Background Information
According to reports from the Media Monitoring Project in Zimbabwe (MMPZ), the state media has, specifically in the week of 29 April to 5 May, been preoccupied with a controversial "Daily News" story and the arrest of its journalists (see IFEX alerts of 8, 7, 3 and 2 May 2002).
The journalists' arrests follow the publication of a 23 April article in which "The Daily News" alleged that two young girls had witnessed the beheading of their mother by alleged Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) supporters in the rural area of Magunje. Andrew Meldrum, a Zimbabwean permanent resident and correspondent for the British newspaper "The Guardian", was arrested on 2 May over the same story, which was carried by "The Guardian".
In a 27 April front-page story, "The Daily News" apologised to the ruling party, ZANU-PF, and to the government after it was revealed that the husband of the victim had misled the newspaper.
More Information
For further information, contact Zoe Titus or Kaitira Kandjii, Regional Information Coordinator, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street, Mailing Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232975, fax: +264 61 248016, e-mail: research@misa.org.na or kkandjii@misa.org.na, Internet: http://www.misa.org/
Originator: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Article courtesy of International Freedom of Expression Exchange: http://canada.ifex.org
According to reports from the Media Monitoring Project in Zimbabwe (MMPZ), the state media has, specifically in the week of 29 April to 5 May, been preoccupied with a controversial "Daily News" story and the arrest of its journalists (see IFEX alerts of 8, 7, 3 and 2 May 2002).
The journalists' arrests follow the publication of a 23 April article in which "The Daily News" alleged that two young girls had witnessed the beheading of their mother by alleged Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) supporters in the rural area of Magunje. Andrew Meldrum, a Zimbabwean permanent resident and correspondent for the British newspaper "The Guardian", was arrested on 2 May over the same story, which was carried by "The Guardian".
In a 27 April front-page story, "The Daily News" apologised to the ruling party, ZANU-PF, and to the government after it was revealed that the husband of the victim had misled the newspaper.
More Information
For further information, contact Zoe Titus or Kaitira Kandjii, Regional Information Coordinator, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street, Mailing Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232975, fax: +264 61 248016, e-mail: research@misa.org.na or kkandjii@misa.org.na, Internet: http://www.misa.org/
Originator: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
Article courtesy of International Freedom of Expression Exchange: http://canada.ifex.org