• Presidential Election 2002 - Results
• "So many questions" (letter)
• DAILY MEDIA UPDATE FOR MARCH 12th 2002
• British calls grow for action over 'flawed' Zimbabwe election
• Observers say election should be 'legitimate'
• "I can't take my Zimbabwean wife home" (letter)
• Mugabe spent two years plotting victory at polls
• US and Britain consider Zimbabwe sanctions
• Bishop calls on international community to keep pressure on Mugabe
• Powell Assails Election In Zimbabwe
• Election a 'violation' of Zimbabweans' rights: Schori
• Election aftermath in pictures
• OAU calls Zimbabwe vote 'free and fair'
• Economists fear worst for Zimbabwe
• Labour protest expected over election result
• Ncube pays $500 000 bail
• Mugabe's robbery
• Hundreds languish in police cells
• Mugabe's challenge
• Fearing the worst, whites get ready to run

MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT ZIMBABWE 

 DAILY MEDIA UPDATE FOR MARCH 12th 2002
 DAILY PRINT REPORT FOR TUESDAY 12 MARCH, 2002 The Herald continued its speculative numbers game in its lead story predicting a massive presidential election victory for ZANU PF through rehashed, superficial, and inconclusive analysis based on the voter turnout and the country's traditional voting patterns.
The story argued- under the misleading headline, 'Counting Starts' 
- that Mr.  Mugabe would win the election because "the ruling party enjoys more than 90% support." in the rural areas where 
3.4 million voters out of the country's 5.6 million registered voters lived.
Equally speculative was the story 'MDC's wishful thinking goes into overdrive.' Although it challenged the MDC's claim that the numbers of voters in the rural and urban areas had been switched, it failed to provide a breakdown of those figures to support the claim that the rural areas hold the largest number of voters.  The story preoccupied itself with past electoral performances and - beyond the rhetoric - provided some useful comparative figures, mainly from the parliamentary election, to support its claim that the ascendant ZANU PF trend seen then was likely to be more pronounced now with the higher rural turnout. 
The Herald and The Chronicle provided different statistics on the number of people who voted in Matebeleland North.  While The Herald listed the figure as 157000, The Chronicle reported that "preliminary figures from the 396 polling stations in the province late yesterday indicated that 203 175 people had voted".  Later media reports suggest that The Chronicle was providing its readers with more up to date information.
The Daily News (12/3) surprisingly ignored such vital voting information, exposing its skewed news values.  Instead, it preferred to lead with an interview with ZANU PF founder member, Eddison Zvobgo, which suggests that it was first carried in The Scotsman newspaper.  The paper, which makes only one reference to the source of its story, reports Zvobgo as saying Mr.  Mugabe should own up to his mistakes and ".prepare for a dignified exit from power."
The story, which is reported as if Mr.  Mugabe had lost the poll, echoes the people's sentiments about Zimbabwe's current social, political, and economic crises.
Both the private and public press carried a flurry of incidents that marred the country's three days of polling.  Reportage remained polarised.
The Daily News reported ZANU PF attacks on MDC supporters and voters, while The Herald and Chronicle blamed all electoral disturbances on the MDC.
Manyika harasses voters at Chitungwiza polling stations and Abductions, arrests mar presidential poll, The Daily News, are chronicles of how government, ZANU PF and the police either assaulted or arrested perceived MDC supporters or their sympathisers.
In contrast, The Herald and Chronicle seemed more pre-occupied with peddling wild conspiracy theories involving MDC members and their "white sympathisers".  Even those who were allegedly caught trying to vote twice during polling in Harare and Chitungwiza were labelled as MDC.
South African whites were not spared either.  The Herald, citing unspecified reports, said "there have been reports of heavy movement of whites in vehicles with South African registration numbers" in the country "believed to be mercenaries" and bent on "causing disturbances during the announcement of election results".
Despite these alleged activities, the public Press seized on initial statements of observers to reinforce the impression that the election was free and fair: AU, SADC observers hail election process in Masvingo.
However, it ignored a report carried in The Daily News about the EU's preliminary sentiments that the election was not free and fair.
The private and public press reported the refusal by High Court Judge, Judge President Paddington Garwe, to extend voting in Harare and Chitungwiza for a second day "because the court had no jurisdiction to interfere in the administrative matters" of the Registrar-General's office.
This sounded uncomfortably similar to government attacks on the High Court ruling of March 10th by Justice Hlatshwayo extending voting in Harare and Chitungwiza, reported uncritically in The Herald.  The front-page story only looked at the inconvenience the order had caused government and not the electorate.  The story also carried at length the observations of Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, including his attack on the High Court order first carried in the electronic media the previous day.  In reference to the ruling, The Herald quoted Moyo saying: "What happened yesterday (Sunday) was the court basically usurping the powers of the Registrar-General.  That is something that must not be tolerated."
He also attacked the judge's decision to protect the execution of the order from any appeal and said the ruling party would seek legal remedy through Parliament.
It was only in The Daily News article, Manyika harasses voters at Chitungwiza polling stations, which raised concerns that the belated opening of polling stations in Harare and Chitungwiza by the Registrar-General could jeopardise the fairness of the whole election.
Moreover, it quoted residents from these areas as saying they had failed to vote because of the delays.


DAILY ELECTRONIC REPORT FOR M