US embassy cable - 02HARARE1051

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

Identifier:	02HARARE1051
Wikileaks:	View 02HARARE1051 at Wikileaks.org
Origin:	Embassy Harare
Created:	2002-05-02 13:30:00
Classification:	UNCLASSIFIED
Tags:	ZI PREL PHUM
Redacted:	This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.

UNCLAS HARARE 001051 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/PD FOR COX AND ROBERTSON, AF/S FOR KRAFT AND 
SCHLACHTER, AF/RA FOR DIPALMA, INR/R/MR, NSC FOR 
JENDAYI FRAZER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ZI, PREL, PHUM 
SUBJECT: "JOY TV" SUSPENDS BBC NEWS BROADCASTS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSISIFED.  NOT FOR INTERNET POSTING. 
 
1.   (U) Joy Television, a nominally independent 
   Zimbabwean television broadcaster, has suspended BBC 
   News programming with immediate effect.  Since its 
   launch in July 1997, the station has broadcast a BBC 
   World TV news summary at 2000 each day.  Joy TV offered 
   no explanation for dropping the BBC news. 
 
2.   (U) Joy TV operates on a frequency leased from the 
   Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and uses ZBC 
   facilities for its few productions.  For the most part, 
   Joy TV offers its viewers (limited to the Harare area) 
   American sitcoms, action and talk shows.  As part of 
   its licensing agreement with the Government of 
   Zimbabwe, Joy TV does not produce its own news 
   programming.  It has, on occasion, produced talk shows. 
   Joy TV's most recent talk show series disappeared 
   shortly after MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai appeared as 
   the featured guest just before the presidential 
   election. 
 
3.   (SBU) Comment:  Joy TV's license expires on May 
   31, 2002.  The Government of Zimbabwe has indicated 
   that it will not renew the license.  Joy TV management, 
   however, maintains that it will find an accommodation 
   with the government in order to stay on the air.  Given 
   the Government of Zimbabwe's hatred of the BBC, we 
   suspect that Joy TV's sudden cancellation of BBC news 
   is part of that "accommodation." 
 
SULLIVAN