editor-in-chief, Editor and Deputy Editor. The editor-in-chief
of Zimpapers group publications is Mabasa Sasa and the editor of The Sunday News is
Limukani Ncube. The editor is responsible for operations within the organisation and
possesses the final say on which stories should or should not be published. The editor of The
Sunday News is responsible for day-to-day operations of the newspaper and has a say on
which stories should be covered and not be covered. The editor ensures reporters have diaries
of events. Deputy Editor reports to the editor but is also responsible for scrutinising the paper
before submitting it to the editor.

The Standard‟s editorial team include: Editor-in-Chief, Executive Editor, Chief sub-Editor,
Sub editor and news editor. The editorial department is divided into two: the news and the
editorial department. This team is responsible for gatekeeping information that is deemed
harmful to the welfare of the business. They do fact checking to protect the company from
possible defamation charges and protect the interests of both internal and external
stakeholders especially shareholders and advertisers. The editorial team of The Standard is
headed by Kholwani Nyathi as its editor-in-chief. He is a senior journalist in charge of
journalists and decides on what stories to be covered. The editor look at the stories coming in
decides which ones to follow.

Reporters
Reporters are responsible for gathering and covering newsworthy events that conform to the
editorial slant of the organisation. The Sunday News has several reporters based in all corners
of the country who are assigned to look for specific kind of news that conform to the editorial
policy. They do fact finding through interviews of specified sources, observations or
investigations. It is also critical to note that although The Sunday News does have Mining and
Environment news desks, most of its mining news are normally covered by business reporters
and environmental issue by social reporters. Some of the prominent reporters includes among
others; Robert Katunga, Wilson Dakwa, Lovemore Zigara, Dumisani Nsingo and Shingirai
Huni.

27
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

The Standard’s reporters are responsible for looking for stories that goes in
line with the company’s mission statement and editorial policy. The stories
should be as critical as possible and in that regard the sources are timely
selected so that they go in line with the organisation’s mission. The
Standard also gives space external reporters who are critical to the
government and are in support of upholding human rights to air out their
views in case of artisanal mining such as Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.
Some prominent reporters of The Standard in this category includes;
Nunurai Jena, Tarisai Mandizha, Veneranda Langa and Chipo Masara
among others.
LINKS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

Company links direct or indirect with other organisations influence material that is published
by a newspaper. Most newspaper publishing houses has close connections to capitalists
companies who usually buy space to air out their advertisements. McChesney (1998) is
worried with these kinds of links since advertisers end up exerting pressure on what the press
has to publish. Delta Beverage and Econet Wireless Zimbabwe for example, are major
advertisers in most Zimbabwean media space and they seldom face critical publications. The
Sunday News enjoys close relations with major capitalist companies notably ZIMPLATS,
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Delta Beverage, OK Zimbabwe, Pick and Pay and Barclays bank
among many others. The Standard likewise has close relations with these capitalist regimes
because as Doyle (2008) noted, without such advertising revenues media organisations
cannot survive.

The Sunday News as a public newspaper has also close relations to state owned departments
through various ministries and ruling party ZANU PF. This makes it a beneficiary of easy
access to government related adverts to float in its newspaper. The newspaper also access
easily officials sources and comments and in exchange of positive publication of the
government. Conversely, The Standard has good relations with critical elements to the
government like Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civic organisations and
oppositional political movements. The Standard has easy access to advertisements of these
organisations and in return it provides a space for critical voices.

CONCLUSSION

28
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
This chapter analysed the organizations‟ ownership and control patterns and sources of
funding. It further outlined shareholder structures and external links of Zimpapers and Alpha
Media Holdings (AMH) to which The Sunday News and The Standard respectively belong.

29
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND

DISCUSSIONS
This chapter presents research findings which are entirely qualitative and analyse data
through data analysis techniques such as Content Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis
(CDA) using thematic approach derived from the research questions. The researcher uses
tables, pie charts and graphs to present findings of the study before relating them to the
theoretical as well as the body of literature.

RESPONSE RATE
The researcher used three data collection methods namely interviews, questionnaire and
archival research and the response rate was as illustrated on table 5.1 below.

