The Herald (Zimbabwe)
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The Herald is a government owned daily newspaper published in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.
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[edit] History
[edit] Origins
The newspaper's origins date back to the 19th century. Its forerunner was launched on June 27 1891 by W E Fairbridge[1] for the Argus group of South Africa. Named the “Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times”, it was a weekly, hand-written news sheet produced using the cyclostyle duplicating process. In October the following year it became a printed newspaper and changed its name to "The Rhodesia Herald”.[2]
The Argus group later set up a subsidiary called the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company[3] to run its newspapers in what was then Southern Rhodesia.
After the white minority Rhodesian Front government unilaterally declared independence on 11 November 1965, it started censoring The Rhodesia Herald. The newspaper responded by leaving blank spaces where articles had been removed, enabling readers to gauge the extent of the censorship.
[edit] Post Independence
In 1981, after Zimbabwe became independent, the government bought The Herald and other papers from the Argus group, using a US$20 million grant from Nigeria[4], and established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust[5] to operate them. The Trust created Zimbabwe Newspapers, Ltd., as the publisher of the papers.
[edit] Sister Papers
Other Paper published by the same group include The Sunday Mail in Harare, The Chronicle and The Sunday News in Bulawayo and the Manica Post in Mutare.[6] The Chronicle, launched in October 1894 as The Bulawayo Chronicle, is the second oldest newspaper in the country.[7]
[edit] Controversy
The Herald has for some time been noted for its completely one sided reporting for the government of President Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party, and its demonization of the opposition party, the MDC.
Its opinion pieces and even its news items are characterized by constant accusations against anybody who does not agree with President Mugabe. Usually opponents are accused of being agents of colonial powers. Since the election of 2008, in which around 58% of the electorate voted against Mugabe, the paper has thus been in the unusual position of making frequent accusations against more than half of its own readership.
The Herald faces very limited competition, and no serious opposition from other organs of the media, due to the very restrictive accreditation laws in Zimbabwe, which effectively ban all opposition media. The result is that the paper has evolved into an instrument of rather crude and aggressive propaganda. (On the other hand, it often offers important insights into the workings of the Zanu-PF elite.)
The editorial staff are open in their partisanship, and would not dispute any part of this characterization. The paper makes no pretense of impartiality. Rather, its editors would claim that their accusations against opposition parties are justified. They also support the restrictions on opposition newspapers. Their rationale for this rejection of the principle of a free press is explained as follows by Caesar Zvayi, a regular contributor to the Herald:
"A free Press is vital for a vibrant society. But you have to understand the context in which the Zimbabwean State is operating. It is under siege from some Western countries, some of which - like the US - openly admit to sponsoring the media and various opposition groups to disredit the Government. ... How independent will the Press be if they are funded by an outsider who openly declares his intention to unseat the incumbent Government?"
In mid-May 2008, its website was shut down by cyber hackers.
[edit] Offices
The Herald's offices are in Herald House, overlooking Africa Unity Square in central Harare.
[edit] Current Editor
As of May 2008, the editor of The Herald was Pikirayi Deketeke.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Arthur Keppel-Jones. See http://books.google.com/books?id=UxHpQWTCCA4C&pg=PA356&lpg=PA356&dq=%22we+fairbridge%22&source=web&ots=rBagSAm4dG&sig=WePNn0SNRhOkYoAABCR9y_tA4CY#PPP1,M1
- ^ Zambezia journal, January 1970. See http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol1n2/juz001002001.pdf
- ^ Geoffrey Nyarota. See http://books.google.com/books?id=B2Jp-k0WVWAC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=rhodesian+printing+and+publishing+company&source=web&ots=NGfUu_79pi&sig=P2h3L_fsluCGhe9EtHQ4DurJPzk
- ^ http://www.wacc.org.uk/wacc/publications/media_development/archive/2001_2/the_zimbabwe_mass_media_trust_an_experiment_that_failed
- ^ Ellias T. Rusike. See http://journ.ru.ac.za/rjr/Rusike_homepage.html
- ^ Zimbabwe Newspapers website. http://www.zimpapers.co.zw/
- ^ Zimbabwe Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers
- ^ Zimbabwe Newspapers website. http://www.zimpapers.co.zw/site.aspx?sectId=17&PageId=76
[edit] External links
The Herald newspaper website. The Zimbabwe Guardian Zimbabwe newspaper online.
