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Bombings And Bannings: Mugabe Versus The Press
"Journalists haven't got the freedom to offend others or to violate the laws, and you must know that," President Robert Mugabe.
In Zimbabwe journalism is in crisis, and journalists are in danger: The last year or so has seen illegal arrests and torture of reporters, a proposed ban on foreign investment in media, the bombing of a newspaper's printing presses in the capital, Harare, and the Law and Order Maintenance Act, which makes it a criminal offense to publish anything "likely to cause alarm or despondency" (and carries a prison sentence of up to seven years). The deportation of two foreign reporters was only the latest in a series of events that indicate a systematic assault on journalists and media institutions, one that has brought international condemnation to President Robert Mugabe. With a dire political and economic situation in this southern African nation, Mugabe, along with his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), is cracking down on opposition — especially the media — in an attempt to hold onto power. MediaChannel affiliates report.
— Elinor Nauen, (enauen@aol.com) editor.
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Ignored By The Locals
Zimbabwean media neither covered nor questioned the expulsion of two foreign journalists, failing to connect the event to the government's increasing crackdown on press freedom, according to the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ). Highly critical of the state media, the MMPZ issues weekly reports analyzing and critiquing the Zimbabwean press.
From Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, February 18 2001
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Tortured Journalists
Independent reporter Ray Choto tells of the horrifying abuse he received in 1999 for refusing to divulge his sources for a story covering the arrest of 23 military officials in Zimbabwe. Writing just after this summer's election, Choto was hopeful Mugabe's regime would be forced to reform its repressive ways.
From Committee to Protect Journalists, July 13 2000
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AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE
MEDIA.
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