Source: MBA Online – View full graphic

On 27 February, VIDA published statistics on the gender of contributors at a number of literary magazines and journals, with Granta emerging as the only publication with a ratio that favoured women.

So, subscribe to Granta this International Women’s Day!

“From my discussions with different Zimbabwean women, I have come to realise that many are struggling to find their space within society and to give voice to their many concerns,” observed Fungai Machirori the Founder and Managing Editor of the women’s web portal. “In my view, these challenges have come about because Zimbabwean women have struggled to strike a balance between articulating and celebrating their individualism, while still retaining their collective cultural and social identities.”

herzimbabwe is … a space where, hopefully, women will be able to see their lives and stories  reflected through those of other women. The portal will feature personal perspectives, historical information, arts, lifestyle and health features, as well as a section dedicated to male views and experiences. The herzimbabwe project will also actively engage Zimbabwean women in the Diaspora who have often been marginalised from mainstream Zimbabwean discourse due to their physical distance from issues.

For more information about HerZimbabwe email info[at]herzimbabwe[dot]co[dot]zw

The just ended 21st February Movement gala held over the weekend was yet another opportunity to ponder over media reforms in the country and commitments made in the GPA about this and other issues pertaining to easing the stranglehold on media plurality. For starters, it recalled the abuse of the national broadcaster by political elites who remain the same people who made commitments under the GPA to ensure equal representation. The gala “pungwe” which stretched well into Sunday midday indeed rekindled the debate over where does Zimbabwe draw the line between State/public media?  Then Deputy Minister of Information Jameson Timba is on record saying Zimbabwe has the capacity to have more than 10 broadcast stations at the least, and this is exactly the same stuff that gives relevance to complaints why viewers who are expected to pay licences have to endure watching the gala when in fact they can switch channels. And not SABC channels as presently is the case with many who cannot afford DSTV but their own. It is no wonder then that MISA-Zimbabwe is being taken to task about its programmes concerning community broadcasting: the media czars know too well that this is a sector they cannot “forfeit” to the masses as this just what the democratic processes demand, and as one of their own said not so long ago, it would be equal to legislating oneself out of power!

About the gala, someone asked who finances these pseudo-Woodstocks, if space is bought from ZBC, how much the Machesos are paid, how much the organisers sell a pint of lager, and just how this whole business works for viewers to be subjected to that mass buffoonery as adults both on and off the stage play make believe singing songs of praise when everyone knows better. But these are questions that have been rationalised into the psyche of many here, and a wisecrack actually noted that the naivety of doctors of spin knows no bounds: the numbers of these gyrating gala guests do not necessarily translate into votes! If only. And this in light of the President’s speech reminding the people from that region that it was time to claim the vote lost to the MDC-T in previous polls.

Also worth mentioning were these stupendous promotions being run alongside the gala and an interesting caveat apparently betrayed the whole farce: the promoters had the right to suspend the competition without warning, meaning they could take the money and run, after all this was the military running the show, so hey, they could do as they pleased! We will obviously watch the space to follow-up on the winners of those holidays for two and incredible spending money.

“The first thing John Updike used to do when he received a new book was to smell it. To run his hands over it. Try experiencing that on a Kindle.”
- Chipp Kidd (book cover designer)