Table 5.1: Response Rate for data collection methods

Method of data Number of subjects covered with Response Rate

collection Interviews/Questionnaires/Newspapers
Interviews 8 8

Questionnaires 20 20

Archival Research 22 22

As shown on table 5.1 interviews were carried out with 8 interviewees of whom 2 were
editors and 6 were reporters from both The Sunday News and The Standard and response rate
was 100%. Both structured and unstructured questions were used to contact the interviews
and using structured questions, the researcher observed that all interviewees had long tenures
in their respective organisations, the longest was serving 10th year as an editor and the least
was serving 6th year as a reporter. This entails that the respondents had vast experience in
their organisations hence they were capable to adequately respond to the questions issued to
them. The researcher was also able to verify whether interviewees fit in the period of the
study which is from 2017 to date.

20 Questionnaires were administered amongst the readers of The Sunday News and The
Standard of which 10 were males and the other 10 were females. Of all 20 administered
questionnaires, all were answered and the response rate was 100%. Both open-ended and

30
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
closed ended questions were used to extract data of readership patterns of the two newspapers
in Tynwald. Close-ended questions intended to factor out general background of the
respondents like: gender, age and whether the respondent read either The Sunday News or
The Standard or both. Close-ended questions basically provided the researcher with
knowledge of relevant people to collect data on the study.

The researcher also analysed content from 22 newspapers retrieved from the University
library, special collection archives. Of the 22 newspapers analysed, 11 were from The Sunday
News and the other 11 were from The Standard. The researcher used convenient sampling
method to pick a single newspaper for either of the two newspapers monthly from January
2017 to October 2018 which is the period covered by the study. The table below shows the
frequency of newspaper collection from the archives.

Table 5.2: Frequency of newspaper collection from Archives

The Sunday News The Standard

Jan-17 
Feb-17 

Mar-17 
Apr-17 
May-17 
Jun-17 
Jul-17 
Aug-17 
Sep-17 
Oct-17 
Nov-17 
Dec-17 
Jan-18 
Feb-18 
Mar-18 
Apr-18 
May-18 
Jun-18 
Jul-18 

31
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Aug-18 
Sep-18 
Oct-18 

Total 11 11

So between the time-frame of 2017 to date and using the frequency of one newspaper per
month, a total of 22 newspapers were collected and analysed. The researcher used archival
research to analyse framing of artisanal mining by the two newspapers, depth in reportage of
environmental issues by The Sunday News and The Standard and prominence given to
environmental issues by both newspapers.

REPORTAGE ON ARTISANAL MINING AND ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUES BY THE SUNDAY NEWS AND THE STANDARD
The researcher through interviews with 2 editors and 6 reporters of both The Sunday News
and The Standard found out that there is a combination of measures that are considered by
journalists in the construction of news on artisanal mining and environmental issues in
Zimbabwe. The interviewees suggested that there are a number of factors that influences the
construction of news reports from one different newspaper to the other. Reporters for
example, argued that they have no autonomy in selection of news to cover since the editor
has to approve first and they have no freedom on which language to use since this is well
stipulated by in the newspaper‟s editorial policy. A reporter at The Sunday News said:
“…Every morning we are asked to write down stories that we intend to look for that day and
the editor has to approve each and every story in that diary, so we don‟t necessarily have full
autonomy on which story to cover.” This observation conforms to the definition of news
reportage by Barbosa and Rabacca (2014) who argue that news reportage includes coverage,
investigations, data selection, interpretation and treatment according to certain techniques and
requirements.

From 20 questionnaires administered to the readers of the two newspapers from Tynwald, the
researcher managed to found out that readers are not passive in consumption of journalistic
texts. Readers were in fact capable of unearthing political power contestations in reportage of
artisanal mining and environmental issues by The Sunday News and The Standard. Some
readers were able to identify created reality from news reports on artisanal mining by The

32
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Sunday News and The Standard and were able to interpret in their own way. In some
instances readers could even cite examples of articles from either The Sunday News or The
Standard to support the fact that the two newspapers created reality. Citing an article titled,
“Deadly gold rush in Zvimba” by The Standard which talked about deadly clashes of
artisanal miners, a certain male reader did not agreed by the use of a phrase, and “…a gold
mine was invaded by ZANU PF youths…” The reader argued that there was no evidence in
the article which shows that the invaders were certainly ZANU PF youths. This observation
is supported by Paratt (2012) who argue that news reportage is not independent from the
subjective writer of the article and readers may choose not to agree with the message.

The researcher using 22 newspapers from archival research manages to unearth more data to
support the fact that the media construct news reports. Both The Sunday News and The
Standard carefully picked words and languages in creation of journalistic texts to report
artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe. In an article titled, “Unsung heroes
or villains: Artisanal gold miners in Zimbabwe‟s economy” by The Sunday News, the reporter
used language like, “…Artisanal Small-scale Miners (ASM) provides significant but
generally poorly paid employment in difficult working conditions…” This language shows
that the reporter was sympathetic with the artisanal miners and this was directly influenced by
workplace politics such as editorial policies and the ideology of the ownership and control
forces.

Contrary to the above, an article titled, “Use of mercury exposes communities to health,
environmental challenges” by The Standard which cited that, “…reckless artisanal miners
are dumping mercury in water bodies…” This language is very critical to the activities of
artisanal miners and this critical narrative is necessitated by the fact that The Standard is
objectified on giving a critical narrative to the policies of the government. The researcher
found out that of 20 respondents who answered questionnaires, 4 read The Sunday News only,
6 read The Standard only and 10 others read both newspapers. The pie chart below clearly
portrays this information.

33
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Fig 5.1: Readership Patterns of The Sunday News and The Standard in Tynwald

The diagram above clearly shows that 50% of the respondents read both newspapers and this
were very important to this study because they were capable of giving a comparative analysis
on how difference in ownership and control patterns of the two newspapers influence framing
of artisanal mining. The diagram also shows that 20% and 30% of the respondents only read
either The Sunday News or The Standard respectively. These respondents were important to
the study because they were able to discuss depth, prominence and framing of artisanal
mining by the two newspapers.

DISCUSSIONS
From the general findings of the study, the research found out that both The Sunday News and
The Standard followed the framing theory in their reportage of artisanal mining and
environmental issues in Zimbabwe. The central idea in the framing theory is that the media
creates frames in news construction so that audience can interpret in a way the media prefers.
The description of artisanal miners as “small-scale miners” or “panners” by The Sunday News
and The Standard respectively are examples of such frames by the media. These frames as
Gitlin (1980) argues give meaning to a text or message since they are interpretative in nature.
In framing artisanal miners as “small-scale miners,” The Sunday News is trying to stress that
artisanal miners are „minors‟ hence they need assistance from the government thereby
instantaneously justifying their existence. The name “Panners” employed by The Standard
to frame artisanal miners is not a formal English noun but it is informally derived from the
word panning which means to smash. So The Standard in its framing of artisanal miners tries
to give a meaning that they smash the environment.

Goffman (1974) argues that people (audience) interpret what is going on around their world
through primary framework, and this primary framework is constructed by the media

34
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
(Fairhurst and Sarr 1996). The researcher deduced that readers of The Sunday News and The
Standard were subjected to interpret what they read from the newspapers through primary
frameworks. The researcher found out that the two newspapers‟ readers‟ understanding of
both artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe were mainly derived from
media reports of the two things. This relationship clearly shows that audience interpret what
happening around their world through frameworks created by the media.

Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues by The Sunday News and The
Standard stresses the applicability of the theory of ideology. In the perspective of the theory
of ideology, Althusser (1970) talks of an imaginary relationship of individuals to their
conditions of existence. Ideology tries to connect in the realm of imagination two groups of
materialistically divided people in the real world. Althusser (1970) believes that the elite are
capable exert control over the subjects because they have in their hands ideology. To Deuze
(2005) media is such instance of an ideology in the hands of the elite.

Findings on reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues by The Sunday News and
The Standard in Zimbabwe through archival research from 22 newspapers imply the
relevance of the theory of political economy. The theory of political economy stress that the
manufacturing, distribution and consumption of news reports are not autonomous to the
power relations that connects and facilitates these processes (Mosco 1995). Golding and
Murdock (1991) suggest that these power relations manifest themselves through the forces of
ownership, funding and control. The researcher noted that both The Sunday News and The
Standard were less concerned with reportage on environmental issues in Zimbabwe because
the kind of news cannot attract a broader readership base that can in turn compromise their
ability to access advertisements. Thus McChesney (1998) was worried by the involvement of
advertisers in media production because they end up exerting this kind of pressure to the
press on what to publish.

