Zimbabwe Herald Propaganda?

The Zimbabwe Herald is Zimbabwe government official mouth piece. It is the largest and only daily newspaper covering the entire country. It is owned and operated by Zimpapers a largely government controlled media house with private shareholders on the Zimbabwe stock market.

Zimpapers the parent company of the Herald is listed on the Zimbabwe stock exchange.It runs other newspaper titles such as The Chronicle, The Manica Post and Kwayedza. The Herald is an undisputed opinion maker in Zimbabwe which sets the tone for national debate. Many including in the political and business sphere look to the Herald to read the mind of the government. Every morning's headline is an almost exact position of government.

The following are some of the front page headlines that have appeared in the Herald;

Tsvangirai ends boycott - Friday 4 November 2009

SADC Troika calls for dialogue - Saturday 07 November 2009

Deadlock at Conference - Saturday 19 September 2009

Fulfil your GPA part, MDC told - Saturday 15 August 2009

Speaker gets ultimatum - Friday 14 August 2009

Water Cuts: Nkomo hits back at Harare mayor - Thursday 13 August 2009


Aids levy spent on luxuries - Thursday 20 August 2009


'MDC-T resolution premature' - Tuesday 19 May 2009

Forty white farmers get offer letters - Wednesday 17 June 2009

Politiburo sets up committees - Friday 29 May 2009

MDC-T pushes for fresh Sadc summit - Monday 1 June 2009

IMF hails Zim reforms - Tuesday 28 April 2009


The Herald has long been accused of being biased especially on political issues. In fact opposition political parties view it as an advanced propaganda tool for ZANU PF party.  There appears to be a deliberate attempt by the Herald to project the government of Zimbabwe policies in very good light even were apparent corruption and misgovernance is in the public domain. The Zimbabwe herald reverences the Zimbabwe President only addressing him as President Mugabe and never Robert Mugabe or simply Mugabe.

The paper has also been long thought to be at the mercy of the intelligence operatives commonly known in Zimbabwe as the CIO. There have been instances were the paper itself has appeared to have been used to punish even those in Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party. This would include surprise dismissals from government communicated through the paper one morning or through exposure of an individuals' corruption record or activities something that is thought to only happen in Zimbabwe after top level clearance.

On the other hand the Herald continues to command respect in the eyes of advertisers. Despite the general public displeasure with its political stance the paper has a very high circulation rate reaching about 20 000 per day. Most businesses in Zimbabwe use the paper's classifieds section to promote their businesses. It has an impressive ROI for advertisers.

The rather lukewarm performance of  Zimpapers on the Zimbabwe stock market for years is perhaps a solid indicator of poor investor confidence in the paper. Surprisingly at the time of this post Old Mutual was under fire for holding majority shares in the paper. Activists likened it to “politically... putting bullets into the guns that kill opposition voices in Zimbabwe.”Read the full news story from SW Radio Africa.

Among all Zimpapers titles The Herald remains the one possessing the strongest revenue muscle propelled by a huge advertiser following. Many analysts believe the entry of new private players in the media industry under Zimbabwe's new inclusive government will seriously knock the many years of advertiser loyalty enjoyed by The Herald. Only time is the greatest teller!

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