Geoffrey Nyarota
Geoffrey Nyarota | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1951 |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Organization | The Daily News |
| Spouse | Ursula |
| Children | three |
| Awards | Golden Pen of Freedom Award(2002) UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize(2002) |
Geoffrey Nyarota(born c. 1951)[1]is aZimbabweanjournalist andhuman rightsactivist. Born in colonialSouthern Rhodesia,he trained as a teacher before beginning his career with a Zimbabwean state-owned newspaper,The Herald.As editor of the state-ownedBulawayo Chroniclein 1989, he helped to break the"Willowgate" scandal,which resulted in several resignations from the cabinet of PresidentRobert Mugabe.
When Nyarota was subsequently removed from his post, he spent several years teaching in exile before returning to open the independentDaily News.Bearing the motto "Telling it like it is", theDaily Newsswiftly became Zimbabwe's most popular newspaper. However, the paper also suffered two bombings, allegedly by Zimbabwean security forces. Nyarota was arrested six times and reportedly was the target of a government assassination plot. After being forced from the paper by new management in December 2002, Nyarota left Zimbabwe.
In exile in the United States, he beganThe Zimbabwe Times,an online newspaper. His memoirAgainst the Grain, Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Newsmanwas published in South Africa in 2006.
Early life
[edit]Nyarota was born inSouthern Rhodesia(today Zimbabwe) to middle-class black parents in 1951. He later received a university education.[2]He initially trained as a teacher—stating later that "in colonial Rhodesia the only job open to educated Africans was teaching"[3]—and was posted atInyangain the country's east.[2]
WhenThe Rhodesia Heraldnewspaper announced that it was recruiting a small number of black trainees in 1978, Nyarota applied and was hired.[3][1]
"Willowgate" scandal
[edit]In 1989, he was editor of the state-ownedBulawayo Chronicle.The paper built a reputation for aggressive investigations into corruption at all levels of government, and Nyarota became "something of a hero". In the "Willowgate" investigation, Nyarota and deputy editorDavison Maruzivareported that ministers and officials from the government of PresidentRobert Mugabehad been given early access to buy foreign cars at an assembly plant inWillowvale,an industrial suburb ofHarare.[4]In some cases, the cars were bought wholesale and resold at a 200% profit.[5]The newspaper published documents from the plant to prove its case, including identification numbers from the vehicles.[4]
Mugabe appointed a three-person panel, the Sandura Commission, to investigate the allegations. TheWashington Postreported that the commission's hearings "struck a deep chord" in Zimbabwe, where citizens had grown to resent the perceived growing corruption of government. Five of Mugabe's cabinet ministers eventually resigned due to implication in the scandal, including Defense MinisterEnos NkalaandMaurice Nyagumbo,the third highest-ranking official in Mugabe's party, theZimbabwe African National Union(ZANU).[5]
However, Nyarota and Maruziva were both forced out of their jobs with the state-owned paper and into newly created public relations positions in Harare.[6]Though the men were given pay raises, Mugabe also stated that the move was a result of their "overzealousness", leading to public belief that they had been removed for their reporting. ZANU parliamentarians also criticized Nyarota and Maruziva, with the Minister of State for National Security stating that criticism was welcome, but "to the extent that the press now deliberately target Government as their enemy, then we part ways."[7]
Nyarota then spent several years in self-imposed exile, teaching journalism in South Africa.[1]
Daily News
[edit]In 1999, Nyarota founded theDaily News,an independent daily newspaper. The paper stated that it would be neither "pro-government" nor "anti-government", but would "be a medium for vibrant discourse among the divergent political, social, religious and other groups of Zimbabwe", as well as fight forpress freedomandfreedom of speech.Its first issue appeared on 21 March 1999.[8]The newspaper's motto was "Telling it like it is".[9]
Within a year, the newspaper had passed the circulation of the state-ownedHerald,with a daily circulation of 105,000 copies; theHerald's circulation was reported to have fallen by 50% during the same period.[6]President Mugabe accused the paper of being a "mouthpiece" for theMovement for Democratic Change,a political coalition opposed to his rule, while Nyarota asserted that the paper was independent and criticized both parties.[1][2]
