Geoffrey Nyarota
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Nyarota is an award-winning Zimbabwe
an journalist
and author. He is the managing editor of The Zimbabwe Times, an online newspaper. His first book, Against the Grain, Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Newsman, was published by Zebra Press of South Africa in 2006.
He started his working life as a teacher because, as he has explained, "In colonial Rhodesia
the only job open to educated Africans was teaching." However, when The Herald began hiring black trainees, he seized the opportunity and was contracted.
The World Association of Newspapers
awarded him its Golden Pen of Freedom Award
in 2002, while he was serving as editor-in-chief of the Daily News, the country's only independent daily, which he had founded in 1999.
That same year he was also awarded UNESCO
's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
.
In 2001, the Committee to Protect Journalists
awarded a CPJ International Press Freedom Award to Nyarota. He has won several other awards for his work as a journalist and media entrepreneur. As editor of the Chronicle he exposed large-scale corruption among government officials, including ministers. 'Willowgate' concerned the allocation of new motor vehicles to government officials, especially ministers, by Willowvale Motors in Willowvale
Harare. The vehicles were subsequently sold at a huge profit. He was fired from the paper.
As editor of the Daily News he was arrested six times. He survived an assassination attempt in 2000 but the newspaper's printing press was destroyed in a bombing incident in 2001.
On 30 December 2002 Nyarota was mysteriously fired as editor of the Daily News. A few days later he fled to South Africa
and, later, to the United States
, where he was awarded a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
at Harvard University
. The Daily News was shut down by the government in September 2003.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author. He is the managing editor of The Zimbabwe Times, an online newspaper. His first book, Against the Grain, Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Newsman, was published by Zebra Press of South Africa in 2006.
He started his working life as a teacher because, as he has explained, "In colonial Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
the only job open to educated Africans was teaching." However, when The Herald began hiring black trainees, he seized the opportunity and was contracted.
The World Association of Newspapers
World Association of Newspapers
The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...
awarded him its Golden Pen of Freedom Award
World Association of Newspapers' Golden Pen of Freedom Award
The Golden Pen of Freedom Award is an annual international journalism award established in 1961, given by the World Association of Newspapers to individuals or organisations. The stated purpose of the award is "to recognise the outstanding action, in writing or deed, of an individual, a group or an...
in 2002, while he was serving as editor-in-chief of the Daily News, the country's only independent daily, which he had founded in 1999.
That same year he was also awarded UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, created in 1997, honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.The...
.
In 2001, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
awarded a CPJ International Press Freedom Award to Nyarota. He has won several other awards for his work as a journalist and media entrepreneur. As editor of the Chronicle he exposed large-scale corruption among government officials, including ministers. 'Willowgate' concerned the allocation of new motor vehicles to government officials, especially ministers, by Willowvale Motors in Willowvale
Willowvale
Willowvale is the name of an industrial suburb in the South West of Harare, Zimbabwe....
Harare. The vehicles were subsequently sold at a huge profit. He was fired from the paper.
As editor of the Daily News he was arrested six times. He survived an assassination attempt in 2000 but the newspaper's printing press was destroyed in a bombing incident in 2001.
On 30 December 2002 Nyarota was mysteriously fired as editor of the Daily News. A few days later he fled to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and, later, to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he was awarded a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism
Nieman Foundation for Journalism
The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University is the primary journalism institution at Harvard. It was founded in 1938 as the result of a $1 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of The Milwaukee Journal...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. The Daily News was shut down by the government in September 2003.
Source
- The first version of this article was translated and adapted from the corresponding article on the French-language WikipediaFrench WikipediaThe French Wikipedia is the French language edition of Wikipedia, spelt Wikipédia. This edition was started in March 2001, and has about articles as of , making it the third-largest Wikipedia overall, after the English-language and German-language editions...
.
External links
- http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com The Zimbabwe Times
- Geoffrey Nyarota: a defiant voice (CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
)