REPORTS on preparations for the July 31st harmonized elections by Zimbabwe’s electoral authorities, including campaigns by Zimbabwe’s main parties, overshadowed any other issue in the mainstream media in the period under review.
The media carried 1 416 reports on elections, 735 (52%) of which appeared in the official state media. The remaining 681 were contained in the private media.
Of the 1 416 reports, 835 (59%) were on the campaign activities of the parties. Three hundred and fifty-four (25%) were on the administration of the elections. This was followed by general reports (179) on the elections. These reports, which constituted 13 percent of the media’s election stories, mostly comprised calls by a cross-section of the Zimbabwean society appealing to the public to observe peace during the elections. The remaining 48 (3%) were on election-related rights violations.Election Watch-July 2013
