EDITORIAL MARKS PRESS FREEDOM DAY

UNCLAS HARARE 001071 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: EDITORIAL MARKS PRESS FREEDOM DAY ¶1. Under headline "Facts are sacred, comment is free" the independent weekly "The Financial Gazette" dedicated its May 3 editorial to encouraging the media in Zimbabwe, especially the privately owned press, to "start showing zero tolerance to perverted journalism." The editorial, appearing on World Press Freedom Day, comes as the Government of Zimbabwe is actively threatening the independent press. Editorial excerpts follow: ¶2. ". . .Journalists anywhere in the world walk a minefield of truths, half-truths, deceit and lies and yet it is their absolute professional duty at all times to check and counter-check the information given to them by whomever before they cobble up a story. Although mistakes may occur if only because journalists are human, these must be rare and defensible - morally and legally - not that this makes them any better. The bigger the story, the greater the need for any journalist to take extraordinary measures to verify it with all possible sources before rushing to be the first with the news. In Zimbabwe, journalists face a particularly harsh operating climate. They have to contend with an unpopular government which loathes the media's prying eyes and has enacted draconian laws specifically targeting the independent media. . . .But the forces ranged against Zimbabwe's independent media are not just overzealous state mandarins eager to protect their jobs, but many other equally powerful organized interest groups which similarly feel uncomfortable with the coverage of what they regard as negative news. It thus becomes imperative that all journalists get their act together by ensuring that all their news dispatches are as accurate, balanced and fair as is humanly possible. . . Any news report which fails this test can only play into the hands of the forces which seek to muzzle the media for whatever reason under the guise of the public or national interest, or of national security, or of national defense. . ." SULLIVAN