Daily News under siege

The Daily News was under siege after Information Minister Jonathan Moyo instructed parastatals not to advertise in the paper.

 Full cable:

Viewing cable 02HARARE1049, MEDIA REPORT PRIVATE PRESS UNDER SIEGE; HARARE

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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 001049

SIPDIS

AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND

SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR DIPALMA, INR/R/MR, NSC JENDAYI

FRAZER

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: ZI PREL PHUM

SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT PRIVATE PRESS UNDER SIEGE; HARARE

¶1.   Under headline “State wants to save its media by

killing the private Press,” the independent daily “The

Daily News” dedicated its May 1 editorial to

criticizing Information Minister Jonathan Moyo. Moyo

recently warned parastatal institutions that they

should not place advertisements in the independent

press. Excerpts:

¶2.  “The threat by a government minister to

parastatals to stop advertising in ‘The Daily News’

is an act of desperation, designed to force these

companies to direct all their business to the loss-

making government-controlled media houses, in order

to save them from bankruptcy. The government is

aware that their own media operations cannot

compete fairly for business on the market, hence

the directive. But this is a worn-out strategy

often resorted to by those intolerant to critical

or alternative views.

“. . .The statement by the minister that ‘The Daily

News’ is bent on the destruction of this country is

utter balderdash. It can only be made by someone

who assumes they have a monopoly on patriotism.

What it, however, indicates is the government’s

frustration with its efforts to silence, once and

for all, alternative and critical voices. . .”

SULLIVAN

(25 VIEWS)