''The Herald'' is a state-owned daily newspaper published in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, the capital of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

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 Argus is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek word '' Argos''. It may refer to: Greek mythology * See Argus (Greek myth) for mythological characters named Argus **Argus (king of Argos), son of Zeus (or Phoroneus) and Niobe **Argus (son of A ...

of South Africa. Named the ''Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times'', it was a weekly, hand-written news sheet produced using the

cyclostyle A monopteros (Ancient Greek: , from the Polytonic: μόνος, 'only, single, alone', and , 'wing') is a circular colonnade supporting a roof but without any walls. Unlike a tholos (in its wider sense as a circular building), it does not have w ...

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 Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

. After the white minority Rhodesian Front government unilaterally declared independence on 11 November 1965, it started censoring ''

The Rhodesia Herald ''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 Ar ...

''. The newspaper responded by leaving blank spaces where articles had been removed, enabling readers to gauge the extent of the censorship.

Post 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 Trust 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 A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

. 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 Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

and the '' Manica Post'' in

Mutare Mutare (formerly Umtali) is the most populous city in the province of Manicaland, and the third most populous city in Zimbabwe, having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 and approximately 260,567 ...

. ''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 Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

and the Zanu-PF party, and its demonisation of the opposition party, the

Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to: * Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe ** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congres ...

(MDC). It often accuses the MDC of being agents of colonial powers. ''The Herald'' faces limited competition from within Zimbabwe, mainly from independent newspapers, such as ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', due to very restrictive accreditation laws. Many opposition media claim that the paper has evolved into an instrument of rather crude and aggressive propaganda. The editorial staff are open in their partisanship.

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 Davison Maruziva is a Zimbabwean journalist and editor. Along with Geoffrey Nyarota, he broke the 1989 "Willowgate" scandal that resulted in the resignation of five government ministers, but was forced from his job with the state-owned '' Bulawa ...

, deputy editor *

Geoffrey Nyarota Geoffrey Nyarota (born c. 1951) is a Zimbabwean journalist and human rights activist. Born in colonial Southern Rhodesia, he trained as a teacher before beginning his career with a Zimbabwean state-owned newspaper, '' The Herald''. As editor of t ...

, hired in 1978 as one of the paper's first black reporters *

Chipo Sabeta Chipo Sabeta is a media personality, sports journalist and sports administrator. In 2020, she was Awarded FIFA/CIES sports management network project winner (Worldwide). She is the first Zimbabwean female journalists to be included in the FIFA Bal ...

, senior sports reporter *

William Saidi William Sylvester Saidi (8 May 1937 – 4 January 2017) was a Zimbabwean writer and journalist. Among his friends and family he was commonly known as 'Bill' Saidi. He died in Kitwe, Zambia after a long illness. Early life Saidi was born at St ...

, early 1980s *

Angus Shaw Angus Shaw (unknown – July 19, 1832) was a fur trader and political figure in Lower Canada. Life He was probably born in Scotland and came to North America some time before 1786, when he is found at Montreal. With the help of the Indian ag ...

, 1972–1974

References

External links

The Herald
newspaper website {{DEFAULTSORT:Herald Newspapers published in Zimbabwe Mass media in Harare Publications established in 1891 1891 establishments in Southern Rhodesia