Independent Press and the Fall of Robert Mugabe: Some Empirical Reflections

Abstract

This comparative case study interrogates how Zimbabwe’s independent press reported on ZANU-PF factionalism in the period from 2014 to 2017. It focuses on two dailies, Daily News and NewsDay. These were Zimbabwe’s only privately owned newspapers at the time. The other daily newspapers were The Herald and Chronicle, whose editorial was controlled by the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government of Robert Mugabe. Whereas scholarship on ZANU-PF factionalism and the press is still burgeoning, little has been studied about how the independent press reported on Mugabe’s succession. The study is guided by framing theory. Data were gathered through archival research and in-depth face-to-face interviews with purposively selected journalists at Daily News and NewsDay who published stories on Mugabe’s succession. Findings reveal that rival ZANU-PF factions captured bribed journalists and influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. Journalism grew “factionalized” (biased) as reporters became agents of the rival ZANU-PF factions. This disabled the newspapers from playing their informative and educative roles effectively. The factionalized reports left Zimbabweans ill-informed about developments in the governing party.

1. Introduction

This qualitative comparative study examines how Zimbabwe’s privately owned daily newspapers, Daily News and NewsDay, reported on ZANU-PF factionalism towards the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule. Mugabe had been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980 following a protracted liberation war that dislodged the colonial administration of Ian Douglas Smith and the Rhodesian Front. Mugabe’s old age saw his ZANU-PF allies fighting for his position. He was 93 years old when the military removed him from power in 2017. This study focuses on the period between 2014 and 2017. Major events occurred during this time. Mugabe dismissed vice president Joice Mujuru from ZANU-PF and government in 2014 on allegations of plotting to remove him from power through unconstitutional means (Maodza, 2017; Gadzikwa, 2018; Chuma et al., 2020; Maodza, 2024). Two factions existed at the time, the Mnangagwa group and the Mujuru camp. Mugabe proceeded to appoint the then Justice Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as vice president. While the move was anticipated to end ZANU-PF factionalism, it exacerbated it. Two factions emerged again, Mnangagwa’s Team Lacoste camp and the Grace Mugabe aligned Generation 40 (G40) group. Grace was Mugabe’s wife and the ZANU-PF secretary for the women’s league. Media reports claimed that she wanted to succeed her husband (Ruhanya & Gadzikwa, 2024). Team Lacoste reportedly enjoyed the support of ZANU-PF old guards, veterans of Zimbabwe’s liberation war, and the military. The G40 was allegedly composed of relatively younger ZANU-PF politicians including Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwa, and Walter Mzembi (Ruhanya & Gadzikwa, 2024). Mugabe dismissed Mnangagwa from his government and ZANU-PF on 6 November 2017. He accused Mnangagwa of plotting to seize power. Mnangagwa went into exile in South Africa. The military toppled Mugabe on 21 November 2017. Mnangagwa returned to Zimbabwe on 22 November 2017 and was inaugurated as president on 23 November 2017. The study examines how Daily News and NewsDay reported on these intraparty seismic schisms.

This academic terrain has been overlooked by extant scholarly work which has been focused on how state-controlled newspapers, The Herald and Chronicle, reported on ZANU-PF factionalism (Maodza, 2017; Chuma et al., 2020; Maodza, 2024; Ruhanya & Gadzikwa, 2024). Zimbabwe’s independent press is celebrated for historically holding the ZANU-PF government to account through its practice of oppositional journalism. The Herald and Chronicle practice patriotic journalism, which supports the government of the day (Rusike, 1990; Ranger, 2005; Chibuwe, 2016). Patriotic journalism is a “narrow and divisive journalism” (Ranger, 2005, p. 11) that was adopted by Zimbabwe’s state-aligned media between 2000 and 2005 when a political scientist, Jonathan Moyo, was Information Minister. This was the period following the formation of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC posed a serious threat to Mugabe’s rule. The same period saw Mugabe embarking on the controversial land reform programme, which evicted white farmers from their properties. The state-controlled media blindly supported the land reform programme and Mugabe’s combative diplomatic stance after the Europe Union and the United States of America imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in what Ranger (2005) termed patriotic journalism. The independent press condemned Mugabe’s policies and maladministration in what became known as oppositional journalism (Ranger, 2005; Chibuwe, 2016). How the Zimbabwean media report on issues of national interest has always been informed by their political economy, and particularly ownership structure (Rusike, 1990; Saunders, 1999). Unlike The Herald and Chronicle, which are controlled by the government by virtue of its stake in the Zimbabwe Newspaper Company (Zimpapers), the publishers of the two newspapers, Daily News and NewsDay, are privately owned and do not suffer state interference in their editorial operations. This positioned them well to professionally report on ZANU-PF factionalism. Informed by framing theory, this study answers the following questions:

• How did Daily News and NewsDay report on ZANU-PF factionalism?
• What factors influenced how the newspapers reported on Mugabe’s succession?
• How did journalists’ beliefs inform how they reported on the ZANU-PF fissures?

This study is significant. Firstly, it detours from existing literature that examines how the government-controlled press reported on Mugabe’s succession. Secondly, it scrutinizes the independency of Zimbabwe’s independent press in the context of ZANU-PF factionalism. Further, the study shows how Daily News and NewsDay attempted to shape public opinion on Mugabe’s succession while also exposing the extent to which journalistic beliefs affected reporting on ZANU-PF factionalism.

1.1. Synopsis of ZANU-PF Factionalism

Whereas ZANU-PF suffered incessant waves of factionalism leading to the 2017 coup that removed Mugabe from power, Zimbabwe’s governing party has always experienced leadership-related wrangles. ZANU-PF factionalism is traceable to the liberation war (Sithole & Makumbe, 1997; Chung, 2006; Tekere, 2006). The party’s formation in 1963 is attributed to factionalism. Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole formed the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) on 8 August 1963 after breaking away from the Zimbabwe African People’ Union (ZAPU). This followed disagreement with ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo over execution of the liberation war. ZANU soon imploded after Mugabe and Sithole fought over leadership of the newly formed party. Two factions emerged that were modelled around Mugabe and Sithole. Ethnic differences worsened the fissures (Chung, 2006; Tekere, 2006). Mugabe was Zezuru and Sithole was a Manyika. Whereas these ethnic groups fall within the broader Shona tribe, the Zezuru and Karanga dominated the Manyika and other smaller ethnic groups in leadership positions during Zimbabwe’s liberation war, causing factionalism. Thus, Mugabe came from the dominant Zezuru ethnic group while Sithole was of Manyika, specifically the Ndau ethic minority tribe. Other key liberation war moments that reflected factionalism included the Nhari Rebellion of 1974 and the murder of Herbet Chitepo. With the Nhari rebellion, ZANU fighters, displeased by Dare reChimurenga and the High Command’s poor management of war, coalesced around a provincial military commander, Thomas Nhari. They captured Josiah Tongogara’s family (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army Chief of Defence) and other senior ZANU leaders based in Zambia, accusing them of corruption and mismanagement of war (Chung, 2006; Tekere, 2006). ZANLA was ZANU’s military wing. Herbert Chitepo-chaired Dare reChimurenga was mandated to lead the war from Zambia after Smith banned ZANU in 1964. The Nhari faction was arrested and executed by Tongogara’s camp. The Tongogara camp assumed leadership of the Dare reChimurenga. Chung (2006, pp. 89–90) argues the Nhari Rebellion was an attempt by junior officers to take over leadership and to end war. ZANU factionalism worsened after the Tongogara camp (dominated by Karanga) associated the Nhari Rebellion with Herbert Chitepo (Manyika). Chitepo was murdered. Dare reChimurenga always experienced ethno-regionalism. The Manyika and Karanga dominated the Zezuru and Ndebele in ZANU leadership positions. Chung (2006, p. 92) posits that the Nhari Rebellion had negative repercussions for ZANU beyond the liberation war.

The Workers/Vashandi is another key historical moment that reflected intrinsic factionalism within ZANU. After Chitepo’s murder, the Zambian government arrested Tongogara, members of Dare reChimurenga and the High Command. This created a leadership vacuum in ZANU and ZANLA. Wilfred Mhanda’s group, which was known as the Workers/Vashandi, emerged and filled the gap. The Workers/Vashandi were divided, and “most of the young guerrillas under Wilfred Mhanda were against any form of dialogue with Robert Mugabe or old nationalists” (Chung, 2006, p. 173). The release of Tongogara and old military leadership from Zambian jails ended the Workers/Vashandi’s reign. The Workers/Vashandi were “immobilized in a ruthless military exercise by Tongogara” (Chung, 2006, p. 173). The formation of the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI) in 1971 also reflected the deep-seated divisions within ZANU and ZAPU (Chung, 2006). FROLIZI was established by disgruntled ZAPU and ZANU cadres who felt eclipsed by the Karanga and Manyika.

It is this kind of factionalism that permeated ZANU-PF in post-war Zimbabwe. The divisions emerged within the first decade of self-rule. By the end of 1980s, ZANU-PF started experiencing “cracks in elite cohesion” (Sithole & Makumbe, 1997, p. 134). Mugabe’s dismissal of ZANU-PF secretary general Edgar Tekere in 1988 for opposing his ambition for a one-party state and Edison Zvobgo’s 1995 call for the democratization of national constitution (section on presidential powers) signaled divisions within ZANU-PF (Sithole & Makumbe, 1997; Mangani, 2020). There are suggestions that Mugabe “manufactured” factionalism as a political survival strategy (Compagnon, 2010, p. 18; Msindo, 2016, p. 162; Maodza, 2024). This implies that Mugabe nurtured intraparty divisions as “curtailing factionalism created possibilities for the rival camps to unite and unseat him” (Msindo, 2016, p. 162). The run-up to the ZANU-PF December 2014 elective congress spurred another bout of factionalism. Media reports suggested Mujuru, a vice president then, planned to challenge Mugabe at congress. Two factions vied for Mugabe’s position, the Mujuru faction and the Mnangagwa camp (Chuma et al., 2020). The factions angled for Mugabe’s position since 2000. In 2004, Mnangagwa and his allies, including then Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, secretly organized a meeting in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North province (Mpofu et al., 2022). The meeting sought to position Mnangagwa for the vice presidency ahead of Joice Mujuru and enhance his chances of succeeding Mugabe (Msindo, 2016). The Mujuru faction convened its own meeting at Beatrice (Mashonaland East) and insisted on Mujuru succeeding Mugabe (Moyo, 2017). This was a replay of ethnic factional wars witnessed during Zimbabwe’s liberation war. Mugabe reacted to Mnangagwa’s Tsholotsho convention by purging all his allies from ZANU-PF. Mujuru was appointed vice president and her allies were handed senior ZANU-PF and government portfolios. Mnangagwa was demoted from his position as ZANU-PF secretary of administration. Mugabe appointed Didymus Mutasa, a Mujuru ally, the new secretary of administration (Msindo, 2016, p. 165). Mnangagwa also ceded his position as a speaker of parliament to John Nkomo. In 2014, Mugabe dismissed Mujuru and purged all her allies from party and government positions. Mnangagwa was appointed vice president. Mugabe dismissed Mnangagwa from ZANU-PF and government in 2017 on allegations of plotting a power grab. His allies were purged from government and party positions. Mnangagwa fled to South Africa. He returned after a military coup that toppled Mugabe from power and became president.

1.2. Media and ZANU-PF Factionalism

Scholarship on the media and ZANU-PF factionalism is burgeoning (Maodza, 2015; Maodza, 2017; Chuma et al., 2020; Gadzikwa, 2018; Ruhanya & Gadzikwa, 2024; Maodza, 2024). Nevertheless, the extant literature examines how the state-controlled press mediated ZANU-PF factionalism towards the end of Mugabe’s rule. There is poverty of scholarship interrogating how independent press reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. The current study addresses this academic lacuna by investigating how Daily News and NewsDay reported on Mugabe’s succession between 2014 and 2017. The Zimbabwean press is bifurcated into binaries of patriotic journalism and oppositional journalism (Ranger, 2005; Chibuwe, 2016). The state-controlled press indulges in patriotic journalism which blindly supports the ZANU-PF government’s policies and ideology while projecting the opposition political parties as neocolonial agents seeking an illegal regime change. On the contrary, independent press practices oppositional journalism, which seeks to hold power to account by exposing corruption and maladministration. It is within this context that this study explores how Daily News and NewsDay reported on ZANU-PF factionalism since the newspapers do not suffer direct government interference in their editorial operations. This positioned them well to objectively report on Mugabe’s succession.

Maodza (2017) deployed political economy of the media theoretical lenses to examine how The Herald reported on ZANU-PF factionalism after the ruling party’s December 2014 elective congress. Chuma et al. (2020) investigate how another state-controlled newspaper, Chronicle, reported on Mugabe’s succession during the same period using the principal-agent model as their theoretical guide. Maodza (2017) and Chuma et al. (2020) concur that ZANU-PF factionalism cascaded into state-controlled newsrooms and influenced how The Herald and Chronicle mediated Mugabe’s succession. They contend that a faction in charge of the government’s information portfolio influenced how the state-controlled media empire reported Mugabe’s succession at any given time. Gadzikwa (2018) explores how Zimbabwe’s daily newspapers reported on Mujuru’s expulsion from ZANU-PF through a concept he termed “tabloidization”. In a study largely deriving from content analysis, Gadzikwa (2018) argues that the newspapers were undergoing “tabloidization”, which prioritized sensationalism in news reports over facts. While Gadzikwa (2018) offers valuable insights into the press and ZANU-PF factionalism, he struggles to account for the forces that influenced the newspapers’ narratives on Mugabe’s succession. Ruhanya and Gadzikwa (2024) also deploy the tabloidization conceptual framework in a study seeking nuanced understanding into how The Herald reported on Mujuru’s dismissal from ZANU-PF in 2014 and Mugabe’s removal from power in 2017. They conclude that The Herald suffered editorial tabloidization, which valued sensationalism over facts. The current study, which derives from in-depth interviews with political journalists at Daily News and NewsDay, investigates how the selected newspapers reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. It examines the forces that influenced how the newspapers reported Mugabe’s succession and seeks to establish how journalistic beliefs informed the generation of news reports on Mugabe’s succession.

1.3. Theoretical Framework

The study is guided by framing theory. First developed by Bateson (1972) before its refinement by Goffman (1974) and Entman (1993), framing theory assumes that the media try to influence audiences on what to think and how to think about it. They achieve this by selecting “some aspects of perceived reality and make them more salient” than others (Entman, 1993, p. 52). Framing involves “conscious and unconscious construction of a perspective to encourage a specific way of interpretation by the intended target” (Fordjour & Sikanku, 2022, p. 67). The media generate texts in a way that is meant to influence the audience’s perception of reality. Reese (2007, p. 248) argues that “framing suggests more intentionality on the part of the framer (media)” and “we see what the system and frames embedded within them allows us to see”. This implies that “the media attempt to influence audience’s way of thinking” by consciously manipulating frames and ensuring that debate on a subject of their choice happens within the boundaries that they define. The news media “bracket out certain happenings via routinized, legitimized and institutionalized structures that favour certain ways of seeing” (Tuchman, 1978 as cited in Fordjour & Sikanku, 2022, p. 148). This means that framing “can be analyzed through specific language construction” and by examining media’s “choice of words, ideological positions, phrases, and terminologies” (Fordjour & Sikanku, 2022, p. 868). Thus, frames become “structures that draw boundaries, set up categories, define some ideas as out and others as in” (Reese, 2007, p. 150). It is, however, important to note that frames do not operate within a vacuum. This suggests the existence of forces that inform the frames or what D’Angelo (2002) terms frame sponsors. There are forces beyond journalists that influence how the media frame reality. This argument is reinforced by Boesman et al. (2016, p. 4) when they contend that “frames are not necessarily initiated by the authors (journalists) of news reports… They become the outcome of interactions with editors as well as sources outside the newsroom”. This is a call for researchers to extend beyond highlighting and describing frames to avoid “locking them in place as though they were not part of a larger conversation serving particular interests” (Reese, 2007, p. 248). It again implies the existence of forces that structure and shape the frames that newspapers deploy in news reports and accounts for Reese’s (2007, p. 248) claim that framing “relates explicitly to political strategy”. Through framing theory, this study demonstrates how Daily News and NewsDay’s use of certain terminologies, words, phrases, and language aided the generation of reports that positioned one faction to succeed Mugabe, at any given moment, over the other. It also demonstrates how news sources informed the frames adopted by Daily News and NewsDay in their reportage of ZANU-PF factionalism. This is achieved by critically examining the sources speaking in the newspapers, identifying and analyzing the stories on ZANU-PF factionalism that were granted saliency.