PROMINENCE ON ARTISANAL MINING AND ENVIRONMENT BY THE SUNDAY

NEWS AND THE STANDARD
Through interviews with 2 editors and 6 reporters, the researcher observed that artisanal
mining was given high prominence by both The Sunday News and The Standard. Both
interviewees at The Sunday News argued that mining as the backbone of the country‟s
economy deserves high prominence in the newspaper‟s reportage. This argument clearly fit
into The Sunday News‟ editorial policy that says to positively support the efforts of the

35
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
elected government of Zimbabwe. Interviewees at The Standard of course attributed
prominence in mining reportage to the fact that it‟s a key economic pillar but political power
contestations in artisanal mining created the adrenaline for the newspaper to report such
news. “Where there is politicking, there is news…, suggested a senior reporter at The
Standard…Illegal mines are deadly trapping holes for political power struggles between the
ruling party hooligans and the rest of the world.” The language used by the reporter suggest
that he is totally against everything about the ruling party, the term “hooligan” means a
lawless person so by likening ruling party youths to hooliganism clearly shows that the
reporter does not totally subscribe to the ruling party ideologies.

Furthermore, the researcher through 20 questionnaires with readers from Tynwald of both
The Sunday News and The Standard found out that most readers do not give much
prominence to environmental news as compared to other news genres especially politics,
current affairs or bizarre incidents. A certain reader wrote, “I am too occupied to attend to
some minor news like environmental articles.” The categorization of environment news by
this reader as minor news clearly entails the perception given to environmental news by most
readers because normally people are interested in news with abrupt outcomes than long term
implications to them. This is the reason why newspapers themselves do not regard
environment news as prominent because they hardly sale the newspaper or attract a broader
readership base that enable them to attract advertisements. However, most readers gave high
prominence to artisanal mining stories because of political power struggles that The Standard
for example unearthed. This kind of news often provokes public political discussions in terms
of bad governance, corruption among other attributions to the government. Mining stories
were also prominent among readers because it enables them to comprehend the direction the
economy is taking.

Archival research data acquired from 22 newspapers facilitated the researcher to observe that
both newspapers give less prominence in reportage of environmental issues in Zimbabwe.
The researcher found out after analysing depth, frequency and the position that environment
stories were placed in the newspapers. In terms of depth, both newspapers had shallow
articles on environment which were short and devoid of deep analysis and environmental
jargon. The Standard‟s article titled, “Decriminalise artisanal mining to save environment”
only ran for some few paragraphs. Likewise, the article by The Sunday News titled, “Miners
decry mercury ban,” the article lacked deep analysis of the impact of mercury on
environment. The researcher also noticed that prominence given to artisanal mining news by

36
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
both newspapers was enhanced mainly by economic influences to attract advertisers and
political economy influences.

The researcher noted through questionnaires that of 20 respondents, who responded to the
questionnaires, 18 read mining and environment articles from The Sunday News and The
Standard and all of them were aware of what is artisanal mining. Only 2 of the respondents
were not interested in mining and environment articles from The Sunday News and The
Standard. The following graph portrays the above information.

Fig 5.2: Readers Interested/Not interested in Mining or Environment articles by The Sunday News or The Standard

The information on the diagram above clearly shows that 18 respondents were relevant to this
study because they either read The Sunday News or The Standard or both or were interested
in mining or environment articles. This is so because this study was premised on finding out
on reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues by The Sunday News and The
Standard. Only 2 respondents were not relevant because they were interested in neither
mining nor environment articles although they read either The Sunday News or The Standard

DISCUSSIONS
Prominence on reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The
Sunday News and The Standard abide by the concepts of the framing theory. Scheufele
(2000) suggests that framing involves removing and adding some objects into a text. Molotch
and Lester (1974) concluded that what is reflected in newspapers is not what is actually
happening in the world out there, but the practices of those who have the power to determine
the experiences of others. The researcher noted that both The Sunday News and The Standard
gave little prominence to environmental issues by giving shallow analysis and placing them
in the peripheral positions in the newspapers or not adequately covering them.

37
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
Prominence on reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The
Sunday News and The Standard were pertinent to the concept of the theory of ideology.
Soloski (1990) identifies ideology as an instrument in the hands of journalists and their
editors to naturalize the structure of the news organization or media corporation one works
for. It is at this juncture that the workplace journalistic ideology determines to which news
should get most prominence against the other. The researcher found out through interviews
that both editors of the two newspapers were interested more in publishing artisanal mining
than environmental issues in Zimbabwe. Okibgo (2006: 23) claims that the role of media to
educate on environment and Sustainable development is difficult in African context because
“…were the (African) media to be faced with the choice of covering either natural
environment or political environment, they should, without any hesitation choose the latter,
for in Africa, the mismanagement of the political sphere is the more imminent calamity.”

