ABSTRACT
The world over, human society and institutions have been transformed through the media. This media comes in various forms, such as the electronic and print versions. Some of the areas that the mediascape has greatly transformed are the religious, social and political landscapes in society. So powerful and political is the media that through the radio, the internet, mass media and television, the perceptions of people have been changed in positive and negative directions. In Zimbabwe, where the nation is a home to a rainbow of religions, the television is a central medium for educating, informing and entertaining people. This study seeks to examine the media power and politics of televangelism in Zimbabwe. The chapter posits that the state-run television broadcaster is an institution that censors and determines which religions or denominations can be screened on television. The study established that although Christianity in general enjoys more coverage than other religions, it is notable that some churches of the Pentecostal and the African Initiated fold receive greater favour than others. These churches have been patronised by the political leadership. In fact, televangelism slots are reserved for these churches that preach and cascade patriotic messages of hope to the political elite. The local and foreign televangelists purported to be critical to the status quo are often shunned and likened to unpatriotic prophets of doom. In this way, the power of the media in Zimbabwe is entangled in a political fray that the study unlocks through the religio-scape discourse of televangelism.
