News / Regional
Jonathan Moyo mocks Obert Mpofu
17 Feb 2015 at 19:01hrs | Views
Information Media and Broadcasting Services minister Professor Jonathan
Moyo has poked fun at Transport minister Obert Mpofu following an
announcement that his The Zimbabwe Mail newspaper was changing from a
daily to a weekly publication.
The paper has been facing serious financial problems and for months failing to pay workers on time.
Mpofu's empire seems to be crumbling after his Allied Bank surrendered its operating license to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe after the institution was found to be no longer in a safe and sound condition.
"One of the rude, sobering lessons we have taken from the print media is that many who would like to run newspapers have discovered that it is not easy to do so, Moyo told journalists in Bulawayo.
"A rich person who does not have a political agenda would not set up a newspaper. It's a contradiction in terms but a rich person with a political agenda would say I need to influence opinion and position myself so let me take my money and make a political investment and start a newspaper.
Moyo in apparent reference to The Zimbabwe Mail said some who have been coming out for seven days want to come out for one day.
"This is called business rationalisation so the lesson that the print media, if you ask the Zimbabwe Media Commission they will tell you that the number of publishers for print media has dramatically gone down," he said.
"And we have learnt something also that we don't have to say no we don't want you to publish. Just let them publish and you will see what the market will do to them. It will teach them and they will close down or they say we are not interested."
The paper has been facing serious financial problems and for months failing to pay workers on time.
Mpofu's empire seems to be crumbling after his Allied Bank surrendered its operating license to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe after the institution was found to be no longer in a safe and sound condition.
"One of the rude, sobering lessons we have taken from the print media is that many who would like to run newspapers have discovered that it is not easy to do so, Moyo told journalists in Bulawayo.
"A rich person who does not have a political agenda would not set up a newspaper. It's a contradiction in terms but a rich person with a political agenda would say I need to influence opinion and position myself so let me take my money and make a political investment and start a newspaper.
Moyo in apparent reference to The Zimbabwe Mail said some who have been coming out for seven days want to come out for one day.
"This is called business rationalisation so the lesson that the print media, if you ask the Zimbabwe Media Commission they will tell you that the number of publishers for print media has dramatically gone down," he said.
"And we have learnt something also that we don't have to say no we don't want you to publish. Just let them publish and you will see what the market will do to them. It will teach them and they will close down or they say we are not interested."
Source - Byo24News