Prominence on reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The

Sunday News and The Standard relates to the theory of political economy. McNair (1991)
claims that, the central argument of Marxism is that those who control the means of
production and material conditions of society also control the ruling ideas of that society.
Chomsky and Herman (1988) argue that the media serve to mobilise support for special
interests that dominate the state and private activity. In the context of this study, the same
people who controlled the ruling ideas through owning means of production decided which
news to give prominence and which not to give prominence.

INFLUENCE OF OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL PATTERNS IN

FRAMING OF ARTISANAL MINING BY THE SUNDAY NEWS AND
THE STANDARD
The researcher discovered through interviews with 2 editors and 6 reporters that ownership
and control patterns of both The Sunday News and The Standard have excessive influence on
the framing of artisanal mining in Zimbabwe. Both interviewees agreed that ownership and
control patterns of their respective newspapers directly or indirectly influence the framing of
artisanal mining through editorial policies and the power to hire and fire editors and CEOs
that the ownership has. The editor argued that The Sunday News which is a subsidiary of
government controlled Zimpapers is run in line with the government Indigenization policies
that promote artisanal mining despite the fact that their actions are harmful to the
environment. In the context of The Sunday News thereof, artisanal miners are small scale in

38
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
nature and lack sophisticated equipment to engage in proper extraction of valuable minerals.
The Standard which is owned by Trevor Ncube who is critical of the government negatively
articulates artisanal mining, regularly citing corruption and conflicts. The Standard
interviewees defined artisanal miners as illegal miners that carelessly extract minerals
especially gold, diamond and chrome using dangerous chemicals like mercury or cyanide
with the privilege to do so by influential bigwigs in government. From this exploration, the
researcher concluded that ownership and control patterns have unlimited influence on the
framing of artisanal mining by The Sunday News and The Standard.

Through 20 questionnaires with newspaper readers in Tynwald, the researcher also

comprehended that readers are conscious of the influence of ownership and control in
shaping of discourse on artisanal mining in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News and The
Standard. The readers who read both newspapers were able to tell that there were differences
in the construction of artisanal mining from the two newspapers and they attributed these
differences to forces of control and ownership. The respondents argued that The Sunday News
which is owned by the government is evidently sympathetic to artisanal miners simply
because most of the illegal miners are supporters of the ruling party (Mawowa 2013). On the
part of The Standard, respondents argued that the critical voice of the owner to the policies of
the government is much audible in his newspaper‟s discourse on artisanal mining.

Using 22 newspapers from archival research, researcher was also able to unearth the
influence of ownership and control patterns of The Sunday News and The Standard on
framing artisanal mining in Zimbabwe. The researcher analysed content from archival
newspapers to determine the use of words and language to frame artisanal mining by both
newspapers. The researcher found out that The Sunday News often avoids the use of a
derogatory term “artisanal miners” but rather opted for “small-scale miners.” It also often
bring business or economic discourse in articulation of artisanal miners for instance it talks of
artisanal miners as, “…adding to the country‟s national fiscus,” “…reducing unemployment”
or “…bringing foreign currency.” This shows that it promotes artisanal mining on behalf of
the government. The Standard regularly uses the term artisanal miners in its articles which
mean illegal miners or at times a more derogatory vernacular term Makorokoza/Isitsheketsha
meaning illegal panners (Mawowa 2013). The Standard often bring in political prepositions
when talking of artisanal miners for example, “…ZANU PF youths,” “…Privileges from
party bigwigs” or “…Failed to sue them due to political pressure” among many other
discourses.

39
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

DISCUSSIONS
The production, distribution and consumption of news reports on artisanal mining and
environmental issues by The Sunday News and The Standard in Zimbabwe completely
portray power relations. According to Mosco (1995) theory of political economy studies
social relations, particularly power relations that mutually combine production, distribution
and consumption of resources including communication resources. The influence of various
forces was very noticeable in the production of news reports on artisanal mining and
environmental issues by the two newspapers. The force of ownership and control also
influenced what the two newspapers have to frame on artisanal mining.

The two newspapers, from the findings of this study clearly shows that were ideological
apparatuses in their construction of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe.
Althusser (1970) believes that the theory of ideology represents the imaginary relationships
of individuals to their real conditions of existence. He further argues that the media is an
ideological apparatus used by the dominant class to maintain dominance over their subjects.
Deuze (2005) suggests that journalism is an ideology that incorporates beliefs of a particular
group including production of meanings and ideas. Both The Sunday News and The Standard
portrayed hegemonic and counter-hegemonic ideologies respectively from the elites to the
subjects.