1.4. Methodology

This is a qualitative comparative multiple case study. Studies of a qualitative nature capture people’s lived experiences and enable the extraction of meaning from occurrences (Streubert & Carpenter, 1999; Polit & Beck, 2004). A qualitative research paradigm also seeks depth of understanding as opposed to the quantitative paradigm, which is oriented towards achieving the breadth of understanding (Miles & Huberman, 1984; Patton, 2002). The study recalls the experiences of the Daily News and NewsDay journalists capturing how they mediated Mugabe’s succession. A case study allows exhaustive exploration of a phenomenon within specific context (Yin, 1984; Zainal, 2007). Daily News and NewsDay were the only privately owned daily newspapers in Zimbabwe when this study was conducted. Other daily newspapers, The Herald and Chronicle, were controlled by the ZANU-PF government through the Ministry of Information, which appoints ruling party members as editors (Rusike, 1990). Data were gathered through in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior political journalists at Daily News and NewsDay who published stories on ZANU-PF factionalism. The study employed purposive sampling in selecting journalists for interviews. Purposive sampling involves the selection of participants knowledgeable about a phenomenon under study (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) or what Patton (2002) terms information-rich cases. The participants must also be willing to participate in the study (Spradley, 1979; Bernard, 2002). The researcher selected four senior political journalists at Daily News (2) and NewsDay (2) for in-depth face-to-face interviews. Zimbabwean newsrooms are small and compartmentalized. Journalists specialize in portfolios that range from politics, agriculture, entertainment, and education to municipality, among others. The four senior journalists interviewed were selected since they specialized in political reporting and published stories on ZANU-PF factionalism that address this study’s objectives. Whereas the researcher intended to interview the editors for Daily News and NewsDay, they were unwilling to participate in the study. The researcher deduced that their refusal derived from the sensitivity of the study since it was conducted when ZANU-PF factionalism cascaded into newsrooms and created an environment of suspicion and fear. This explains why journalists that agreed to be interviewed chose an out-of-workplace venue and anonymity. Journalists specializing in portfolios such as education, entertainment, sports, agriculture, and municipality were rationally excluded from the sample as their duties were outside the study’s objectives and thrust. While on the surface interviewing four journalists may appear inadequate, it does not in any way affect the study’s objectives and findings as these were the only participants involved in the phenomenon. The standard determining the number of participants in any study is informed by its aims and thrust (Guest et al., 2006; Padgett, 2008; Morse & Niehaus, 2009). This study sought nuanced understanding of how journalists at Daily News and NewsDay reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. It also endeavored to establish the factors that influenced how they reported Mugabe’s succession and the extent to which journalistic beliefs informed their reports. It sought depth and not breath of understanding. The table below (

Table 1. Journalists who were interviewed at Daily News and NewsDay.

Informant	Designation
Participant A	Daily News Political Reporter 1
Participant B	Daily News Political Reporter 2
Participant C	NewsDay Political Reporter 1
Participant D	NewsDay News Manager 2

) shows journalists who were interviewed and their designations.

Further, the study did not solely rely on interviews but also subjected the stories published by Daily News and NewsDay on ZANU-PF factionalism to framing analysis to identify similarities and dissimilarities in frames and account for the agenda they set. The study settled for front page stories that were published around three key ZANU-PF events. These three key events, which witnessed the manifestation of ZANU-PF factionalism, were the December 2014 elective congress, the elevation of Emmerson Mnangagwa to the vice presidency, and Mnangagwa’s dismissal in 2017. This decision was taken to ensure easy management of the study. The purposively selected key events also marked the height of ZANU-PF factionalism, which culminated in the removal of Mugabe from power. Front page stories communicate the extent to which newspapers consider them the most important news of the day (Weldon, 2008; Kim & Chong, 2017). Daily News published 104 front page stories against NewsDay’s 38. The stories and data from interviews were subjected to a framing analysis. Framing analysis enabled the researcher to identify the hidden meanings of texts (Esser & D’Angelo, 2006) and the dominant ideas embedded in the journalists’ reports (Benoit, 1999). Thus, the researcher read all the front page stories and identified the manifest devices in the articles and in data gathered from interviews. They then proceeded to interview the journalists to account for why they used certain words, phrases, and terminology which bluntly supported the interests of one faction over those of the other. It is critical to note that for ethical reasons, the researcher deliberately avoided pinning down the selected stories to each participant who generated them. This is because the articles bear the participants’ name, and such a decision would unwittingly expose them violating the terms and conditions under which the interviews were secured. It also explains why the findings from interviews are largely in narrative form. The interviews were conducted from both a biographical narrative approach and focused discourse style (Odell et al., 1983). The biographical narrative approach encouraged journalists to recite how they generated news on ZANU-PF factionalism. The focused discourse section was mainly interested in establishing the origins of the framing devices (sources). Interrogating the sourcing habits exposes the extent to which journalists’ news reports were influenced by sources and the extent to which news reporters “function as conduits for the source” (Boesman et al., 2016, p. 6). The interview questions posed to journalists sought to establish the following: How did they source news on ZANU-PF factionalism? Who were their sources? Why did journalists grant politicians from one faction a voice while denying those from the rival camp? Who did they want to succeed Mugabe? How did their beliefs influence how they reported on Mugabe’s succession? Why did they use certain terms, phrases, and terminology that bluntly promoted the interests of one faction over those of the other?

2. Findings

The study sought to explore how Daily News and NewsDay reported on ZANU-PF factionalism, establish factors that influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession, and examine how journalists’ beliefs informed their news reports.

2.1. ZANU-PF Factions “Captured” Daily News Journalists, Influenced How They Reported Mugabe’s Succession

Interviews with Daily News journalists confirmed that they consciously adopted factions. In some instances, the journalists were motivated by “material things.” I deliberately quote verbatim what journalists revealed to avoid dilution of the findings. A prominent Daily News political journalist pseudo-named Participant A revealed that they adopted Mujuru’s faction. This influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. The journalist attended, as a special guest, private meetings that were organized by the Mujuru faction.

I remember very well attending a very high-level meeting with the then deputy chief secretary in president office (name withheld) and another very senior politician aligned to Mujuru camp, who is now a Zimbabwean ambassador in Europe. I was the only journalist from the private press. There is no one from the state media. The idea at the meeting was, “go and sell this idea to the people. If we give it to the state media, it would be killed, but you guys can do it for us”.

(interview with Researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Participant A claimed, “ZANU-PF (politicians) had money to buy even editors in the private press”. This points to the extent to which ZANU-PF factions captured (bribed) journalists at the privately owned press and influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. Participant A’s assertions reveal the extent to which Daily News became entrenched in ZANU-PF factionalism. Participant A emphasized how journalists were manipulated by factions when they revealed how they were instructed to “go and sell this idea to the people”. Normally, journalists unbiasedly report facts. This raises controversy over the circumstances under which Participant A became a Mujuru faction’s asset. Participant A revealed that politicians within Mujuru’s camp facilitated his acquisition of farmland, and this influenced how they reported Mugabe’s succession. The journalist also started “a small business” courtesy of assistance from the same faction and quipped, “those are the things that really came into play as well”, adding that “the idea was to try and reform ZANU-PF. Mujuru seemed like a reformist. Mnangagwa was anti-business, a Chinese protégé, and tough guy” (interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare).

The journalist demonstrated involvement in ZANU-PF factionalism when they declared, “the idea was to try and reform ZANU-PF”, in violation of basic journalism tenets that exhorts “disinterested objectivity” (Sigelman, 1973; Schudson, 1990). It explains why the Mnangagwa faction later blacklisted the journalist.

Once one faction identifies you with another faction, they never wanted to talk to you. Their fear was that you could be a transmitter of information from one camp to another camp.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Thus, Participant A’s news sourcing abilities were disabled. This exacerbated the Daily News’ generation of biased reports on ZANU-PF factionalism, a predicament the journalist also confirmed, saying:

Journalism became factionalized and even the output, it was no longer about the story but defending the territory on its own. Defending your package… We also became at some point enemies within the journalism sector.

