"[...] Media Monitors conducted interviews with managers from six news outlets in six countries across Southern Africa. The study revealed that media viability challenges in the region stem from insufficient funding due to declining advertising and audience markets. The shift in audience consumption ... towards digital platforms severely impacted the financial sustainability of media houses. With advertisers following suit and staffing levels dwindling due to limited funding, media convergence and the rise of social media advertising and citizen journalism further threatened the viability of traditional outlets. However, media organizations strategically responded to these threats by diversifying revenue streams and adopting technologies like e-papers and paywalls, albeit with limited success. The human capital base of media houses also faced challenges, with high staff turnover as employees sought opportunities in the corporate world and beyond national borders, leading to gaps in the quality of media training." (Executive Summary, page 7) more

"This report provides an assessment of the reporting trends in the coverage of COVID-19 in nine SADC countries. The countries are Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Stories published between 1 January and 30 June 2021 were selected from 38 ne ... ws websites from the different countries. COVID-19 has remained on the media's news agenda and journalists have continued to extensively cover the different aspects of the pandemic. The media however continued to focus on hard news on the pandemic, with most news articles based on statements by government officials. Media continued to report mostly on the numbers of COVID-19. While these figures are important, the media is also encouraged to report more on qualitative aspects of the pandemic, including beliefs, culture and religion that drive citizens' behavior around the pandemic." (Executive summary) more

"During the 2018 electoral period in Zimbabwe, Media Monitors monitored mainstream media to assess the nature of election coverage with a focus on three issues: Fair and balanced coverage of political players, the media’s role in informing the public on electoral processes, and professional and et ... hical conduct by the media. In the final assessment, Media Monitors concluded that while the election agenda dominated on all media platforms, continued polarised coverage affected the media’s capacity to be fair and balanced, there was a lack of equitability and gender bias. Professionally, there was lack of objectivity in the journalists’ reporting, which manifested itself in the form of unbalanced coverage, denial of the right of reply, lack of follow up to issues raised and failure to distinguish between government activities and political campaigns." (https://www.mediasupport.org) more

"The study concluded that the media in Zimbabwe falls short of standards of fair and balanced coverage of political actors in the country. ZANU PF and MDC T dominated the media’s coverage and combined for 94% of the space and time dedicated to political parties whilst the remaining 15 parties acco ... unted for 6% of the coverage. This is a reflection of the lack of diversity in the representation of political actors, given that over 100 political parties are contesting the upcoming elections." (Executive summary) more