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RESEARCH DAY 2008

‘Reporting and Recording Zimbabwe’

Saturday 28, June 2008, 9.00 – 5.00pm

St. Antony’s College, 62 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6JF
Nissan Lecture Theatre

http://www.sant.ox.ac.uk/about/directions.html

The BZS Research Day 2008 will explore how the Zimbabwe story was ‘reported and recorded’ both prior and post Independence. The Day will highlight a range of research questions, including: How has the western media, in particular the British media, covered the Zimbabwe story? How difficult is it for local journalists inside Zimbabwe to cover the story? Who sets the news agenda?

There is a long history of state attempts in Zimbabwe to control the media, alongside state support for mass media as a means to reach both rural and urban populations. In recent years, newspapers have been shut down, some radio stations jammed, some journalists arrested, and others gone into exile. This media environment has been deemed repressive by a broad range of commentators, while government supporters have portrayed the independent media as the product of externally-funded and destabilising fifth columnists. The Research Day will attempt to put these developments into broader historical, legal and media contexts.

The pattern of the day is to hold four 90 minute sessions plus a concluding discussion. The opening session will provide a historical overview of the politics of mass media in Zimbabwe; the 2 nd panel will evaluate the western media coverage of Zimbabwe; the third session will look at media regulation and the fourth session will look at the role of new media. Each panel will include opportunities for questions and comments from the floor. In concluding, the Research Day will draw generalisations from the day and indicate fruitful areas for future research and its application.

To register for the Research Day please use the form at the end of the draft programme. For further information on the programme itself contact the convenors:

Forward Maisokwadzo forwardm17@yahoo.co.uk
Professor Diana Jeater diana.jeater@uwe.ac.uk
Professor Terence Ranger terence.ranger@sant.ox.ac.uk

Nordic Africa Institute event:

The 2008 Research Day is being organised in collaboration with the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala, Sweden, who are convening a by-invitation seminar on Friday 27 June at St Antony's College entitled Towards Cultural Constructions of Zimbabwe:  CLICK HERE for theNAI seminar programme, and see also the NAI website at http://www.nai.uu.se/events/conferences/
Contact the convenor, Mai Palmberg, at mai.palmberg@nai.uu.se

Draft BZS Research DayProgramme

09.00 Registration

09.30 Panel A   Opening session- Mass Media and Politics in Zimbabwe: An historical overview

Chair: Dr Winston Mano

University of Westminster

1. Bill Saidi , Veteran Zimbabwean Journalist and Editor, The Zimbabwe Standard

2. Terence Ranger , Oxford University and President, Britain Zimbabwe Society

11.00 Tea / Coffee

11.15 Session 2   Panel B : Evaluating Western Media Coverage of Zimbabwe

Speakers to include:

Chair: Jim Boumehla

President

International Federation of Journalists

1. Wendy Willems

Researcher

SOAS, University of London

2. Christina Lamb

Journalist

Sunday Times

3. Wilf Mbanga

Editor

The Zimbabwean (tbc)

4. Ish Mafundikwa

Reporter

Voice of America London Bureau
13.00 Lunch

14.00 Session 3   Panel C : Political, Commercial and Legal Pressures on Journalists (Media Regulation). Speakers to include:

Chair : Gugulethu Moyo, International Bar Association

1. Rashweat Mukundu , Director, MISA Zimbabwe Chapter

2. Dr Alex Magaisa , Kent University

3. Sandra Nyaira , Secretary, Association of Zimbabwe Journalists UK and former Daily News Political Editor

4. Gerry Jackson , Manager, SW Radio Africa

15.15 Session 4    Panel D: Cyber democracy: a Role for New Media? Speakers sto include:

Chair: Knox Chitiyo

1. Clayton Peel, PhD candidate, University of Wales

2. Admore Tshuma, PhD candidate, University of Bristol

3. Mduduzi Mathuthu, Editor, NewZimbabwe.com

4. Innocent Chofamba Sithole, Blogger & former editor, The Sunday Mirror

16.45    Conclusion: Chair and commentator: Diana Jeater, UWE and BZS Chair

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ADVANCE REGISTRATION

To register in advance, print out, complete and return this form with your cheque to: Marieke Clarke, 5a Crick Road, Oxford OX2 6QJ
(Email: mariekefclarke@pop3.poptel.org.uk )

Registration fees: £17 BZS members; £30 non-members; £5 unwaged

I am a member / not a member of BZS

NAME _________________________________________________________

EMAIL__________________________________________________________

TELEPHONE: ____________________________________________________

POSTAL ADDRESS: _______________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

I enclose a cheque for £________made out to Britain Zimbabwe Society (sorry, we cannot take credit/debit card payments). Please note that this fee does not include lunch or refreshments.

Acknowledgement of registration will be sent by email, or by post if you send a stamped addressed envelope. If you need advice about accommodation in Oxford, please look at the website www.visitoxford.org or contact Marieke Clarke, 5a Crick Road, Oxford OX2 6QJ Email: mariekefclarke@pop3.poptel.org.uk

* * *

NAI SEMINAR PROGRAMME

“TOWARDS CULTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF ZIMBABWE”

Workshop organised by “The Cultural Images in and of Africa”
research programme at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden,
in collaboration with the Britain Zimbabwe Society

Oxford, June 27, 2008

Venue: St. Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road , Oxford

Programme (at 23/06)

10.00 – 10.45 Registration - coffe/tea will be served

1100 – 12.30 Session I "Establishing" (following introduction to the workshop by Mai Palmberg)

Terence Ranger Opening address: Elections & Identities in Kenya and Zimbabwe
Sara Rich-Dorman Nation, church and theology in the re-imagining of Zimbabwe
Claire Jones A national instrument? Just for schoolboys? ‘Part of our culture’: Multiple imaginings of the Zimbabwean marimba

12.30 Lunch at St Anthony’s

14.00 –15.30 Session 2 "Representing"

Kizito Muchemwa (title to be disclosed)
Sabelo Ndlovu and Wendy Willems Celebrating which ‘nation’? Galas, bashes and the politics of commemoration under the ‘Third Chimurenga’
Ashleigh Harris Writing Postcolonial Violence in Zimbabwe: a literary dilemma
Lene Bull Christiansen "Small Houses vs. Respectable Women". On the women, gender & AIDS circuit in Zimbabwe

15.30 Tea/coffee (bring it to the session)

15.45 Session 3 "Subverting"

Bill Saidi Urban and rural cultures, my journey from Old Bricks
Robert Muponde Man-Nation: Two views of culture & history in the construction of Zimbabwe
Anna-Leena Toivanen The creation of a cult icon: Dambudzo Marechera
Drew Shaw Dambudzo Marechera’s contribution towards cultural constructions of Zimbabwe

18.-- Dinner available at St Antony's

20.00 Evening programme: "Dambudzo Marechera in focus"

Brian Chikwava and Victor Mavedzenge perform. Dobrota Pucherova and Eric Nzaramba present the plans for "Dambudzo Marechera: A Celebration", a multi-media festival to celebrate the avant-garde work of Dambudzo Marechera, to be staged in Oxford in May 2009.

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