Coup, what coup? State-owned Press in denial

SEVERAL state-owned newspapers in Zimbabwe played down the coup yesterday.

The Herald, a daily paper based in the capital Harare, released a special edition with the headline ‘No military takeover’ – something the military also insisted on state-run TV and radio stations.

An earlier edition of the newspaper had read ‘Zanu-PF unfazed by Chiwenga’, referring to the ruling party being unfazed by the army commander who challenged Mugabe.

The Bulawayo-based Chronicle also published a special edition with the headline ‘Army Steps In’, saying the military moved in to ‘weed out Zanu-PF criminal elements’. A second story on the front page said that it was ‘business as usual around Zimbabwe’.

Yesterday Zimbabwe’s arm of the Media Institute of Southern Africa tweeted advice to journalists in the country, telling them to carry accreditation and ID cards and stay in regular touch with families and editors.

The main pro-government dailies are tightly controlled by the Information Ministry. The private Press, which is relatively critical of the government, has come under intense pressure facing soaring costs.