Mass media in Zimbabwe

The media of Zimbabwe has varying amounts of control by successive governments, coming under tight restriction in recent years by the government of Robert Mugabe, particularly during the growing economic and political crisis in the country. The Zimbabwean constitution promotes freedom of the media and expression, however this is hampered by interference and the implementation of strict media laws. In its 2008 report, Reporters Without Borders ranked the Zimbabwean media as 151st out of 173.

History

1965–1980

Following Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965, one of the main aims of the protracted political struggle launched by the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) during the Rhodesian Bush War was for a free press. The independent Rhodesian press was also almost universally critical of UDI, and claimed to have been subject to physical intimidation by the authorities. New legislation was also passed declaring it illegal to print statements "likely to cause alarm, fear, or despondency among readers". In the 1970s, criticism was leveled at Rhodesia's Official Secrets Act, which made it a crime to publish articles related to "classified information" and the Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA), which allowed the state to impose exceptionally heavy sentences on those who violated the ban. Such acts were used to impose a media blackout on journalists reporting on allegedly excessive losses or setbacks suffered by the Rhodesian Security Forces as the bush war intensified. Media was ordered to focus on casualties among guerrillas and to report on their retreats to Zambia and Mozambique.

Shortly after the Lancaster House Conference, media restrictions were again revised.