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Zimbabwe Press Watchdog Urges Government to Divest Its Media Holdings


In a review of 2009 developments, the Media Institute of Southern Africa said the country's print and electronic media should be allowed to operate with no state oversight - but this would require the state to exit the business

Reviewing media developments in 2009, the Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa said the government should divest its stake in the ZimPapers group and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation to encourage diversity and independence in the long-stifled news industry.

In its 2009 report on the state of the media, MISA said the print and electronic media should be allowed to operate independently without oversight by the government. It said this can only be achieved if the government disinvests and allows full independence of the both print and electronic media.

MISA said that despite the formation of a national unity government nearly one year ago, there was little movement towards media liberalization.

MISA Zimbabwe Advocacy Officer Thabani Moyo told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that for the country's media to gain independence a body like the Mass Media Trust should be allowed to take the lead.

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