During his editorship of theDaily News,Nyarota was arrested six times.[9]On 1 August 2000, theNewsreported that Zimbabwe's secret police, theCentral Intelligence Organisation,had sent a man named Bernard Masara to kill Nyarota; however, after meeting Nyarota in a lift, Masara changed his mind and warned him of the plot. Masara then called his employer with the paper's editors listening so that they could verify the source of the plan.[10]
On 22 April 2000, a bomb was thrown into the paper's offices, but no one was hurt. South AfricanAssociated Pressphotographer Obed Zilwa was arrested for the attack, but the newspaper alleged that agents of Mugabe's security forces had thrown the bomb.[6]Zilwa was released without charge 48 hours later.[11]In January 2001, theNewsbuilding was bombed again, this time destroying its printing presses. According to theCommittee to Protect Journalists,"credible sources" linked the Zimbabwean military to the attack.[12]
On 30 December 2002, Nyarota resigned as editor of theDaily News,to avoid his firing by the paper's new executive chair.[1]The paper was shut down by the government in September 2003.[3]
Later career
[edit]In 2003, Nyarota and his family fled to South Africa and later to the United States.[9]There, Nyarota was awarded a fellowship at theNieman Foundation for JournalismatHarvard University.[3]He also taught journalism classes atBard College.[13]
In 2006, he released his first book,Against the Grain.The memoir tells of his experiences as a schoolteacher in Rhodesia and later as a journalist under Mugabe's rule.[9]From exile, he also began the website www.thezimbabwetimes.com, describing Internet news as the "loophole" in Zimbabwean government censorship.[1]
Awards
[edit]In 2001, theCommittee to Protect Journalistsawarded Nyarota itsInternational Press Freedom Award,which recognizes journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.[12]TheWorld Association of Newspapersawarded him itsGolden Pen of Freedom Awardin 2002.[3]That same year he was also awardedUNESCO'sGuillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.[14]
Personal life
[edit]Nyarota has a wife, Ursula, and three children.[9]
References
[edit]- ^abcdefWinston W. Wiley (24 December 2006)."A defiant voice: African journalist delivers news from afar".Telegram & Gazette.Archivedfrom the original on 20 December 2013.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abc"Geoffrey Nyarota: a defiant voice".CNN. 16 August 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 8 September 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abcde"Geoffrey Nyarota, Zimbabwe".World Association of Newspapers. Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abJane Perlez (20 January 1989)."Zimbabwe Reads of Officials' Secrets".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 2 February 2016.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abKarl Maier (15 April 1989)."3 Cabinet Ministers Quit in Zimbabwe as Corruption Report Is Published".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon 2 February 2016.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abc"Zimbabwe Crisis: Foreign journalist held over newspaper bomb".The Independent.28 April 2000. Archived fromthe originalon 8 December 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^P.P. Jackson (2010).Shattered Dreams.AuthorHouse. pp. 52–3.ISBN9781452043944.
- ^Lewis Machipisa (1 April 1999)."New Independent Daily Launched".Inter-Press Service. Archived fromthe originalon 12 March 2016.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^abcdeKaren Breytenbach (12 June 2007)."Acclaimed Zim journalist pens harrowing, moving memoirs".The Cape Times.[dead link]
- ^"Zimbabwe 'murder plot' fails".BBC News.1 August 2000.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2016.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^Steven Tsoroti (20 November 2001)."Independent Newspaper Battles Closure".worldpress.org. Archived fromthe originalon 16 September 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^ab"International Press Freedom Awards 2001".Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2012.Retrieved11 August2012.
- ^Angelique Serrao (2 September 2006)."Geoff Nyarota has fled from the despotic Mugabe regime, but he hopes to return one day".The Saturday Star.Archived fromthe originalon 19 March 2016.Retrieved12 September2012.
- ^"Geoffrey Nyarota of Zimbabwe awarded World Press Freedom Prize 2002".United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2002. Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2012.Retrieved12 September2012.
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