US embassy cable - 03HARARE2017

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 002017 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FORM AF/PDPA FOR DALTON, MITCHELL AND SIMS 
AF FOR RAYNOR 
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER 
LONDON FOR GURNEY 
PARIS FOR NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ZI, Media and Communications 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT MOYO THREATENS INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS 
AND STUDIO7; HARARE 
 
  1.   The independent press in Zimbabwe, including the Voice 
      of America's (VOA) Studio 7 - a program that features the 
      latest developments in Zimbabwe - have become endangered 
      projects following Information Minister Jonathan Moyo's 
      threats to ban the news organizations last week.  According 
      to a lead article carried in the October 5 edition of the 
      independent weekly "The Standard" (circulation 45 - 50,000 
      copies), Moyo and the Media and Information Chairman 
      Tafataona Mahoso "have turned their guns at `The Standard' 
      and `The Zimbabwe Independent,'" including "Studio 7." 
      Both newspapers are registered with the Media and 
      Information Commission.  On the same vein, the lead story 
      in the October 5 edition of the government-controlled 
      weekly "The Sunday Mail" warns against any efforts to come 
      to the rescue of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe 
      (ANZ), saying such moves "could jeopardize any chances of 
      the "Daily News" being registered if it re-applies again." 
      Excerpts of the articles follow: 
 
  2.   Under headline "The Standard Threatened: `We are 
      coming to you,' says Mahoso," the independent weekly "The 
      Standard" (10/05) carried the following lead article by 
      Caiphas Chimhete: 
 
      "After shutting down "The Daily News" and "The Daily 
      News on Sunday," Junior Information Minister 
      Jonathan Moyo and Media and Information Commission 
      chairman Tafataona Mahoso say they have turned their 
      guns at "The Standard" and "The Zimbabwe 
      Independent."  Ranting and raving at the official 
      launch of New ZIANA. . .an agitated Moyo made it 
      clear that after the closure of the two ANZ titles, 
      he was now after `The Standard' and `The Zimbabwe 
      Independent,' two newspapers he called `running dogs 
      of imperialism.'  A highly charged Moyo said the 
      type of `trash' published by the newspapers, both 
      owned by the same company, would not be published 
      anywhere overseas.  `They call the President 
      (Mugabe) a thief.  Why don't they say (United States 
      President) George Bush is a thief and (British Prime 
      Minister) Tony Blair is a thief?  If we were serious 
      people, who do not want to apologize for who we are. 
      . . really we would shut these papers down because 
      they are trash, they injure our national interest,' 
      ranted Moyo, who incidentally only gained national 
      prominence in the 1980s and 1990s by writing his 
      anti-Mugabe and anti-ZANU PF tirades in the private 
      media.  Moyo also pronounced the `death' of Studio 
      7, a VOA news broadcasting station that beams to 
      Zimbabwe.  `Studio 7 will die.  It faces death. 
      They think we are sleeping, we want to see where 
      they are going with Studio 7,' said Moyo. . . ." 
 
  3.   Under headline "Underground forces move to `Daily 
      News' the government-controlled weekly "The Sunday Mail" 
      carried the following lead story: 
 
      "The British High Commission and a host of other 
      organizations are clandestinely trying to assist the 
      Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) by pouring 
      funds and coming up with `illegal' arrangements to 
      help the journalists at the two ANZ papers, it has 
      emerged.  It is understood that these moves being 
      orchestrated by the British High Commission and the 
      Media Institute of Southern Africa, with funding 
      from organizations like the Konrad Adenauer 
      Foundation, the British Council and the United 
      States Agency for International Development, could 
      jeopardize any chances of the Daily News being 
      registered if it re-applies again. . . ." 
 
  4.   Meanwhile, Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has 
      distanced the government from the closure of "The 
      Daily News," declaring that "The Daily News" was a 
      "victim of the rule law."  Under headline "Daily 
      News a victim of rule of law: Moyo" the October 4 
      edition of the government-controlled daily "The 
      Herald" (circulation 50 - 70,000) carried the 
      following article on page one: 
 
      "Government did not shut down the `The Daily News,' 
      it was a victim of the rule of law that the paper 
      had been preaching about since its inception in 
      1999, the Minister of State for Information and 
      Publicity, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said (on October 
      3).  Speaking at the launch of the New ZIANA in 
      Harare, Prof. Moyo said `The Daily News' believed 
      itself to be above the law, and a law unto itself, 
      so it decided not to register with the Media and 
      Information Commission as stipulated by the law. 
      `The Daily News' is a victim of the rule of law 
      which it had been preaching since 1999,' said Prof. 
      Moyo. . .Prof. Moyo said the ANZ issue would 
      continue to be dealt with according to the law and 
      no amount of pressure or political interference 
      would be entertained.  `We will not entertain any 
      pressure from anybody because we respect the law,' 
      he said. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN