(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 14 May 2001 FXI media release: Community newspapers under attack in Zimbabwe The Freedom of Expression Institute would like to condemn the Zimbabwean government’s offensive attack on the community newspapers under the Community Newspaper Group (CNG), a holding company for the state. Minister of State for Information and Publicity […]
(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 14 May 2001 FXI media release:
Community newspapers under attack in Zimbabwe
The Freedom of Expression Institute would like to condemn the Zimbabwean government’s offensive attack on the community newspapers under the Community Newspaper Group (CNG), a holding company for the state.
Minister of State for Information and Publicity Jonathan Moyo has labeled the community papers as pro-Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the major political opposition party in the country. Last week Moyo warned media that they must expect violence if they continue, “pushing a political agenda for the opposition.”
The first victim of the government’s offensive is the Masvingo Provincial Star for Masvingo province. The paper has been going for about three weeks now without telephone lines. The journalists’ salaries have been delayed and the government has given them no information on its decision regarding the future of publication.
Masvingo, one of the country’s eight provinces and the heart of Zimbabwean politics, is the biggest province and has the highest population. The readership of the newspaper is drawn from both the urban and rural population, which ranges between 90,000 and 120,000. There are at least five government owned community newspapers in the country’s eight provinces.
