Fourth Zimbabwe paper shut down

Fourth Zimbabwe paper shut down

• Weekly Times threatened with closure

• Court upholds Tribune closure

• Paradza fires entire Tribune staff

• All news is propaganda

• Mahoso threatens to shut down Tribune

• Mugabe thugs threaten to shoot journalists

• Daily News wins defamation suit against Moyo

• Daily News wins defamation suit against Moyo

• Judge offered farm to shut down Daily News

• Zim judge quits, goes into exile

• Zim jail threat for Daily News journos

• ANZ sues Moyo, Herald

• Moyo 'to fill jails with lying journalists'

• High Court orders police to quit Daily News

• Mugabe undermining judiciary

• Strive Masiyiwa, building of empire

• Police storm Daily News Press

• Judge gives Daily News green light

• Daily News publishes in Nigeria

• Masiyiwa vows to fight to 'last drop'

By Staff Reporter

THE Weekly Times newspaper has been forced off the streets after Zimbabwe's media watchdog -- the Media and Information Commission -- decreed that it had "a lot of political stories".

Tafataona Mahoso, the chairperson of the MIC, also dubbed Zimbabwe's media "hangman", announced Friday that the paper which started publishing in January had been banned for a year.

"The core values, convictions and overall thrust were narrowly political, clearly partisan and even separatist, in contrast to what had been pledged in the registration papers," said Mahoso in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the paper's publishers -- Mthwakazi Publishing House (Private) Ltd -- but industry sources told New Zimbabwe.com it was almost certain the paper would file a challenge.

Mahoso's annoyance was evident when the first edition of the Weekly Times hit the streets. The paper carried interviews with outspoken Roman Catholic cleric, Pius Ncube, and Professor Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the opposition MDC.

Mahoso accused the publishers of the Weekly Times of lying that their paper would be a general news product when it was "running political commentary through and through".

"The commission regrets to report that all this was a hoax. It therefore announces, unfortunately, the cancellation for one year of the publishing licence for Mthwakazi Publishing House, publishers of The Weekly Times," said Dr Mahoso in a statement.

The Weekly Times is the FOURTH paper to be shut down inside a year following the enactment of the widely condemned Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa).

The Daily News and its sister paper, The Daily News on Sunday were the first to be shut down. The Tribune followed shortly after. The Daily News has filed a constitutional challenge of Aippa.
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