(Participant A, interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Two factions emerged after Mugabe’s dismissal of Mujuru—Mnangagwa’s Team Lacoste versus the Grace Mugabe aligned G40. This did not unshackle Daily News from the clutches of factions as confirmed by another Daily News journalist, herein identified as Participant B.

At editorial level, the editor is greased (bribed) so they will sanction stories. It cascades down but you see, when it cascades down the reporter is given mafufu (leftovers). You would be given USD 20 for lunch but you know exactly that at the very apex (editor level) a lot of money has been given and at the apex the G40 prevailed.

(interview with researcher, 15 September 2023, Harare)

Mujuru’s dismissal saw the Daily News editorial stance mutating towards the G40 while sustaining its anti-Mnangagwa disposition. Participant B confirmed that associating with either faction that was contending to succeed Mugabe affected the sourcing of news on ZANU-PF factionalism. The journalist revealed that, “Team Lacoste would actually point it at you that you are a G40 journalist” (you are biased in favor of G40). The Daily News editors also reportedly “killed” stories offending the interests of factions that they supported.

I had problems with the deputy editor because when he wanted to dismiss my story instead of telling me that because it is not “factionally” correct (the story did not support a ZANU-PF faction that the editor supported), he told me there is no story. I would try to argue that no, this is a story. The moment I win the argument that this is a story, he will turn up and say the story offends the newspaper’s commercial interests.

(interview with researcher, 15 September 2023, Harare)

Participant B recalled how one of the Daily News editors aligned to Mnangagwa’s faction once “threw us under the bus” when he revealed his sources to a rival camp. This complicated the journalist’s relations with sources thereafter.

What happened during that period is that ZANU-PF G40 politicians (names withheld) were my deep throat sources especially about the goings on in ZANU-PF politburo. One day another editor went to report to the Mnangagwa faction that the people who are leaking stories on ZANU-PF (to the Daily News) are the G40 politicians (names withheld). They are giving our reporters information to the extent that when there was a ZANU-PF conference in Victoria Falls, ZANU-PF politicians were refusing to talk to us…Newsroom was seriously “factionalised”. Colleagues would steal diaries (stories ideas on ZANU-PF factionalism) and alert factions.

(interview with researcher, 15 September 2023, Harare)

Participant B claimed this affected his relations with some editors and added, “I know what is good journalism, and what is bad journalism, but in practice do I have the room to practice good journalism?”

What was toxic was at the top (editors) because it really did affect us as reporters. You see, when you write a story because it has been sanctioned by that editor, you then are given a faction (accused of belonging to a faction). You are given a faction that the editor supported.

(interview with researcher, 15 September 2023, Harare)

Participant A shifted political allegiance following the dismissal of Mujuru and adopted the G40 faction. They were motivated by financial rewards. They revealed during interviews that, “What would happen is G40 would bring money for you to sustain their agenda and for a journalist who is not empowered a USD 100 note is too much” (interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare). Again, the incentives influenced how Participant A reported on ZANU-PF factionalism post Mujuru. This reveals the extent to which factions captured journalists in the private press and influenced reports on Mugabe’s succession. It also affected newsroom relations as journalists aligned with rival factions.

You would never leave your cup of tea (in the newsroom unattended) fearing that this person who supported this other faction would poison me. It became so personal. So personal to some of us journalists and now I look back and laugh at it.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Participant A also confirmed Participant B’s claim that the Daily News editors were entrenched in ZANU-PF factions. They would reportedly refuse to publish stories undermining the interests of factions that they supported.

Editor (name withheld) would side with G40. We also had another editor, who was on the side of Mnangagwa. Then came another editor who was clearly a Mnangagwa person… On my part, “personally as a journalist I supported G40 and preached the gospel—the anti-Mnangagwa gospel”.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

2.2. NewsDay Journalists Captured, Adopt ZANU-PF Factions

Interviews with journalists at NewsDay also confirmed that they were captured by ZANU-PF factions. This influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. When asked whether it involved material benefits, a senior NewsDay journalist, herein identified as Participant C, claimed:

In some cases, materially. In fact, in most cases materially, where you innocently call a source for a story and then that source has informants in the newsroom. The informant would call him and say Mudhara (old man) there are negative stories generated here about you. Then Mudhara iyeye (old man) would do something for the informant to such an extent that the informant would take you to them and he would say this is the guy writing about you and then they would try influence the narrative. Then the material things happen.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

The journalist revealed that at some point they were offered residential property by a senior G40 politician and minister who wanted to influence how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. The G40 was desperate for positive coverage as The Herald always portrayed them negatively.

One day when (name withheld) had a press conference and on seeing me he asked—do you have a residential stand (property)? I responded, I do not have a residential land minister. He invited me to his office and offered 2000 square meters of land in Mt Pleasant.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

The journalist, who refused the offer, blamed the capture of the media by ZANU-PF factions on poor remuneration, saying that “journalists have a challenge when it comes to their remuneration so a lot of stories would be sacrificed just to get something from the politicians and in the newsroom, people would go to extremes to please their sources who had become their paymasters”. Participant C also confirmed ZANU-PF factionalism complicated the sourcing of news. Once either of the ZANU-PF factions associated a journalist with a rival camp, they blacklisted them and refused interviews. Journalists ended up generating single-sourced stories on Mugabe’s succession, further polarizing narratives. Participant C said sources influenced how they reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. The journalist had close ties with the Mnangagwa camp.

The sources were biased in favour of the Mnangagwa faction and against the Mujuru camp. Because of the sources I had or the people who were willing to give me information then, Mujuru was on the quiet side. She was attacked but she never publicly responded…we ran with people who wanted to talk.

(interview with researcher 17 August 2023, Harare)

ZANU-PF factionalism cascaded into the NewsDay newsroom as well. The newsroom was compartmentalized, with Participant C saying that:

There was a problem because key factional elements within ZANU-PF captured journalists. The newsroom was deeply divided along factional lines to an extent that any story you would suggest in a diary meeting (story idea caucus), the next thing you will get a call from an involved factional element, you know, commenting about the story that you are working on, which is yet to be published. So, it became very toxic in the newsroom…

(Participant C interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Participant C also revealed how they would at times manipulate information given by sources, even at public gatherings such as political rallies, and ensured it served the political interests of a ZANU-PF faction that they supported.

Grace (Mugabe) would say whatever she would want to say (at rallies) but the story now would be influenced by another faction. To say, she may have said this, but this is what we are saying. So, you find that a story from Grace would be twisted to suit the agenda of a rival faction.

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Journalists became political commissars of rival ZANU-PF factions with Participant C claiming that “each journalist spoke for his or her faction through the stories they generated”. A balance was struck, albeit accidentally.

We had almost the same number of journalists in the newsroom who were aligned to Grace Mugabe’s G40 and those aligned to the Mnangagwa faction, the Lacoste faction. So, you would find that on a Monday you would write a story attacking Mnangagwa, for example. Then on Tuesday, the Lacoste journalists in the newsroom would write a story maybe responding to your Monday story…

(interview with researcher, 17 August 2023, Harare)

Participant C also revealed how personal beliefs informed how they reported on ZANU-PF factionalism and noted that they “were opposed to Grace Mugabe succeeding her husband”. This informed how they reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. Once there were signs that Grace Mugabe intended to succeed Mugabe using the G40 as a launchpad, Participant C said, “most of the stories we ran were now negative to say we cannot have a bedroom coup”. A former NewsDay editorial manager, identified as Participant D, also confirmed the assertions by Participant C.

The factions were not confined to reporters, but editors were big into factions. I will give you an example. We had this editor who fronted the Mnangagwa faction together with some reporters, who were so close to him. The editor would kill every story that portrayed the G40 faction in good light. He would simply poke holes in the stories like, your story is not balanced. You write another story tomorrow and again, he would dismiss it as biased.

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

Whereas Participant D confessed “having a soft spot for the G40”, they claimed the editor belonged to Mnangagwa’s faction.

They would hold private meetings at Ambassador Hotel where they shared ideas on propping up Mnangagwa. This manifested in the stories they wrote, choice of adjectives and demonizing Mnangagwa’s opponents, you could pick their bias.

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

Allegations that the Mnangagwa faction materially captured some NewsDay journalists also emerged during the researcher’s interview with Participant D, confirming how factions desperate for positive media coverage materially invested in selected journalists and sponsored narratives (frames) on Mugabe’s succession, which promoted their interests.

