The remaining independent press is largely limited to two weeklies, the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent. Another weekly, The Zimbabwean, is produced in London and distributed in Zimbabwe as an international publication.
Due to rampant inflation, hedge prices have skyrocketed and are out of reach for many Zimbabweans. Publishers have been hit by rising newsprint and printing costs.
A series of draconian laws and institutions, along with prison sentences for “publishing fake news,” are used to suppress critical comments. Journalists who do not register with a government body run the risk of imprisonment.
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), run by the state, operates the only radio and television stations in the country. ZBC previously had two television channels; its second channel was leased to the private Joy TV station, which closed in 2002. Some of its shows are said to have upset the government’s feathers.
Surveillance, threats, imprisonment, censorship, blackmail, abuse of power and denial of justice are applied to maintain a firm grip on the news.
Reporters Without Borders, 2007
Radio is the main source of information for many Zimbabweans. Although there are no private stations, the country is the target of the foreign-based oparartion.
In recent news, the herald’s political editor has been described as a power-hungry attention seeker, a political renegade, a polished suitor, and a boot-licking mercenary at Mugabe and defending ZANU PF for the money and material benefits that come with it. Such political adultery. Zvayi now boasts of a high-level position in the state newspaper, a company car, a government-rented apartment in central Harare, a farm, and various other material benefits.
