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Newspapers join Zimbabwe's growing 'luxury' list
Gibson Jonasi, The Zimbabwe Guardian (Formerly Talk Zimbabwe)
February 08, 2008

http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/1566/2008-02-08.html

Harare — For many Zimbabweans, buying a newspaper has become a luxury after the country's papers slapped readers with another round of swinging cover price hikes.

In what has been described as the biggest increase in newspaper prices in the country's history, a lot of readers will now have to either wait to read someone else's copy, or do without altogether — a hard choice in a country that prides itself as having among the highest literacy rates on the continent.

The state media, publishing under the Zimpapers stable, set the ball rolling when it announced last Friday that the National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) had approved increases in the cover prices of all its newspapers and magazines with immediate effect.

In a statement, Zimpapers group chief executive Justin Mutasa said there had been sharp increases in the cost of almost all raw materials. "Newsprint, which is the principal input, has risen from Z$1.2 billon - Z$4,3 billion a tonne, while the prices of film, plates, ink and other inputs are also rising with inflation," he said.

Zimpapers thus increased the price of all its publications, with its daily The Herald now costing Z$3 million, up from Z$900 000. Its weekly, The Sunday Mail, shot up to Z$4 million from Z$1, 2 million.

Last week The Zimbabwe Guardian exclusively revealed that Zimpapers had sent an SOS to independent media house, Zimind — publishers of weeklies The Independent and The Standard — asking Zimind to bail them out by loaning them newsprint in a desperate attempt to meet their circulation.

Zimpapers is facing serious operational problems blamed on alleged mismanagement and the country's harsh economy. Last week it was printing only 15 000, eight-page copies of The Herald instead of the normal 170 000 copies.

Not to be outdone, the independent press also drastically raised prices. The Standard shot up to Z$5,6 million from Z$I, 2 million, while its sister paper The Zimbabwe Independent fetches Z$7, 2 million, up from Z$1.8 million.

The Financial Gazette is pegged at Z$7,2 million compared to Z$1,8 million last week.

The increases are bad news coming as they do ahead of the 29 March presidential and parliamentary elections, as access to a vibrant media is seen as critical in helping voters make informed decisions in a democratic society.

To add to the gloom is the fact that Zimbabwe's media industry has been shrinking over the years due to papers being banned (The Daily News and The Tribune, for instance), while hopes are fast fading that Zimbabwe will have a private daily paper before the elections as The Daily News saga drags on.

For a Zimbabwean consumer with bundles of bearer notes in his or her pocket the choice is not easy. Basic commodities also shot up last week, with an egg now Z$1million, cooking oil Z$45 million, bread Z$3,8 million while beef requires about Z$20 million per kg.

Since one is unlikely to enjoy reading on a rumbling stomach, it can only be assumed that buying a newspaper is now lower down on many Zimbabweans' list of priorities.

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