“I know a lot of reporters like (name withheld) who benefited financially from supporting Mnangagwa. He always had money and would boast about it. At one time, I remember his car had a breakdown and I escorted him to a Mnangagwa strong ally in Harare where he was given money to service it…”

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

But whereas Participant D claimed journalists were materially incentivized by the Mnangagwa faction to generate positive narratives, other NewsDay reporters branded him a G40 functionary. When the researcher sought clarity over the allegations from Participant D, they responded:

One day I met Kasukuwere at a fuel station and he gave me USD 100 to fill my vehicle. Kasukuwere was famous among journalists for being stingy. So, when I got to the newsroom, I announced that Kasukuwere had given me USD 100 but then a pro-Mnangagwa faction reporter took the information to Mnangagwa’s faction, who in the ZANU-PF politburo raised the matter saying I was being paid by G40 to scandalize him and his allies. I was then branded a G40 activist…

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

Interestingly, from their own confession, Participant D told the researcher they supported the G40 and loathed the Mnangagwa faction. They claimed Mnangagwa displayed signs of dictatorship just like Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for close to 40 years.

I had soft spot for G40 because I always considered Team Lacoste as an aggressive group that would be very difficult to remove from power…I just felt removing ZANU-PF through G40 would be easy because this group had a loose relationship with the army so after the takeover they would be easy to remove even using the ballot.

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

What emerges from Participant D’s assertions demonstrates how personal beliefs also influence journalistic work although this claim is weakened by the fact that there were also material relations between the journalist and some G40 politicians. Participant D also confirmed that the NewsDay newsroom was bifurcated along ZANU-PF factions and remarked that, “there was potential journalists could kill each other over factions”.

The working environment was toxic to the extent of spying on each other on behalf of certain factions. A good example, you would during diary meetings suggest a story and it would be recorded down. A story about Mnangagwa having done something bad but then before I even write the story someone would alert the Mnangagwa faction. You would be phoned by members of that faction saying we know what you are writing about us.

(interview with researcher, 22 August 2023, Harare)

Although editors at NewsDay and Daily News refused interviews with the researcher, it is clear from the journalists’ assertions that ZANU-PF factions captured the privately owned newspapers and influenced how they reported on ZANU-PF succession politics. The next sections examine how the Daily News and NewsDay reported on ZANU-PF factionalism—The Stories.

• Case 1: The Daily News’s pro-Mujuru, anti-Mnangagwa narratives

This section analyzes the stories that were published by Daily News in the run up to the ZANU-PF December 2014 congress and demonstrates how the newspaper aligned with the Joice Mujuru faction in its reports while undermining the rival Mnangagwa faction. Daily News published 16 front page stories between 21 July 2014 and 8 December 2014 (see

Table 2. The stories published by Daily News in the run up to the ZANU-PF 2014 congress and soon after the event.

Date	Story Headline	Page
21 July 2014	Fear paralyses Mujuru faction	Front Page
10 October 2014	ZANU-PF killed Rex—Mujuru	Front Page
26 October 2014	I will never surrender—Mujuru	Front Page
31 October 2014	State media attacks Mujuru	Front Page
10 November 2014	Let us pray: Mujuru	Front Page
13 November 2014	Mujuru ally tortured	Front Page
14 November 2014	Axing Mujuru will backfire	Front page
15 November 2014	Is this Mujuru’s end?	Front Page
16 November 2014	Carnage for Mujuru	Front Page
17 November 2014	Is Mujuru facing imminent arrest?	Front Page
18 November 2014	Mujuru defence spot on	Front Page
21 November 2014	Mujuru attacks now comical—analysts	Front Page
26 November 2014	Explain Mujuru death: Brother	Front Page
3 December 2014	Mujuru fears for her life	Front Page
8 December 2014	They murdered my Rex: Mujuru	Front Page
4 March 2015	Spies at Mujuru farm	Front Page

below). ZANU-PF held its congress from 2 December 2014 to 7 December 2014.

Whereas all the Daily News’ headlines captured in Table 2 show the newspaper’s pro-Mujuru faction editorial disposition, the researcher only picks a few articles to demonstrate the extent the newspaper was entangled in ZANU-PF factionalism. In doing so, the researcher argues that these editorial characteristics are endemic in other stories. In a front-page article, “I will never surrender—Mujuru” (26 October 2014), Daily News assertively declared that Mujuru was “determined to overcome First Lady Grace Mugabe’s recent scathing attacks on her and would never surrender”. Although it constantly described Mujuru as “the beleaguered widow of the late liberation hero Solomon Mujuru”, Daily News was certain she would prevail. While adopting the under-siege frame, the newspaper projected Mujuru as an invincible giant when it claimed she “confronted Mugabe” over Grace Mugabe’s public attacks on her person. The deployment of the word “confronted” frames Mujuru as brave to challenge Mugabe, who was well known for his ruthlessness when his rule was under threat. The article re-emphasized the point that Mujuru was a national hero by constantly referencing her contribution to Zimbabwe’s liberation war. Another headline, “State media attacks Mujuru” (31 October 2014), dismissed The Herald’s allegations that Mujuru engaged in corruption. It read:

Mujuru faced a new round of damaging allegations yesterday from The Herald, widely seen as the voice of government and powerful forces within ZANU-PF. It accused her of illegally receiving money from investment partners and using her political clout to squeeze them out of a business venture.

The story deployed the victimhood frame and projected Mujuru as a target of negative powerful forces within ZANU-PF. This explains why Daily News dismissed the allegations raised against her without instituting its own investigations. Daily News was renowned for exposing corruption in ZANU-PF in the past, but in this instance, it firmly stood with Mujuru. It quoted carefully chosen “political analysts” dismissing the allegations levelled against Mujuru by The Herald. Instead, the article reminded the audience that Mujuru was “a battle-hardened veteran of the 1970s liberation war” and “will overcome her enemies”. It also claimed that Mujuru’s family “is known to own businesses including a diamond mine in southern Zimbabwe” without elaborating how such investments were started. When Mujuru absconded congress, a Daily News headlined moaned, “Mujuru fears for her life” (3 December 2014), with the newspaper once again deploying the victimhood frame as it sought public sympathy for a vice president whom it had earlier on framed as invincible. The story dismissed the ZANU-PF congress as a “damp squib” and slammed Mugabe for mistreating Mujuru, yet it was Solomon Mujuru (Joice Mujuru’s husband) who installed “the nonagenarian as ZANU-PF’s leader way back in the 1970s”. Mugabe is projected as unthankful. In “Is Mujuru facing imminent arrest?” (17 November 2014), Daily News quoted “political analysts” Dumiso Dabengwa, Dewa Mavhinga, and Pedzisai Ruhanya—well-known anti-Mugabe political activists—warning Mugabe against arresting Mujuru on corruption charges. Ruhanya dismissed the allegations as “sheer political madness” and was further quoted saying, “Anything can happen when lawless takes precedence, but it will be unfortunate …when the history of this country is written, Mugabe will be portrayed as the villain if this woman is arrested”. Such storylines framed Mujuru as a saint. Another Daily News article, “Axing Mujuru will backfire” (14 November 2014), begs Mugabe to keep Mujuru in ZANU-PF. The article reads in part:

If ZANU-PF hardliners succeed in ousting embattled Vice President Joice Mujuru, it is possible the opposition will take advantage and join forces with members of parliament who support her which will result in President Robert Mugabe and the ruling party being booted out, analysts say.

This demonstrated the extent to which Daily News stretched itself to protect Mujuru from her perceived ZANU-PF enemies and exposed its biased narratives. Mujuru’s perceived ZANU-PF rivals were framed as “hardliners”, while use of the word “embattled” implied that the vice president was besieged by powerful and ruthless forces.

• Case 2: The Daily News anti-Mnangagwa storylines

When Mugabe appointed Mnangagwa his deputy after the dismissal of Mujuru, Daily News generated stories that undermined the then vice president’s faction (Team Lacoste) while propping its rival, the G40 (see

Table 3. Daily News anti-Mnangagwa articles.

