Saidi to join the Herald

from the Zim Times

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s longest serving journalist and one of President Robert Mugabe’s most strident critics in the media has been called from retirement for the third time – this time to rescue the President’s most fanatical supporter, The Herald newspaper.

The Zimbabwe Times can reveal that veteran journalist William “Bill” Saidi (77) has been offered the job of deputy editor-in-chief of the flagship of State-run Zimbabwe Newspapers, The Herald.
...

from the Zim Telegraph

Saidi confirmed that he had been "offered the job."

In addition to being one of the nation's most respected journalists, Saidi is an alumnus who through the years has demonstrated a genuine commitment to professional journalism.

His vast experience in the field, and his many contacts nationwide, will be a tremendous asset to the Herald as the new government renews its emphasis on professional news reportage.

Zim bloggers try to get the news out

LATimes story

Lots of the bloggers mentioned are linked at right...



Barclay's exhilaratingly undiplomatic https://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/harare, at https://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/harare/, veers from humor reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves books to bleak horror. Zimbabwe, he says, is a country where "good manners and repression go hand-in-hand.",,,

....Bev Clark, who calls herself an "electronic activist" and helped found a website named kubatana.net, portrays Zimbabwe's bizarre contradictions and numbing frustrations with wry, cynical humor that sometimes bubbles into anger.

Comrade Fatso, a lanky, dreadlocked Zimbabwean poet whose real name is Samm Farai Monro, elegantly captures the atmosphere of a country that is waiting, trapped, afraid.

Cathy Buckle, a 51-year-old divorcee and author who lost her farm in Mugabe's land seizures, posts angry, poignant letters on cathybuckle.com about the bare supermarket shelves, the deprivations of Zimbabwe's "Fourth World" conditions, and the Msasa tree leaves pattering on her roof, promising a new season and hope.....

Opposition offices raided

From MSNBC

HARARE, Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's government raided the offices of the main opposition movement and rounded up foreign journalists, including a New York Times correspondent, Thursday in an ominous indication that he may use intimidation and violence to keep his grip on power.

The New York Times said police took into custody its correspondent Barry Bearak, who was covering the elections.

"We do not know where he is being held, or what, if any, charges have been made against him," Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, said in a statement. "We are making every effort to ascertain his status, to assure that he is safe and being well treated, and to secure his prompt release."..

Zimbabwe forbids foreign journalists to enter the country even before this election

Zim journalist murdered over leaked photos

A local journalist suspected of having links to Zimbabwe's opposition has been found murdered following an escalation of the government's campaign of violence and intimidation.

Edward Chikombo, a part-time cameraman for the state broadcaster ZBC, was abducted from his home in the Glenview township outside Harare last week. His body was discovered at the weekend near the village of Darwendale, 50 miles west of the capital, The Independent has learnt.

There are concerns in Harare that the killing may be linked to the smuggling out of the country of television pictures of the badly injured opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai after he was beaten up by police on 11 March.

A former colleague of Mr Chikombo said: "It's not clear whether the murder was a message to the media or a political killing." The footage of Mr Tsvangirai leaving a Harare courthouse with a suspected fractured skull, and then lying in a hospital bed, provoked a storm of international criticism of Robert Mugabe's regime. Journalists for the state broadcaster routinely film news as it happens in the country but cannot use the footage in heavily censored bulletins. Some pictures do find a way out of the country and in the past staff at ZBC have been sacked or harassed under suspicion of selling it to foreign broadcasters.

The government has banned both the BBC and CNN from reporting from Zimbabwe and any unacc-redited journalist faces a two-year prison sentence.

Since taking power in 1980, Mr Mugabe has nationalised media outlets and the last independent voice disappeared with the recent closure of the Daily News. Local journalists are forced to work undercover for international outlets while accreditation papers are routinely refused to organisations seen as hostile.

Eyewitnesses saw a group of armed men abduct Mr Chikombo last Thursday. His captors drove a silver pick-up truck of the same make used in numerous similar abductions during a sustained three-week terror campaign targeting government opponents.

The pattern of abductions and punishment beatings has become a terrifying nightly ritual in Zimbabwe, where scores of opposition activists and their relatives have been attacked by gangs using unmarked cars and police-issue weapons. The government has refused to confirm or deny its involvement in these "hit squads" but Mr Mugabe has spoken of the police's right to "bash" the opposition and of "terrorist acts" by opponents.

Another local journalist, Gift Phiri, a senior reporter for the exiled The Zimbabwean newspaper, was detained and beaten by police on Sunday. Mr Phiri was picked up near his home in Sunningdale, in Harare. His lawyer, Rangu Nyamurundira, said his client had been badly beaten while in custody. "When I saw him, Gift could not sit down as he had been very badly beaten on his back and his buttocks. He told me four policemen, including the chief superintendent, had tortured him for hours......