In new fees announced by the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity Webster Shamu, reporters working for foreign media will be required to pay a US$400 accreditation fee, up from US$100. Their employers meanwhile will have to pay US$6 000 annually, more than double the current rate of US$2 500.
The new regulations for 2011 will also see journalists working for foreign media paying an application fee of US$100, up from US$20, while southern African news groups will have to pay annual fees of US$2 000, up from US$1 000.
In contrast, journalists working for local media houses remained modest will be required to pay US$10 in application fees and US$30 in accreditation fees. Application fees for local media houses will remained unchanged at US$500, while registration fees will increase by US$500 to US$2 000.
The new fee structure has largely been greeted with shock, with observers commenting that the timing is suspicious because of the impending elections. One observer told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that it is not surprising that there will be attempts to stifle the media, especially if ZANU PF wants to win the next election.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists has also condemned the new fees as shocking and retributive, arguing that they can only make journalists go underground or stop practicing. Ordinarily fees for accreditation the world over are a token and not prohibitive, the unions secretary general, Foster Dongozi, was quoted as saying on Thursday. This goes to show how the government is not prepared to make journalists exercise their freedom.
The Zimbabwe chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Zimbabwe) also expressed its concerns on Thursday, warning the new fees will make it very difficult for journalists to operate. The groups Chairman, Loughty Dube, told SW Radio Africa that there will be serious implications for the free media. It is an indirect way of having restrictions on the media operating freely, because the costs are quite prohibitive to a lot of journalists, Dube said.
The new fee structure has been worked out under provisions of the repressive Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which the coalition government said would be repealed under its unity agreement. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said last year that AIPPA would be replaced by a Freedom of Information Bill that would allow journalists greater access to official information. But this has not happened.
The Zimbabwe Media Commission has meanwhile warned that it is a criminal offence to operate a mass media service without a registration certificate and to work as a journalist without being accredited. MISA-Zimbabwes Dube said this veiled threat could see many journalists going underground, amid fears of arrest. He added that the continued existence of repressive laws like AIPPA was a sad scenario, and contrary to promises by the unity government.
It is a sad reality that the same act that has been used to stifle the operations of the media is still being used by the Zimbabwe Media Commission, in terms of registering journalists, Dube said.
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