Zimbabwe: Media Commission to Debate Fate of Daily News - AllAfrica.com

Tererai Karimakwenda

Information Curate Sikhanyiso Ndlovu announced on Tuesday that a new board had been appointed to the Media and Information Committee (MIC) and it had the authorization to immediately cover with an application by the Associated Newspapers of Republic Of Zimbabwe (ANZ), to restart publication the Daily News newspaper.

Armed police force close down the popular day-to-day paper back in 2003 and the publishing houses have got since been battling authorities in the tribunals over the ban.

Speaking at a fourth estate conference in Harare, Ndlovu said this new board will immediately see applications for licences by independent mass media houses plus accreditation for journalists seeking to drill in the country. The president of the outgoing Committee which banned the Daily News, Dr. Tafataona Mahoso, have been retained on the new board, and this have already raised intuition and concern.

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It is widely understood that this move by authorities is a consequence of the in progress negotiation between the resistance and the opinion party, mediated by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki. The negotiation are meant to take to free and just elections next twelvemonth and both cabals of the resistance Motion for Democratic Change have got insisted the demand for a broad democratic space that includes independent media.

Geoffrey Nyarota, former editor of The Daily News, described the proclamation by the Information Curate as "gratifying", given the paper's long battle to restart publishing. Nyarota said: "Any procedure of political alteration in Republic Of Zimbabwe flexible joints on the being of a degree playing field, including a democratic mass media climate."

Regarding government's determination to reserve Mahoso on the new board, Nyarota said this was not a major concern because he sees the former Media Committee president as a retainer of authorities who makes what he is ordered. Explaining additional he said Mahoso now have a new boss, and it stays to be seen whether Information Curate Ndhlovu is serious about alteration in the mass media or whether these are more than stalling tactics.