admin
Harare Bureau
The Herald is fully aware of its constitutional obligations and will continue to give all political parties equal coverage during and after the July 30 harmonised elections, Editor-in-Chief Caesar Zvayi has said.
Zvayi, who was briefing European Union Election Observer Mission media analyst Mr Javier Gutierrez on the operations of Zimpapers’ flagship with regards to elections, said all political parties and presidential candidates were free to engage The Herald for interviews or request coverage for their rallies.
Mr Gutierrez, who visited The Herald yesterday, is familiarising himself with various media organisations operating in the country.
“We are open to all contestants, whether Zanu-PF or MDC; all parties that successfully filed at the Nomination Court,” said Zvayi.
“All we want from them (political parties) is their schedule and then we deploy our reporters, which we have already been doing.
“The challenge we are facing is that opposition parties — and by opposition I don’t mean only MDC Chamisa — don’t give us their diaries. We are fully aware of our obligations under the Electoral Act and the requirements of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.”
Mr Gutierrez was interested in knowing how free and accessible The Herald was to all political parties and candidates.
He also wanted to know whether or not the country’s leading paper was in conformity with the Constitution.
“We will be looking at all aspects of this (election) process to make a comprehensive assessment on how the media performed,” Mr Gutierrez said. “The media is crucial as this is where the voters get information on political options.”
On political parties and candidates advertising in The Herald, Zvayi said all paying customers were more than welcome.
“We are a business, we do not receive funding; we make our own money through sales and advertising,” he said. “If any party approaches us we are open, but they are supposed to pay if it is an advertisement.”
Zvayi also briefed Mr Gutierrez on operational challenges that were making it difficult for The Herald to cover political rallies in some parts of the country.
“We are coming from an environment of severe economic challenges,” he said. “We have got bureaus in most provinces, but we cannot cover every rally.”
Zvayi dismissed the assertion that The Herald is being controlled by Government.
“The new political dispensation is different from the previous Government,” he said. “The new dispensation is opening democratic space. There is air of freedom, we are free to make our own decisions.”
The Herald deputy editor Joram Nyathi also attended the meeting.
Online Reporter