Zimbabwe Standard BIASED OR FAIR

The Zimbabwe Standard is one of the few remaining (November 2009) independent newspapers in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe news-scape is heavily biased towards state owned electronic and print media such as the Zimbabwe Herald.

The Standard is a sister paper to the Zimbabwe Independent and is published weekly on a Sunday. The paper is owned by Trevor Ncube who is also the publisher of the South African based Mail and Guardian. Trevor Ncube has previously clashed with Zimbabwean authorities under the leadership of President Mugabe the President of Zimbabwe.

The Standard has also an online edition which basically publishes the same stories as those published in the print edition. For this reason the site remains static for an entire week until another print edition is available. The Standard online edition can be read here.

Generally speaking the Zimbabwe Standard reports are biased towards the negativity existing in Zimbabwe such as Zimbabwe politics, Zimbabwe economy, Zimbabwe currency and other topics. It also extensively reports on entertainment news making it a favorite for Sunday leisure reading.

Due to the critical reporting against the government of President Mugabe, its journalists have also suffered at the hands of state security agents including intimidation. Its editor in 2008 received an envelope containing a bullet after writing a story about how discontent the Zimbabwe army had become due to poor salaries in Zimbabwe dollars.

The paper has a wide but somewhat comparatively limited circulation and is available in major cities in Zimbabwe. At the height of political intolerance holding a copy of an independent publication such as the Zimbabwe Standard would land you in serious trouble with Zanupf militia or at least those claiming to be doing "political re-education" on behalf of the Zanu PF party. It was literally banned from reaching rural areas. Even today it's not so much a comfortable thing to do to carry the paper into these previously no go areas.

The paper's critics accuses it of being shallow, biased and often reporting on improperly researched material. Altogether, with the kind of existing media land-scape in Zimbabwe newspapers are poles apart and rarely agreeing on matters of national interest. The gulf is so much between state media and private media. There is general hope that the 2009 formed inclusive government will help improve the situation. Only time will tell.

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