Undercover journalism
Anna:
May 4th, 2007
I admire undercover journalists in any environment, but you have to have a special respect for anyone still working in that field in Zimbabwe. According to media rights body the International Press Initiative, this is the most difficult country in the world for journalists to operate in and report on. There are sadly plenty of other countries where freedom of expression is violently repressed, at least for now Zimbawean journalists are more likely to be harassed than physically harmed. Restrictive laws, especially the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), have been put in place which restrcit the movement of journalists and the BBC has for a long time been forced to report from neighbouring South Africa or Mozambique. But with the unpredictable and increasingly megalomaniac Robert Mugabe at the helm, who knows how far media persecution could go? Perhaps the saddest outcome would be if journalists with the means just left Zimbabwe, leaving the country’s inhabitants with no independent source of information or criticism. The internet is a fabulous tool for bringing Zim’s situation to the attention of the outside world, with the New Zimbabwe website a prime example, but for people in Zimbabwe itself, with little access to the internet, it’s small consolation.