Pay to play

I know, I know. I'm obsessed with Zimbabwe. I can't explain the fixation I have with the country and Mugabe's dicatatorship. And I realize that, by getting my information from American news sources, I may not be considering all sides of the story.

But I also believe that America has a free press and, because of that, I trust the information that I get from it. Zimbabwe's press, however, is not free. And now they are charging exorbinantly high prices for foreign journalists to work in the country. You wouldn't charge people to report if you had nothing to hide.

This, from CNN.com:

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- The Zimbabwean government has announced restrictive licensing fees for foreign journalists working in the country, demanding they pay an annual fee of $4,000 to practice journalism.

In addition foreign media groups must pay $10,000 for the application and $20,000 for accreditation, payable only in foreign currency, the government-controlled Media and Information Commission said Wednesday. An administration fee of $2,000 is necessary for the permit.

Zimbabwe has some of the harshest conditions for journalists in the world. Several foreign and local journalists have been arrested in Zimbabwe for lack of accreditation since a media law was passed in 2002.

Most Western media organizations including CNN are banned from Zimbabwe. Those that do still operate there including Reuters, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al Jazeera would have to pay the fee if they wanted to report from the country.

Zimbabwean government spokesman George Charamba said the fee was being introduced because foreign media organizations were "reducing local reporters to mere runners."

The new fees do not apply to journalists working for Zimbabwean organizations...

When we visited the Newseum last month, there was this great wall mural that depicted how free the press was in each country of the world. Those countries that had a completely free press were also democracies and developed countries (US, Canada, Western Europe, etc). Those who had somewhat free presses were developing countries without any major world issues going on (Russia, Brazil, etc). Those that had no free press were those countries and geographies riddled with strife (much of Africa, China, Middle East).

I haven't studied this issue so I can't say there is a causation. But the correlation seems pretty clear. That speaks volumes for the power of the pen, the power of free thought and dissent, and the power of knowledge.