The Herald is a state-owned daily newspaper published in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.
History
Origins The newspaper's origins date back to the 19th century. Its forerunner was launched on 27 June 1891 by William Fairbridge for the Argus group of South Africa. Named the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times, it was a weekly, hand-written news sheet produced using the cyclostyle duplicating process. In October the following year it became a printed newspaper and changed its name to The Rhodesia Herald.
The Argus group later set up a subsidiary called the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company to run its newspapers in what was then Southern Rhodesia.
After the white minority Rhodesian Front government unilaterally declared independence on 11 November 1965, it started censoring The Rhodesia Herald. The newspaper responded by leaving blank spaces where articles had been removed, enabling readers to gauge the extent of the censorship.
After Independence In 1981, after Zimbabwe became independent, the government bought The Herald and other papers from the Argus group, using a US$20 million grant from Nigeria, and established the Zimbabwe Mass Media TrustEllias T. Rusike. See http://journ.ru.ac.za/rjr/Rusike_homepage.html to operate them. The Trust created Zimbabwe Newspapers, Ltd., as the publisher of the papers.
In mid-May 2008, its website was briefly shut down by cyber hackers.
For Robert Mugabe's 93rd birthday, the state-owned newspaper issued a 24-page supplement packed with goodwill messages from government departments.
Sister papers Other newspapers published by the same group include The Sunday Mail in Harare, The Chronicle and Sunday News in Bulawayo and the Manica Post in Mutare.Zimbabwe Newspapers website. The Chronicle, launched in October 1894 as The Bulawayo Chronicle, is the second oldest newspaper in the country.
Controversy The Herald has for some time been noted for its slant in favor of President Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party, and its demonisation of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It often accuses the MDC of being agents of colonial powers.For example: "Tsvangirai confirms US, UK's regime change agenda" , The Herald, 28 June 2008
The Herald faces limited competition from within Zimbabwe, mainly from independent newspapers, such as The Independent, due to very restrictive accreditation laws.Zimbabwe newspapers and news sites world-newspapers.com Many opposition media claim that the paper has evolved into an instrument of rather crude and aggressive propaganda.Zimbabwe: Herald newspaper trimmed to size over propaganda botch-up ZimDaily
Editors
1892–1896: William Fairbridge 1898–1903: T. Shillington 1911–1915: C. D. Don 1915–1927: R. H. Douglas 1927–1931: W. Addison 1931–1955: Norman Ferris 1956–1962: C. J. Cowan 1962–1967: Malcom Smith 1967–1970: Sydney Swadel 1970–1974: Rhys Meier 1975–1980: Roland Fothergill 1980–1981: Robin Drew 1981–1982: Farayi Munyuki 1983–1998: Tommy Sithole 1998–2000: Bornwell Chakaodza 2000–2001: Ray Mungoshi 2001–2009: Pikirayi Deketeke 2009–2012: William Chikoto 2012–2013: Innocent Gore 2013–2018: Caesar Zvayi 2018–2019: Joram Nyathi 2019: Tichaona Zindoga (acting) 2019–2020: William Chikoto (acting) 2020–present: Hatred Zenenga
Notable staff
Davison Maruziva, deputy editor Geoffrey Nyarota, hired in 1978 as one of the paper's first black reporters Chipo Sabeta, senior sports reporter William Saidi, early 1980s Angus Shaw, 1972–1974
See also British South Africa Company Government Gazette (originally published as a supplement to The Herald.) Mass media in Zimbabwe List of newspapers in Zimbabwe
References
External links The Herald newspaper website