The offices of the paper are based in Bulawayo the second largest city in Zimbabwe. The paper is a sister publication to the Herald published in Harare the capital of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe's history and respected for the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe necessitated the establishment of the Chronicle Zimbabwe. The paper creates a balance in news reportage as the Herald is viewed as a Harare paper even though its has a national appeal.
Like the Herald and all other Zimpapers publications the Chronicle is controlled by government through the ministry of information and is an effective tool used by the same government to communicate its position and aspirations. For this reason, the paper has equally fallen prey to government manipulation as a tool for mass propaganda especially beginning year 2000 when the ruling party was effectively politically challenged for the first time by the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Business, civil society and the general public in Bulawayo and Matebeland in general read the daily publication to gauge the mood of the government and its thinking. The Chronicle Zimbabwe is indeed an effective mouth piece of the government in the absence of any meaningful competing daily voice. Even TV stations are controlled by government as illustrated by Zimbabwe TV. The media landscape in Zimbabwe is desperately biased with absolutely no private owned daily newspapers and TV and radio stations
The Zimbabwe Chronicle focuses its news reports on social, business, sports and opinion and analysis issues apart from political issues. Over 90% of its headlines have a political inclination. The paper runs an online version which is not as advanced as other online publications. It is essentially a replica of news stories available in the daily print version.
The Chronicle does not publish on Sundays. Instead its sister paper also based in Bulawayo called the Sunday News publishes. This is similar to the Sunday Mail published in Harare instead of the Herald on Sundays. In a shock turn of events in 2009, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) arrested the editor and journalist of the Chronicle Zimbabwe and pressed defamation charges over a story that accused police of corruption. It has hardly occurred previously for the police to arrest a journalist from state controlled media such as the Chronicle. The two institutions are considered to be on the same side.
Do you have an experience to share on The Chronicle? Submit your experience below
No comments:
Post a Comment
Hey thanks for leaving a comment. I appreciate your input. I will activate your comments after a quick scan :)