Opinion / Columnist
In and out of the news
08 Apr 2019 at 09:00hrs | Views
Cyclone Idai drew world attention to our region at the sharp end of climate change with generous international aid pouring in to help the victims. Zimbabwe was again in the news.
There were many heart-warming and heartbreaking stories to be told. But the outside world should pay attention as well to other stories from Zimbabwe which offer an insight into a more complex problem than the consequences of the cyclone.
It appears to us at the Vigil that there has been a marked improvement in the quality of Zimbabwean journalism in the past decade. Of course, the state still controls the national television and radio services but many new online outlets have sprung up offering an alternative view.
Widespread access to the internet and social media through cell phones have eroded the government's control of information, enabling people even in remote rural areas to get a different picture to that offered by government propaganda.
They will read breath-taking stories of corruption at, for instance, the Zimbabwe national roads administration.
In another publication they will find the Minister of Mines allegedly implicated in shady dealings at the state-owned Hwange Colliery.
It's no surprise that the government is getting uneasy at news like this getting out. Police raided the offices of the news website 263 Chat after one of its journalists filmed them removing street vendors in Harare. Amnesty International described it as 'a blatant assault on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and demanded that the authorities end its attack on the media.
There were many heart-warming and heartbreaking stories to be told. But the outside world should pay attention as well to other stories from Zimbabwe which offer an insight into a more complex problem than the consequences of the cyclone.
It appears to us at the Vigil that there has been a marked improvement in the quality of Zimbabwean journalism in the past decade. Of course, the state still controls the national television and radio services but many new online outlets have sprung up offering an alternative view.
Widespread access to the internet and social media through cell phones have eroded the government's control of information, enabling people even in remote rural areas to get a different picture to that offered by government propaganda.
They will read breath-taking stories of corruption at, for instance, the Zimbabwe national roads administration.
In another publication they will find the Minister of Mines allegedly implicated in shady dealings at the state-owned Hwange Colliery.
It's no surprise that the government is getting uneasy at news like this getting out. Police raided the offices of the news website 263 Chat after one of its journalists filmed them removing street vendors in Harare. Amnesty International described it as 'a blatant assault on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and demanded that the authorities end its attack on the media.
Source - ZimVigil
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