Date	Story Headline	Page
9 January 2015	42% tip Mnangagwa for presidency	Front
12 January 2015	Mnangagwa sucked into USD 600,000 share dispute	Front
27 February 2015	VP Mnangagwa contradicts Mugabe	Front
15 March 2015	Mnangagwa heads for trouble?	Front
2 May 2015	Mnangagwa lacks social base	Front
15 May 2015	Mnangagwa allies humbled in Gutu	Front
19 May 2015	Mnangagwa not heir apparent	Front
25 May 2016	Mnangagwa behind secret meetings	Front
26 May 2015	Mnangagwa cannot win election	Front
6 October 2015	Mnangagwa in bizarre apostolic rites	Front
8 December 2015	Mnangagwa test has come	Front
16 December 2015	Mnangagwa camp feels ZANU-PF heat	Front
12 January 2016	Mnangagwa allies face ZANU-PF sack	Front
26 January 2016	Mnangagwa faction goes for broke	Front
1 February 2016	Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF stress mounts	Front
15 February 2016	Mnangagwa might resign	Front
15 February 2016	Team Lacoste courts Mujuru	Front
21 February 2016	End of Mnangagwa	Front
10 March 2016	More Mnangagwa allies face the chop	Front
5 April 2016	Mnangagwa allies suffer massive blow	Front
25 April 2016	ZANU-PF okays Mnangagwa demo	Front
26 April 2016	Team Lacoste stalks Mugabe	Front
3 May 2016	Mnangagwa begs for mercy	Front
3 May 2016	Mnangagwa embarrassed	Front
27 May 2016	Mugabe shuts door on Mnangagwa	Front
16 June 2016	Grace frustrates Mnangagwa in Dubai	Front
31 June 2016	Can Mnangagwa survive the chop	Front
27 July 2016	Mnangagwa’s problems mount	Front
30 July 2016	End nigh for Mnangagwa	Front
31 July 2016	Mnangagwa dumps allies	Front
6 September 2016	Mnangagwa camp falls further behind G40	Front
13 January 2017	Mnangagwa on the ropes	Front
30 July 2017	Grace roasts ED, Charamba	Front
31 July 2017	Will Mnangagwa survive?	Front
11 August 2017	Mnangagwa ally arrested	Front
3 September 2017	Mnangagwa beefs up security	Front
8 September 2017	Mnangagwa allies isolated	Front
12 September 2017	Mnangagwa at crossroads	Front
18 September 2017	Mnangagwa’s fate: All eyes on Mugabe	Front
5 October 2017	ED (Mnangagwa) now a dead man walking	Front
11 October 2017	Defining moment for Mnangagwa	Front
30 October 2017	It’s a sink or swim for ED	Front
2 November 2017	Plot to oust Mnangagwa thickens	Front
7 November 2017	Mnangagwa fired	Front
11 November 2017	Mnangagwa skips to China	Front

below).

Daily News published 45 front page stories caricaturing Mnangagwa between 9 June 2014 and 11 November 2017. The researcher did not examine every story as interviews with journalists already confirmed they adopted the G40 faction in their reportage of ZANU-PF factionalism post Mujuru era. Thus, selection and analysis of stories was conducted merely to endorse a phenomenon already confirmed by journalists who are quoted widely in the previous section. When Mugabe appointed Mnangagwa as vice president, a front page Daily News article screamed, “Mnangagwa finally arrives” (11 December 2014). It read:

After years of struggle and suffering some debilitating defeats, Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa was finally appointed ZANU-PF’s first vice president yesterday, a position that sets him up to succeed President Robert Mugabe when the 90-year-old leaves office.

Saliency is placed on Mnangagwa’s “struggle” to become vice president. This infers Mnangagwa was unfit for the position in the first place hence it took a struggle. The same story emphasizes the hollowness of the vice presidency when it quotes Mugabe saying, “we have two vice presidents who have no real function except that they are my deputies”. This implies that Mnangagwa struggled for a useless position. When it campaigned for Mujuru to become vice president, Daily News projected such an elevation as strategic in Mugabe’s succession matrix. To emphasize its argument that vice presidency was a useless position, Daily News mobilized anti-Mnangagwa sources. These included Dewa Mavhinga, who equated Mnangagwa’s elevation to “the end of ZANU-PF”. Another Daily News headline, “Mnangagwa must shut up”, drew from an anti-Mnangagwa source, Didymus Mutasa of the vanquished Mujuru faction. Mutasa dismissed Mnangagwa as a “charlatan” who failed to contribute meaningfully to Zimbabwe’s liberation war. A charlatan is an impostor. This is an attempt at deconstructing Mnangagwa’s liberation war credentials. Daily News also framed Mnangagwa as a sell-out in a headline, “Mnangagwa faction: US links exposed”. It claimed Mnangagwa’s ally Chris Mutsvangwa hosted US diplomat Eric Little at his house and concluded Mnangagwa was “clandestinely working with American officials” to weaken ZANU-PF. This demonstrates how sources sponsored narratives (D’Angelo, 2002) on ZANU-PF factionalism and the extent to which journalists consciously constructed a perspective to encourage a certain way of thinking (Fordjour & Sikanku, 2022, p. 867) on who should have succeeded Mugabe.

• Case 3: The Daily News’ pro-G40 stories

The table below (see

Table 4. The pro-G40 front page stories that were published by Daily News during the period under study.

Date	Story Headline	Page
12 February 2016	G40 outwits Team Lacoste in Politburo	Front
18 November 2016	War vets declare war on Moyo, “Tyson”	Front
19 March 2016	G40 finishes Team Lacoste	Front
24 March 2016	Ngwena’s new age of denials: It wasn’t me	Font
23 March 2016	G40 puts last nails on Team Lacoste	Front
31 October 2016	Moyo’s enemies ramp up the heat	Front
9 November 2016	Moyo roasts Mnangagwa	Front
28 December 2016	Moyo savages Lacoste, again	Front
3 January 217	Lacoste, G40 wars escalate	Front
12 January 2017	G40 hunts Mnangagwa, Team Lacoste	Front
27 January 2017	Lacoste youths warn Chipanga	Front
28 November 2016	G40, Team Lacoste tuck into each other	Front
28 November 2016	Moyo savages Mnangagwa	Front
25 January 2017	Kasukuwere mauls Mnangagwa supporters	Front
14 March 2017	Moyo wants to be president: Mutsvangwa	Front
17 March 2017	We’ll crush G40, Mnangagwa’s camp vows	Front
23 April 2017	Ghost of 2008 spooks ZANU-PF	Front
6 May 2017	Team Lacoste squeezes G40	Front
26 May 2017	“Time to cut Tyson loose”	Front
2 June 2017	Dark clouds hang over Kasukuwere	Front
14 June 2017	D-Day for Jonathan Moyo	Front
15 June 2017	Con-Court reserves ruling in Moyo’s case	Front
21 June 2017	Tyson opens up	Front
22 June 2017	Tyson survives another day	Front
23 June 2017	Explosive Politburo as factions face off over Kasukuwere	Front
28 June 2017	Chiwenga after Jonathan Moyo	Front
4 July 2017	War vets want Moyo censured	Front
7 July 2017	Mahoka, Moyo off the hook	Front
17 July 2017	Jonathan Moyo: Rebel without a cause or voice of reason	Inside
30 July 2017	Grace roasts ED, Charamba	Front
30 July 2017	Case against Tyson collapses	Front
12 June 2017	G40 fears Mnangagwa is shoo-in	Front
10 April 2017	Vultures circle wobbly “Tyson”	Front
4 September 2017	Tyson regains lost ground	Front
21 September 2017	Jonathan Moyo in Ngwena’s jaws	Front
22 September 2017	Moyo itching for day in court	Front
13 October 2017	Game on as Mnangagwa hammers Moyo	Front
20 October 2017	Grace Mugabe leads race for VP	Front
22 October 2017	Team Lacoste hatches Plan B	Front
2 November 2017	Plot to oust Mnangagwa thickens	Front
12 November 2017	Case against Tyson collapses	Front
19 December 2017	G40 kingpins allege persecution	Front

) captures pro-G40 headlines in Daily News.

Daily News largely projected G40 as front runners to succeed Mugabe. A lead story, “G40 finishes off Team Lacoste” (19 March 2016), deriving from the dismissal from ZANU-PF of Mnangagwa’s ally July Moyo, read:

In arguably the most devastating blow to befall the ZANU-PF faction rallying behind embattled Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s mooted presidential aspirations, one of the Midlands godfather’s most trusted allies, July Moyo, has now also been booted out of the warring government.

