Studio 7 finally confirms broadcast jamming by Zimbabwe government

LONDON – STUDIO 7, the Zimbabwe flagship programme of the Voice of America, has finally confirmed its radio broadcasts into the country are being jammed by Harare through equipment provided by the Chinese government.

Zimbabwejournalists.com is one of the news organisations that has been pursuing the story for weeks now with VOA technicians refusing to confirm the jamming, rather preferring to say they were still investigating the incidents and growing reports coming from Harare listeners who use the 909AM frequency.

Today the popular station broadcasting into Zimbabwe from Washington D.C. confirmed the jamming. Studio 7’s broadcasts into Zimbabwe are in English, Shona and Ndebele. The U.S.-government funded broadcaster which has reporters in and outside Zimbabwe said its Studio 7 service, which is on the air for 90 minutes each weekday, was being blocked.

“We have had reports of jamming of our Zimbabwe broadcasts in the past, but we’ve never been able to confirm them,” VOA spokesman Joe O'Connell told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This time, he said, “we’ve determined and believe that it’s intentional.”

VOA short wave transmissions and AM broadcasts outside the capital were not affected.

Studio 7 is popular in news-starved Zimbabwe, where only a handful of independent newspapers have survived an onslaught against the media. Four newspapers, including the popular Daily News have been forced off the streets by the oppressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Authorities have declined to license any local private broadcasters, despite legislation passed in 2001 allowing for their existence.

“It is outrageous that Zimbabwean authorities, not content with snuffing out the local media, are cutting off the few outside sources of information still available,” said Ann Cooper, executive director of CPJ.

Overseas broadcasters have been targeted in the past. The shortwave transmission of SW Radio Africa, a private broadcaster based in Britain and founded by exiled Zimbabwean journalists, was jammed during the run-up to March 2005 parliamentary elections, and its reception is still affected today. 

Voice of the People (VOP), a private news production company based in Zimbabwe whose programs are transmitted via shortwave from overseas, has been repeatedly targeted. In 2005, VOP broadcasts were jammed in Zimbabwe, according to local sources.

In December 2005, security agents raided the VOP offices in Harare, confiscating equipment, detaining staff, and rendering the company inoperative.

A trial of VOP’s director, six members of the board of trustees, and three staff members on charges of operating illegal broadcasting equipment is ongoing.

The VOP personnel deny the charges; their next court hearing is scheduled for September.

“The jamming of news broadcasts in Zimbabwe should cease immediately, as should the prosecution of VOP trustees and staff,” Cooper added.