Zimbabwe

Media innovation increases civic participation

Staff
Anki Wood

Regional Manager

Carl-Magnus Höglund

Project Manager

Johanna Ejderstedt

Project Coordinator

Partners
Magamba Network
Newshawks
FactCheckZW
Kasambabezi Community Radio
GZU Campus Radio
TellZim
Daily Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU)
Harare Polytech
National University of Science and Technology (NUST)
Oxpeckers
Sustainable Development Goals in this project
SDG4 - Quality Education
SDG13 - Climate action
SDG16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions
Theme(s)
Media innovation
Journalism education
Civic participation
Funder(s)
Sida

Zimbabwe’s media landscape is dominated by state-controlled media and several draconian laws have a chilling effect on independent journalists. Despite that, there is an increasing media diversity. Several community, campus and commercial radio stations have recently been licensed and there is a creative online space with several start-ups and by now established digital platforms. While radio remains the main source of information, especially in the rural areas, the young urban generation turns to social media and the internet to assess information.

What we do

Our work in Zimbabwe seeks to strengthen the media’s role in advancing access to reliable information, civic participation and democracy. The objective of our current programme is to allow citizens and particularly marginalised communities, to be informed and empowered with relevant, reliable, inclusive information and media content.

Our partner Magamba Network uses arts, digital media, and activism to inspire young people to express themselves and participate in democratic processes. One of their platforms is the Open Parly which started by live streaming from the parliament and now covers parliament sittings, press conferences, political rallies, et cetera, as well as facilitating dialogue and debate between politicians and citizens. Magamba Network also runs several other digital platforms, Moto Republik, a creative hub in Harare, and Studio Moto which houses Magamba’s productions and supports independent content producers.

The Media Innovation Programme (MIP) is a capacity-building initiative to strengthen independent media to thrive both editorially and financially. Through the programme, media houses receive trainings and get support to conduct audience research, make innovations in content and formats, and develop realistic business plans. The programme includes investigative news outlets, community and campus radio stations, print and digital newspapers and fact-checking groups.

Fojo also supports journalism training institutions to have trainings and mentorship programmes for mid-career journalists and to make undergraduate journalism education more practical and up-to-date in a changing media landscape, through closer cooperation with the media industry.

15M

In the 2023 elections, our partner Magamba Networked reached 15 million with inclusive, reliable and relevant information

3

partner universities

6

media houses in the Media Innovation Programme