Jonathan Moyo threatens to shut down Studio 7

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo vowed to silence Studio 7, a Voice of America station targetted at Zimbabwe.

“Studio 7 will die. It faces death. They think we are sleeping, we want to see where they are going with Studio 7,” he was quoted as saying.

Moyo also said the government had not closed down The Daily News.

“Government did not shut down the The Daily News, it was a victim of the rule of law that the paper had been preaching about since its inception in 1999,” he said.

Full cable:

Viewing cable 03HARARE2015, MEDIA REPORT MOYO THREATENS STUDIO 7; HARARE

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UNCLAS HARARE 002015

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VOA STUDIO 7

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT MOYO THREATENS STUDIO 7; HARARE

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has vowed to silence

Studio 7, a Voice of America (VOA) news program on

Zimbabwe. Delivering a speech at the launch of New ZIANA,

a multi-media state organization charged with publishing

pro-government and ZANU PF information, last week, Moyo is

quoted as saying “Studio 7 will die. It faces death. They

think we are sleeping, we want to see where they are going

with Studio 7.”

SULLIVAN

Viewing cable 03HARARE2017, MEDIA REPORT MOYO THREATENS INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

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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 SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002017

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SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT MOYO THREATENS INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

AND STUDIO7; HARARE

¶1.   The independent press in Zimbabwe, including the Voice

of America’s (VOA) Studio 7 – a program that features the

latest developments in Zimbabwe – have become endangered

projects following Information Minister Jonathan Moyo’s

threats to ban the news organizations last week. According

to a lead article carried in the October 5 edition of the

independent weekly “The Standard” (circulation 45 – 50,000

copies), Moyo and the Media and Information Chairman

Tafataona Mahoso “have turned their guns at `The Standard’

and `The Zimbabwe Independent,'” including “Studio 7.”

Both newspapers are registered with the Media and

Information Commission. On the same vein, the lead story

in the October 5 edition of the government-controlled

weekly “The Sunday Mail” warns against any efforts to come

to the rescue of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe

(ANZ), saying such moves “could jeopardize any chances of

the “Daily News” being registered if it re-applies again.”

Excerpts of the articles follow:

¶2.   Under headline “The Standard Threatened: `We are

coming to you,’ says Mahoso,” the independent weekly “The

Standard” (10/05) carried the following lead article by

Caiphas Chimhete:

“After shutting down “The Daily News” and “The Daily

News on Sunday,” Junior Information Minister

Jonathan Moyo and Media and Information Commission

chairman Tafataona Mahoso say they have turned their

guns at “The Standard” and “The Zimbabwe

Independent.” Ranting and raving at the official

launch of New ZIANA. . .an agitated Moyo made it

clear that after the closure of the two ANZ titles,

he was now after `The Standard’ and `The Zimbabwe

Independent,’ two newspapers he called `running dogs

of imperialism.’ A highly charged Moyo said the

type of `trash’ published by the newspapers, both

owned by the same company, would not be published

anywhere overseas. `They call the President

(Mugabe) a thief. Why don’t they say (United States

President) George Bush is a thief and (British Prime

Minister) Tony Blair is a thief? If we were serious

people, who do not want to apologize for who we are.

. . really we would shut these papers down because

they are trash, they injure our national interest,’

ranted Moyo, who incidentally only gained national

prominence in the 1980s and 1990s by writing his

anti-Mugabe and anti-ZANU PF tirades in the private

media. Moyo also pronounced the `death’ of Studio

7, a VOA news broadcasting station that beams to

Zimbabwe. `Studio 7 will die. It faces death.

They think we are sleeping, we want to see where

they are going with Studio 7,’ said Moyo. . . .”

¶3.   Under headline “Underground forces move to `Daily

News’ the government-controlled weekly “The Sunday Mail”

carried the following lead story:

“The British High Commission and a host of other

organizations are clandestinely trying to assist the

Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) by pouring

funds and coming up with `illegal’ arrangements to

help the journalists at the two ANZ papers, it has

emerged. It is understood that these moves being

orchestrated by the British High Commission and the

Media Institute of Southern Africa, with funding

from organizations like the Konrad Adenauer

Foundation, the British Council and the United

States Agency for International Development, could

jeopardize any chances of the Daily News being

registered if it re-applies again. . . .”

¶4.   Meanwhile, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has

distanced the government from the closure of “The

Daily News,” declaring that “The Daily News” was a

“victim of the rule law.” Under headline “Daily

News a victim of rule of law: Moyo” the October 4

edition of the government-controlled daily “The

Herald” (circulation 50 – 70,000) carried the

following article on page one:

“Government did not shut down the `The Daily News,’

it was a victim of the rule of law that the paper

had been preaching about since its inception in

1999, the Minister of State for Information and

Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said (on October

3). Speaking at the launch of the New ZIANA in

Harare, Prof. Moyo said `The Daily News’ believed

itself to be above the law, and a law unto itself,

so it decided not to register with the Media and

Information Commission as stipulated by the law.

`The Daily News’ is a victim of the rule of law

which it had been preaching since 1999,’ said Prof.

Moyo. . .Prof. Moyo said the ANZ issue would

continue to be dealt with according to the law and

no amount of pressure or political interference

would be entertained. `We will not entertain any

pressure from anybody because we respect the law,’

he said. . . .”

SULLIVAN

(44 VIEWS)