(Daily News, 19 March 2016)

The story quoted a nameless G40 source saying, “this officially marks the end of Team Lacoste. We have now decapitated all the heads of this successionist outfit, meaning that it is all over, including for their leader (Mnangagwa)”. Besides the article being single-sourced from a nameless person, describing the dismissal of July Moyo as “most devastating blow” exaggerated the situation. Moyo held no position in Mugabe’s government when he was dismissed. Equally, describing the then vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, as “the Midlands godfather” framed him as a regionalist who lacked national appeal. In “G40 outwits Team Lacoste in politburo” (12 February 2016), Daily News celebrated the Mnangagwa faction’s alleged failure to “bring down G40 group”. It read:

The Daily News—which has reported accurately and consistently on the ruling party’s brutal infighting over the past five years—learnt yesterday that contrary to State media reports that the G40 had received a heavy shellacking, it was in fact Team Lacoste that left with their tails between their legs after the explosive meeting.

This “participatory” kind of journalism betrays Daily News’ pro-G40 editorial disposition. The same article predicted purging of “many other Mnangagwa camp storm troopers”. The phrase “storm troopers” is derogatory as these were “members of the private Nazi army notorious for aggressiveness, violence and brutality” (Merriam–Webster dictionary). The same story also celebrated G40 successes by quoting nameless sources claiming that “the G40-linked politburo members, in particular Moyo and the party’s national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, had allegedly ‘outclassed the successionists (Mnangagwa faction) hands down in the meeting”. Another story, “Mnangagwa might resign” (15 February 2016), propels the agenda for Mnangagwa to quit. Mnangagwa’s voice is missing in the story, which was derived from a nameless single source. It suggested “embattled” Mnangagwa was “crumbling under intense political pressure exerted on him and his allies by his determined ZANU-PF foes (G40)” and is “seriously mulling quitting both his party and government positions”. The deployment of the words “embattled” and “crumbled” seemed designed to create a notion that the G40 defeated the Mnangagwa faction and were favorites to succeed Mugabe. When unknown elements allegedly broke into Mnangagwa’s office, a Daily News headline screamed, “Ngwena’s new age of denials: It wasn’t me” (24 March 2016), which read:

Mnangagwa, in all righteous indignation, looked the nation straight in the eye and insisted he suspected foul play. If apocryphal, it is definitely in character. Mnangagwa, with his colourful Karanga prose and melodrama, regularly embraces bad ideas or even invents fibs so totally that he convinces himself of their rightness…His persistent denials have undercut public confidence in his vice presidency.

Ngwena is Mnangagwa’s nickname. Conversely, Daily News generated articles sympathizing with G40 politicians. These included “Vultures circle wobbly ‘Tyson” (10 April 2017), “Dark clouds hang over Kasukuwere” (2 June 2017), “G40 allege persecution” (19 December 2017), “Case against Tyson collapses” (12 November 2017), “Tyson survives another day” (22 June 2017), and “Tyson survives the chop” (30 July 2017). This may account for Daily News’ triumphant editorial tone whenever the G40’s Kasukuwere reportedly prevailed over the Mnangagwa faction—“Tyson survives the chop”, “Case against Kasuwere collapses”, and “Tyson survives another day”. Kasukuwere was framed as infallible. Similar frames were deployed when reporting about Jonathan Moyo, who was initially projected as infallible and later as a victim of a ruthless Mnangagwa faction. Examples include headlines “Jonathan Moyo in Ngwena’s jaws”, “Moyo’s enemies ramp up the heat”, “Team Lacoste guns for Moyo”, “Team Lacoste squeezes G40”, “G40 kingpins allege persecution”, and “Chiwenga after Jonathan Moyo”. Daily News clearly framed the Mnangagwa faction as aggressors and the G40 as victims. Occasionally, too, Daily News framed Moyo as mulish through headlines, “Moyo roasts Mnangagwa” and “Moyo savages Lacoste, again”.

• Case 4: NewsDay’s pro-Mnangagwa anti-Mujuru narratives

NewsDay adopted a pro-Mnangagwa and anti-Mujuru editorial disposition in its reportage of ZANU-PF factionalism (see

Table 5. NewsDay’s stories on Mujuru.

Date	Story Headline	Page
14 February 2014	Mugabe disqualifies Mujuru, Mnangagwa	Front
11 February 2014	VP Mujuru torches storm	Front
17 October 2014	Dump Mujuru, Grace tells Mugabe	Front
21 October 2014	Mujuru faction regroups	Front
23 October 2014	Mujuru must resign	Front
24 October 2014	MDC-T formed in Mujuru house	Front
24 October 2014	Mujuru’s US ties behind fall out with Mugabe	Front
26 October 2014	Mujuru after my life	Front
31 October 2014	Mujuru faction fired in Masvingo	Front
18 November 2014	I have evidence against Mujuru: Grace Mugabe	Front
29 November 2014	ZANU-PF congress to seal Mujuru, allies fate	Front
3 December 2014	Mugabe blasts Mujuru	Front
4 December 2014	Mujuru a thief, says Mugabe	Front
4 December 2014	Mujuru consulted N’angas	Front
5 December 2014	Its game over for VP Mujuru	Front
19 December 2014	Real reason behind Mujuru ouster	Front
3 April 2015	ZANU-PF fires Mujuru	Front
27 July 2015	ZANU-PF land barons funded Mujuru	Front

below).

NewsDay delegitimized Mujuru as Mugabe successor while legitimizing Mnangagwa. This is evidenced by headlines including, “Mujuru’s US ties behind fallout with Mugabe”, “MDC-T formed in Mujuru house—Grace”, “ZANU-PF congress to seal Mujuru, allies’ fate”, “It’s game over for VP Mujuru”, and “VP Mujuru torches storm”. Relying on nameless sources in a story, “Mujuru’s US ties behind fallout with Mugabe”, NewsDay framed Mujuru as a stooge of the West (Europe and America). It read:

Highly placed sources in Mugabe’s office yesterday said that fears in ZANU-PF hardliners were that given her (Mujuru) close links with the West, particularly the United States, she could reverse the “gains of the liberation struggle, in particular the land reform.

(NewsDay, 24 October 2014)

It quoted Grace Mugabe warning that, “Mujuru would bring back the pre-1980 era if she took over as President” while insinuating they were better candidates in ZANU-PF to succeed Mugabe. An unnamed source is quoted stating:

It is clear that with her, the country is at risk, we don’t want to go back to the pre-1980 era and there is a feeling that she can take us there as it seems she has a soft spot for the West. Zimbabwe cannot go back to that era before 1980. We want someone who will protect the revolution of the country, but with her, we can’t trust.

(NewsDay, 24 October 2014)

Mujuru is framed as a Western puppet bent on destroying ZANU-PF. The claim that she would “reverse gains of liberation struggle” projected her as a sell-out while allegations she helped form Simba Makoni’s opposition party Mavambo/Khusile/Dawn, constructed her as a rebellious (the rebel frame). Another single-sourced headline, “MDC-T formed in Mujuru house—Grace” (18 October 2014), reinforced the notion that Mujuru was a sell-out. Although such accusations emanated from Grace Mugabe’s public addresses, NewsDay failed to consider the context in which the texts were generated. In “Mugabe disqualifies Mujuru, Mnangagwa” (21 February 2014), NewsDay quoted a nameless source claiming, “Mugabe once promised Mnangagwa power when he finally relinquished it”. This projects Mnangagwa as Mugabe’s heir apparent. “VP Mujuru torches storm” (11 February 2014) constructed Mujuru as an incorrigibly corrupt politician. NewsDay invited opposition politicians, MDC’s Douglas Mwonzora and MDC 99’s Job Sikhala, to comment on The Herald’s reports implicating Mujuru in corruption. Expectedly, one of the politicians said:

I always thought she was reasonable, but now I realize that she is also lost despite sitting in a position of high authority, influence and power…she will be exposed for being heavily involved in the corruption that has swept across our public service institutions.

(NewsDay, 11 February 2014)

• Case 5: NewsDay’s pro-Mnangagwa, anti-G40 narratives

The post-Mujuru era saw NewsDay adopting an anti-G40 and pro-Mnangagwa faction editorial disposition. This is demonstrated in

Table 6. NewsDay’s pro-Mnangagwa anti-G40 stories.

Date	Story Headline	Page
12 May 2015	Kasukuwere on the ropes as ZANU-PF infighting intensifies	Front
28 September 2015	Mnangagwa ignores G40, continues on charm offensive	Front
29 January 2016	Charamba, Moyo clash over G40	Front
24 May 2016	Mugabe raps Kasukuwere	Front
8 August 2016	Chiwenga takes aim at 40	Front
20 October 2016	All things come to an end, even if you are Jonathan Moyo	Centre
4 November 2016	G40, a faction at the deep end	Centre
6 November 2016	G40 on the receiving end	Front
17 February 2017	Mugabe roasts Kasukuwere	Front
31 March 2017	Kasukuwere on the ropes	Front
5 April 2017	Kasukuwere, Mafios woes mount	Front
10 April 2017	Mugabe’s pre-emptive strike saves Kasukuwere	Front
19 April 2017	ZANU-PF youths dump Kasukuwere	Front
23 June 2017	Kasukuwere on tenterhooks	Front
2 October 2017	It’s gloves off: Mnangagwa	Front
9 November 2017	Mugabe out in weeks—Mnangagwa	Front
16 November 2017	Army arrests G40 criminals	Front
25 November 2017	Jonathan Moyo, political turncoat par-excellence… would be kingmaker that never was	Front
25 November 2017	G40 embraces Mnangagwa	Front
7 December 2017	G40 wanted Mnangagwa dead	Front

below.

NewsDay published 20 front page anti-G40 stories between 15 May 2015 and 7 December 2017. The stories positioned Mnangagwa as a frontrunner to succeed Mugabe. This was achieved through biased single-sourcing and giving saliency to pro-Mnangagwa stories (placement on front page). In “Mnangagwa ignores G40, continues on charm offensive” (28 September 2015), NewsDay reported:

Acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa has publicly ignored attacks by members of a ZANU-PF faction known as the G40 and continued on a charm offensive that has won him admirers and sympathizers in the battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe.

This frames Mnangagwa as enjoying popular support in ZANU-PF and poised to succeed Mugabe. The article accused G40 of “seeking to block” Mnangagwa from succeeding Mugabe. The word “block” implies Mnangagwa was a Mugabe natural successor. The same story described Mnangagwa’s silence despite attacks from the G40 as “a sign of political maturity”. This inferred that the G40 was immature. In “It’s gloves off: Mnangagwa” (2 October 2017), NewsDay dismissed the G40 as “Johnny-come-latelies”. Framing G40 as “Johnny-come-latelies” betrays NewsDay’s pro-Mnangagwa editorial alignment. Collins dictionary describes Johnny-come-lately as “a person who becomes involved in an organization after it has already started”. Therefore, NewsDay framed the G40 as political novices lacking clout. It deployed such frames throughout other stories it published during the period under review. After Mnangagwa went into exile in South Africa, NewsDay published a headline story, “Mugabe out in weeks—Mnangagwa” (9 November 2017). Although Mnangagwa left Zimbabwe for South Africa fearing assassination by his rivals, the NewsDay quoted a nameless source claiming:

He was working towards reviving the economy and progressively re-engaging the world, despite numerous calls from many quarters for him to stand against Mugabe. He refused and said he held high respect for his former boss although he knew the things that Mugabe was doing were wrong.

This was an attempt at framing Mnangagwa—who appeared a coward when he fled Zimbabwe leaving his allies at the mercy of Mugabe—as a well-cultured and fearless politician. When Mnangagwa became president, a NewsDay headline screamed, “G40 embraces Mnangagwa” (25 November 2017), which derived from remarks by two junior G40 politicians which the newspaper interviewed to infer an endorsement by the broader faction. This frame legitimized Mnangagwa by creating a notion in the minds of audiences that even his enemies recognized him as the rightful Zimbabwean leader. At the same time, the frame ignored the fact that Mnangagwa was a beneficiary of a military coup.

3. Discussion and Conclusions

It is clear from the interviews and the stories that ZANU-PF factions manipulated journalists at Daily News and NewsDay and influenced how independent newspapers reported on Mugabe’s succession. The independence of Zimbabwe’s independent press drowned in factions. Daily News and NewsDay—the only remaining daily newspapers free of state control—were weaponized by feuding ZANU-PF factions. These newspapers were renowned for pursuing oppositional/adversarial journalism (Ranger, 2005; Chuma, 2008; Maodza, 2024) that promoted justice and accountability but were swallowed by factions as ZANU-PF imploded. This disabled them from reporting squarely on developments in Zimbabwe’s governing party and denied citizens suffering from decades of Mugabe’s misrule vital information on political developments in their country. The mass media are central to Zimbabwe’s democratization (Chibuwe, 2016) and must effectively play the informative and educative role without bias. How the media—especially the independent press—report on ZANU-PF succession affects democratic governance and national cohesion and negatively impacts the economy.

Findings suggest that Daily News aligned with Joice Mujuru’s faction and maligned her rival, the Emmerson Mnangagwa camp. From interviews with journalists at Daily News, it emerged that the Mujuru faction captured (bribed) journalists through “material things” and influenced how they reported on Mugabe’s succession. This was confirmed by Participant A, when they said they acquired a farm and started “a small business” courtesy of the Mujuru faction. They also intimated that how they reported on ZANU-PF factionalism was driven by the desire to “defend the package” (benefits from Mujuru camp). Participant A also confirmed that the Mujuru faction would tell him to “go and sell this idea to the people” and that as a journalist he consciously supported the Joice Mujuru faction to succeed Mugabe as “Mujuru seemed a reformist” and Mnangagwa was “anti-business and a Chinese protégé”. Participant A also noted that because of his actions, “journalism became factionalized” and revealed that editors “would side with G40”. These claims are sustained by another Daily News journalist, Participant B, who revealed that even editors were “greased” (bribed) to “sanction stories” and the newsroom “was seriously factionalized (divided)”. On the other hand, NewsDay endeared itself with Mnangagwa’s faction whom it positively framed as Mugabe’s natural successor. Interviewed journalists at NewsDay confirmed that ZANU-PF factions captured (bribed) journalists and influenced how they reported the ruling party fissures. Participant C revealed that journalists “would go to extremes to please their sources who had become their paymasters” and confessed that his sources “were biased in favor of Mnangagwa and against Mujuru faction”. The journalist also indicated that rival ZANU-PF faction members “captured (bribed) journalists” while Participant D revealed that “editors were also into factions and fronted the Mnangagwa faction”. A journalist confessed to having “a soft spot for G40” and that he considered Team Lacoste “an aggressive group” that was not supposed to succeed Mugabe. The factions became frame sponsors (D’Angelo, 2002). Journalists also engaged in biased news gathering, which denied the maligned factions a right of reply in violation of basic journalism tenets that exhort fairness in news reports. For example, NewsDay derived anti-Mujuru stories from her rivals without granting her right of reply. Daily News committed a similar offence when it published a series of singled sourced anti-Mnangagwa faction articles (see Table 4) without affording the group a right of reply. Such an editorial stance helped set an agenda against the Mnangagwa faction. Scholars (Carlson & Franklin, 2011; Mathisen, 2021) note that there are always two sides to every news story and dismiss single sourcing as bad journalism. Whereas multiple sources enable the establishment of facts and consequently generation of truthful stories, it is evident that Daily News and NewsDay single-sourced information to promote frames that advocated the agenda of rival ZANU-PF factions. The data gathered from interviews also confirm that the journalists’ ideological beliefs influenced how Daily News and NewsDay reported on ZANU-PF factionalism. For example, Participant A revealed that “the idea was to try and reform ZANU-PF… Mujuru seemed like a reformist. Mnangagwa was anti-business, a Chinese protégé and tough guy”. This is also confirmed by Participant C when he indicated that he “were opposed to Grace Mugabe succeeding her husband (Robert Mugabe)” and generated stories that opposed “a bedroom coup” while Participant D confessed, “I had soft spot for the G40 because I always considered Team Lacoste (Mnangagwa faction) as an aggressive group that would be difficult to remove from power”. This demonstrates how Daily News and NewsDay became active players in ZANU-PF factionalism. The development further polarized the Zimbabwean media and weakened the position of the independent press as an epitome of professional journalism in a context where the state-aligned media were ZANU-PF lapdogs. Journalism at Daily News and NewsDay became factionalized as it bluntly represented the interests of rival ZANU-PF groups fighting to succeed Mugabe.