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International Press Institute condemns Daily News closure
By Joe Kaunda, Editor of the Zambian Post
September 17, 2003

The closure of Daily News is an attempt by Mugabe's government to stifle the lone daily critical voice in the Zimbabwean media, the International Press Institute (IPI) has resolved.

In a resolution passed yesterday at the IPI's annual general assembly, members unanimously condemned what they termed as the closure of the publication at gunpoint by the Zimbabwean authorities.

The IPI members stated that the publication's closure, which followed the refusal of the Zimbabwean Supreme Court to hear the newspaper's urgent challenge lodged late last year of what they have termed a repressive media law, was an attempt to stifle the media.

"Not only does the Daily News, the most vocal opponent of government policies, regard the law as uncontitutional but so do international media and legal experts," the IPI resolution read in part.

"The law in question is part of the Access to Information and protection and privacy Act which requires news organisations and journalists to register with the government-appointed Media and Information Commission before theay are allowed to practice journalism."

The IPI members were equally critical of the court's refusal to consider the constitutionality issue instead of decalring that the paper was operating in defiance of the law because it was had not registered.

The journalist's body said it feared that in the wake of the action against the Daily News, the authorities would now crack down on journalists who had not registered.

"The IPI calls on the government to withdraw its police and allow the newspaper to continue publishing and to scarp all repressive media legislation.

And the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) has been awarded the IPI's Free Media Award.

Receiving the award at the IPI's assembly in the resort city of Salzburg, MCT vice-president Jenereli Ulimwengu said the council was born in response to the Tanzanian government's plan to set up a state sponsored statutory body to oversee the media in the country.

Ulimwengu said it was gratifying that from the few years of operations, the MCT had managed to win the public's confidence and stated that the council was mindful that these successes still remained at the risk of being reversed.

"How many times have we witnessed former champions of democracy turning into the most rabid destroyers of people's freedoms, imprisoning journalists, killing then even, banning their publications, closing down their broadcasting stations, bombing their printing shops?" Ulimwengu asked, quoting Ptolemy.

He told delegates that being a journalist in Africa could be bad for your health, and the temptation to kill the messenger when the news was bad still inhibited the continent's rulers.

"They will not pass up any excuse to turn the clock back if they can get away with it," Ulimwengu said.
He said this was exacerbated by the rampant corruption in ruling circles, coupled with a desire among rulers to hold onto power at any price.

He expressed concern that African countries, including Tanzania still had in their statute books pieces of legislation which were fundamentally inimical to a healthy media practice as they seriously curtailed media freedom and freedom of expression through imposing stiff criminal penalties to ofences which could well remain in the realm of civil action.

Ulimwengu, however, stated that there was need to have a highly professional media built and nurtured painstakingly on ethical responsibility. He said this meant that there was an equal need for rooting out all bad weeds which through questionable professional standards, shoddy reporting and incendiary editorialising had brought the media into disrepute.

"But this job cannot be done by government, for we don't know where government acquired the requisite expertise to do it," said Ulimwengu.

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