Zimbabwe moved 10 places from 126 in 2023 to 116 in 2024 in Reporters Without Borders’s World Press Freedom Index rankings. This came on the backdrop of reductions in media freedom violations last year, culminating in an improved media operating environment during Zimbabwe’s 2023 election season.
Media, elections and governance
MISA ZIMBABWE 2023 STATE OF THE MEDIA REPORT (Now Available!!!)
The Police-Media Action Plan, among other action points, aims to improve the professional relations between the police and the media while curbing or reducing cases of media freedom violations involving law enforcement agents.
MISA Zimbabwe Way Forward Post-2023 Zimbabwe Elections
As highlighted earlier in this report, the media operating environment drastically improved during the 2023 elections compared to previous election seasons.
Journalists urgent application referred to ordinary court roll
In its application, YOJA said ZEC had generally failed to put in place important measures and mechanisms relating to media coverage during elections, such as the Media Monitoring Committee.
MISA Zimbabwe 2022 State of the Media Report (Now Available)
While Zimbabwe is commendably not among the African countries with jailed journalists, the country witnessed an upsurge in the number of cases involving the assaults of journalists at political gatherings/rallies, with some sustaining injuries for which they sought medical treatment.
New MISA Zimbabwe Legal & ICT Policy Lead
MISA Zimbabwe welcomes Ms Sithole to the organisation to lead one of our organisational strategic pillars in these complex moments in our socio-economic and political environment in Zimbabwe and the region at large.
Worrying increase in cases of impunity for crimes against journalists
We therefore reiterate our earlier calls for the Government, through key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Zimbabwe Republic Police, to come up with concrete mechanisms to curb these worrying media freedom violations.
MISA Zimbabwe and MAZ engagement meeting on the telecommunications traffic monitoring system
The Zimbabwean government, through the Ministry of ICTs, gazetted Statutory Instrument 95 of 2021 to bring into effect the TTMS. The TTMS was launched in May 2022 and is now being used by POTRAZ, the sector’s regulator.
The 2021 MISA Zimbabwe Annual report is now available!
Excerpt from the MISA Zimbabwe 2021 Annual Report
State of the Media 2021 report now available!
The 2021 state of the media report looks at the media landscape and operating environment with regards to freedom of expression, access to information, digital rights, media sustainability and media freedom in Zimbabwe.