ZimOnline

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ZimOnline
THE ZimOnline News Agency Project was launched on 8 July 2004 as part of efforts to establish an alternative voice by Zimbabwean journalists who found themselves restricted in the practice of their profession over the past few years.

The general decimation of the media in Zimbabwe characterised by the enactment of a vicious media law which enables the government to licence media houses and journalists to do their work, the closure of mainstream newspapers, the routine intimidation and arrests of journalists, among many other vices, is well documented.

In the face of the Zimbabwe government's determined onslaught on the basic freedoms and rights of citizens, the critical question that remained was about what tangible steps could be taken to expand the shrinking democratic space.

It was against this background that ZimOnline was established.

The project is an attempt to compensate for the media institutions that have been wiped off the map by the Zimbabwean government. It is an attempt to expand the democratic space which has been shrunk by the repression in Zimbabwe.

It is an attempt to highlight the other side of the Zimbabwean story that the government in Zimbabwe has vigorously sought to prevent the world from knowing through its determined efforts against privately owned media.

Apart from highlighting news and events in Zimbabwe through this online edition, ZimOnline acts as a news agency through which relevant stories about Zimbabwe are channeled to other mainly African publications for re-production in their respective countries.

Despite the sad background that gave birth to this project, it ought to be emphasised that this is a professional media project that was not established to advance any particular cause or to support any particular political party nor civic group.

Our mandate is to gather and disseminate information about Zimbabwe to interested audiences. The Zimbabwe government has fought hard to control information coming out of Zimbabwe through a plethora of laws restricting local and foreign media.

It prefers to have only its side of the story disseminated and heard by the wider world. We don't think that is right. We seek to provide all Zimbabweans with a channel to tell their story to the rest of the world including information that the government has fought so hard to prevent the world from knowing.

Our only interest is an accurate reflection of the true state of affairs in Zimbabwe and the buck stops there. Although we cannot hide our wish for a prosperous Zimbabwe ruled by a government that respects the rule of law and democratic rights of citizens, we cannot assume the role of politicians and actively campaign for “regime change”.

We confine ourselves to professional reporting and to a watchdog role on anyone in power at any one stage during this project’s lifetime.

Through our network of experienced correspondents deployed around all the provinces of Zimbabwe, we give every Zimbabwean an opportunity to tell their story.