Outrage as new state-sponsored daily newspaper hits the streets

The new daily tabloid, H-Metro, which is published by the states ZimPapers, hit the streets of Harare on Monday. The move has come as a shock to independent newspaper publishers, who are still awaiting the green light from the government to launch dailies to compete with state publications. Media and Information Minister Webster Shamu has insisted H-Metro, being a state owned paper, is exempt from needing a licence, but still managed to contradict himself by insisting that ZimPapers is not state owned. Let it be pronounced here that ZimPapers is not a State Enterprise, Shamu said in his speech. He continued: This habit of relating to it as if its a parastatal, or as if it is a Government Department whose behaviour must meet with popular approval is not just mistaken and unlawful, but seems measured to incapacitate and hurt ZimPapers ahead of competition we see gathering on the horizon.

Shamu was speaking at the launch of the paper, and observers have argued that the Minister has set a minister-sanctioned precedent for newspapers to publish at will. Zimbabwe Independent newspapers, owned by Trevor Ncube, proprietor of the Mail & Guardian in South Africa, has been waiting for a licence for more than six months. The group, which publishes two weekly papers, the Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent, wants to launch a daily, NewsDay. According to South Africas The Times online news service, frustrated staff members at the Zimbabwe Independent have threatened to launch NewsDay without waiting to be granted a licence.

We are going to launch our newspaper and invite the minister, without waiting for the Zimbabwe Media Commission to be formed, threatened the frustrated senior staff member.

Meanwhile media rights group MISA-Zimbabwe on Tuesday said the government has chosen to use its political prerogative to expand state funded newspapers in the country to the distinct disadvantage of other media players awaiting licensing. The groups chairperson, Loughty Dube, continued by saying that the move by the government can only be considered as arbitrary and distinctly against the spirit and letter of pursuing wholesale and non-discriminatory media reforms that enhance freedom of expression and access to information.

Shamu meanwhile took the opportunity during his launch speech to once again slam the work of exiled radio stations, saying they were violations of the Global Political Agreement.

Shamu said: What must also stop is the continuing situation where some parties in the GPA continue to aid and abet illegal, extraterritorial pirate broadcasts which violate our sovereignty in the name of media freedoms. The GPA the often quoted GPA disallows this as gross external interference in the affairs of our country.

The move to publish another state-sponsored paper meanwhile comes as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said that state media has continued publishing vicious propaganda that threatens the countrys power-sharing government.

The political climate continues to be marred by unfortunate and vicious propaganda that emanates from the state media, Tsvangirai said in a statement recently. MDC lawmakers continue to be persecuted and prosecuted through a selective application of the rule of law, Tsvangirai said in his statement. There is a deliberately slow pace to improving human rights, he added.