Cablegate: Independent Weekly Gets New Editor

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS HARARE 002616

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/PD, AF/S, AF/RA, AF/PDPA
NSC FOR JENDAYI FRAZER
LONDON FOR GURNEY
PARIS FOR NEARY
NAIROBI FOR PFLAUMER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KPAO ZI
SUBJECT: INDEPENDENT WEEKLY GETS NEW EDITOR

1. The privately owned weekly "Financial Gazette" has na
Nqobile Nyathi, 29, as editor. Nyathi replaces veter
journalist Francis Mdlongwa who led the "FinGaz" from
1997 to 2002. Nyathi is the first woman and the
youngest editor-in-chief of an independent newspaper
Zimbabwe.

2. Nyathi joined the "FinGaz" in 1997 after completing a
certificate in journalism at the Harare Polytechnic,
Zimbabwe's primary media training institution. Befor
becoming editor-in-chief she was the paper's news
editor, a position she had held since mid-2001. In
other staff changes at the "FinGaz" Abel Mutsakani, 3
becomes Deputy Editor-in-Chief; Sydney Masamvu, 30,
Assistant Editor; and MacDonald Dzirutwe, 24, Busines
News Editor. All four are promotions from within and
are journalists with solid records of editorial
independence.

3. The staffing changes at the "FinGaz" were precipitate
by the sudden resignation of former editor-in-chief
Francis Mdlongwa. Under Mdlongwa's leadership the
"FinGaz" became one of the most respected papers in
Zimbabwe, a paper with complete editorial independenc
His resignation was the result of change of ownership
and a failed attempt by Mdlongwa to put together a
consortium of investors to buy the "FinGaz." Ownersh
of the newspaper has passed to an anonymous group of
investors, one of whom is rumored to be Gideon Gono,
chairman of the government-associated Commercial Bank
Zimbabwe. Gono has acknowledged playing a role in th
purchase of the paper but denies being the sole sourc
of financing. Regular readers of the "FinGaz" will b
watching for editorial changes under the new owners.

SULLIVAN

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