About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Opportunities and assistance:

Alert

Commission says no ANZ journalists will be accredited

(MISA/IFEX) - The Media and Information Commission (MIC) has announced that no journalists from the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), publishers of "The Daily News" and "The Daily News on Sunday" newspapers, will be accredited. The commission, headed by Tafataona Mahoso, said the journalists would not be accredited since "The Daily News" and "The Daily News on Sunday" are not registered with the MIC.

In an interview with the government-owned paper "The Herald", the MIC chairman described suggestions by the publishers of "The Daily News" and "The Daily News on Sunday" that the ANZ was entitled to publish as "misplaced."

"As far as we are concerned, 'The Daily News' is not registered," said Mahoso.

Mahoso confirmed that application forms by reporters from "The Daily News" were submitted to the commission during the week of 2 February 2004. He said the journalists were not banished from practicing their profession, but that their registration would only be accepted on condition that they find another employer or editors willing to buy their stories on a freelance basis.

"We don't banish the journalists because they were at 'The Daily News'," Mahoso said. He was reacting to suggestions by ANZ Acting Chief Executive Brian Mutsau that the newspaper group was not barred from publishing. Mutsau told "The Herald" on 6 February that, according to the Administrative Court judgment of 24 October 2003, the ANZ was entitled to publish.

"The Daily News" and "The Daily News on Sunday" have since stopped publishing, following a resolution by its reporters not to work until they receive accreditation from the MIC. Mahoso told "The Herald" that if the ANZ was registered, there would be no need for the newspaper group to file a petition at the Supreme Court asking whether it had complied with the law.

"If they were registered they would not have gone to the Supreme Court. It means there is doubt about their status," he said. "I don't believe Mutsau believes his paper is properly registered," Mahoso told "The Herald".