You can’t keep a good newspaper down. Zimbabwe’s Daily News published its first edition on Thursday since being forced to stop printing in September last year.
The paper — a fierce critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government — was forcibly shut down by armed police in September after the Supreme Court ruled it was operating illegally because it was not registered with a state-appointed media commission.
Editor of the Daily News Nqobile Nyathi (31) said it had been a very frustrating, and a very difficult time for her staff.
“The police took most of our computers and trying to produce a paper with so little equipment is a real challenge,” she told the Mail & Guardian Online on Thursday morning.
Nyathi said her staff had been taking turns to use the few computers that remained: “We’re going back to basics”
She said they had been forced to outsource the production of the newspaper to another company because police had confiscated computer equipment from that department as well.
Nyathi said she had been “very surprised” that the police chose to comply with the High Court order. Policemen have been camping “in shifts” at the newspaper’s printing factory since December 19 last year.
Asked about what it is like to be an editor in Zimbabwe, Nyathi said: “It’s tough, especially at this time. We’re under a lot of pressure … apart from your normal job there’s all these outside things you have to deal with.”
“We have to extra careful, extra cautious. We don’t censor ourselves. But I make sure that our stories are double, triple-checked. We need all the necessary evidence … you never know how the government is going to react to what we publish. But for me, if I’ve taken those precautions, I go to bed and sleep a lot better at night. We ensure whatever we publish is the truth.”
Nyathi said the paper’s circulation had been at about 50 000 copies before it was closed.
The newspaper costs Z$1 000, which, according to Nyathi, is on a par with the state-controlled Herald
Since the paper was shut down, lawyers have been shuttling between the country’s courts battling to get authorisation for the paper to reopen. Zimbabwean courts have ruled five times in favour of the paper since it was shut down.
The newspaper’s website is now being published from South Africa.