NEWLY-appointed Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) Group Planning Editor and Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum (Zinef) chair Brian Mangwende has been appointed to the board of the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ).
Report by Staff Reporter
AMH are the publishers of NewsDay, Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard.
Formally constituted in 2007, the VMCZ runs parallel to the Zimbabwe Media Commission’s statutory body, Zimbabwe Media Council (ZMC), which critics believe was established last month to criminalise the journalism profession.
Mangwende said of the appointment: “I reiterate the position that Zinef fully subscribes to the VMCZ and not ZMC although we recognise its existence as a statutory body which is prone to be abused by politicians and their proxies especially as we approach the silly political season of elections.
I have no doubt in my mind that ZMC will be approached by undemocratic and retrogressive members of society to gag and harass the media ahead of, during and post elections as a retributive measure.”
