Back to Index

MISA-Zimbabwe statement on the closure of The Mail newspaper
MISA-Zimbabwe
August 19, 2011

MISA-Zimbabwe bemoans the 'temporary closure' of The Mail newspaper this week as a blow to media diversity that Zimbabweans were now enjoying in the print media. The paper is one of the first newspapers to be granted a license in May 2010 as part of the coalition government's media reforms. It was subsequently launched in March 2011.

Although there were doubts from the onset on whether all the newspapers would survive the prevailing harsh economic realities, the closure is a sad development for Zimbabweans as the paper represented a vital block in the foundation of media diversity the country could only build on going forward.

The closure could not have come at a worse time. As the country goes through its transitional processes, which include preparations for an election, the reduction of platforms through which citizens can seek, debate and disseminate information on subjects of national importance is very unfortunate. Not only will the closure reduce the number of news sources available to Zimbabweans for them to make informed choices on matters affecting their livelihoods, but it will render redundant scores of journalists who had at last found employment after years of joblessness following the forced closure of papers seven years prior the licensing of new publications.

The Mail's case brings to the fore the need for the authorities to set up an independent fund and mechanisms to support emerging media. It is for this reason that MISA-Zimbabwe supports recommendation 11.1.4 of the Parliamentary Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology's report submitted to parliament in June 2011. It recommended: "That an independent media diversity body should be created by an Act of Parliament, specifically allocated money to promote the development of media houses."

MISA-Zimbabwe hopes the publishers of The Mail will see the need to urgently resume operations after addressing their internal problems, as they have pledged. Otherwise, a permanent closure will only arm those who have defiantly defended the country's repressive legislative regime to argue that it is not the country's laws that are the root cause of problems plaguing the media, but other factors outside the media policy framework.

Visit the MISA-Zimbabwe fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP