The nexus of journalism and political activism in post-2000 Zimbabwe: A field theory critique

Abstract

The post-2000 political-economic crisis in Zimbabwe saw the migration of journalists as political and economic refugees. Many, if not all, of these claimed persecution at home and some amongst them established online publications with an interest on Zimbabwe. But some of the journalists that remained in Zimbabwe became activists in support of either the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) regime or the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Another group joined civil society whilst others joined either the ruling ZANU-PF party or the opposition political parties, mainly MDC. In the same context, some activists joined newsrooms. In this context, the distinction between journalism and political activism became increasingly blurred. The article, deploying Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, explores how and why this morphing of journalists into activists and vice versa unfolded and its impact on the journalistic field. The findings demonstrate that on one hand journalists morphed into activists through: switching into civil society; active involvement in party politics either as members or election candidates; openly campaigning for or against certain political parties and candidates; and writing political campaign material disguised as news. On the other hand, activists entered the journalistic field as columnists, correspondents or stringers, editors and, in one high profile case, a Ministry of Information official. The metamorphosis happened openly and underground, and it was caused by poverty, greed, the desire to migrate, disenchantment with economic challenges, state-sponsored repression of the media and the desire to secure one’s privileged position in the journalistic social field.