Tuchman (1976) and Cohen and Young (1973) observed that the media construct news by
adding or subtracting meaning through the use of words and language. The reportage of a
“similar event” as Tuchman (1976) noted is likely to be different across different media
because of this process of creating reality. These arguments were very relevant as the
researcher analysed content from 22 archival newspapers.

CONCLUSSION
This chapter presented research findings and analysed data through data analysis techniques.
Data was presented thematically and tables, pie charts and graphs were also used to present
findings of the study before relating them to the theoretical as well as the body of literature.

40
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY, CONCLUSSION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter summarises the study which was aimed at analysing the framing, prominence
and depth in reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The
Sunday News and The Standard newspapers. The researcher provides recommendations and
suggestions for further research in this chapter.

SUMMARY
The study started by introducing the research topic which reads, „reportage of artisanal
mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News and The Standard from
2017 to date. The researcher went on to discuss background of the study which is mainly
history of the two newspapers. The researcher stated the relevance of carrying such study to
Media and Society studies in a way that it gave the researcher an opportunity to relate
theoretical concepts he was oriented with the real world.

The researcher had to review the literature that was relevant to the study in order to
understand what had already founded out in this area of study as well as to find available
research gaps that needed to be filled by the findings of this study. The researcher reviewed
literature on news reportage, sociology of news and the role of journalism on environmental
issues and sustainable development. The researcher articulated the theoretical framework that
governs the research of which framing, ideology and political economy were core.

The researcher had to clearly outline the methodology of the study which was purely
qualitative because the research was based on unquantifiable data. Interviews, questionnaires
and archival research were employed as research instruments in the extraction of qualitative
data. The researcher administered questionnaires to 20 readers of The Sunday News and The
Standard in Tynwald residential area in Harare. Interviews were carried out with 2 editors
and 6 reporters from both newspapers and the researcher also retrieved data from 22
newspaper articles through archival research. The research used convenience and purposive
sampling to select subjects to extract data from.

41
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
The researcher analysed the organisational structures of The Sunday News and The Standard,
including the extent to which they uphold their mission statement, vision statement, core
values and objectives in their operations. The researcher also analysed the two newspapers‟
editorial policies and the extent to which it influences variations in their reportage of artisanal
mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe. The researcher discussed the possible
implications of ownership and control patterns and external links of the two newspapers to
their respective content.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Judging from the findings of this research, the researcher recommends that:

 The mainstream media in Zimbabwe particularly The Sunday News and The Standard
should embark in professional reportage of issues with human interests especially
environmental issues. This is because media as the fourth estate has a responsibility to
inform the public impartially and professionally and basing with the findings of the
study, this is lacking in the mainstream media.
 The press should desist from being swayed by advertisers on which stories to cover
and what not to cover. The media should remain as positions of integrity by upholding
their watchdog role to the society rather than being compromised by capitalistic
trajectories as this has been the case basing with the findings of this study when the
two newspapers had to turn a blind eye on environmental issues since the kind of
news cannot attract wide readership which compromises their access to adverts.
 The mainstream media in Zimbabwe particularly the two newspapers understudy
should promote sustainable development as the researcher noted was lacking in his
findings. In this contemporary world of declining scarce resources and population
influxes, the media has a role to initiate citizens to use resources sustainably for the
benefit of future generations.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Following the study findings where the researcher was investigating reportage of artisanal
mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News and The Standard, this
study suggest that there should be another research to be conducted on how the mainstream
media in Zimbabwe enhances sustainable development. This area has not been adequately
researched in the context of Zimbabwe, despite the fact that with rapidly influxes of

42
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.
populations in the world, there is too much pressure on resources. As a result a research needs
to be conducted to verify how far the media has been pushing for sustainable development.

CONCLUSSION
This chapter summarised the study which was aimed at analysing the framing, prominence
and depth in reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The
Sunday News and The Standard newspapers. The researcher also provided recommendations
and suggestions for further research. Studying from the findings of the study, this research
was successful in addressing all the objectives and generated new body of knowledge.

43
Reportage of artisanal mining and environmental issues in Zimbabwe by The Sunday News
and The Standard from 2017-2018.

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