Mwananchi

8 results arranged by date

Tanzanian reporter Jesse Mikofu beaten, harassed in Zanzibar

On April 21, 2021, security officers in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago in Tanzania, beat and harassed Jesse Mikofu, a reporter with the privately owned Mwananchi newspaper, according to news reports, a statement by the Media Council of Tanzania, an independent self-regulatory body, and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Three officers from…

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Ahead of elections, Tanzania’s regulator is used as a cudgel against the media

On August 27, the second day of mainland Tanzania’s official campaign period leading up to October 28 elections, authorities ordered privately owned broadcasters Clouds TV and Clouds FM to replace their regular programming with an hours-long apology until midnight and then halt programming altogether for a week.   The over-the-top display of repentance was dictated by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), on the…

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People are seen in Namanga, Tanzania, on March 16, 2020. Tanzanian authorities recently suspnded the Mwananchi newspaper from publishing online for six months over a COVID-19 report. (AFP/Filbert Rweyemamu)

Tanzanian newspaper banned from publishing online for 6 months over COVID-19 report

On April 16, 2020, Tanzania’s communications regulator banned the privately owned Mwananchi newspaper from publishing online for six months and fined it five million Tanzanian shillings ($2,173) for allegedly publishing false news, according to a public notice by the regulator and a report by the newspaper’s sister publication, The Citizen.

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A screen shot from December 2017 displaying the front pages of Tanzanian newspapers Mwananchi and The Citizen, calling on the Tanzanian government to help find missing journalist Azory Gwanda. November 21, 2018, marked the one-year anniversary of Gwanda's disappearance. (MCL Digital)

One year after disappearance, CPJ calls for credible investigation into Tanzanian journalist Azory Gwanda’s fate

New York, November 21, 2018–One year after freelance journalist Azory Gwanda disappeared in Tanzania, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterated its call for a credible investigation and public accounting of his fate.

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Tanzanian journalist abducted, beaten for Zanzibar election coverage

Unknown assailants abducted Salma Said, a reporter with the Kiswahili-language Mwananchi (“Citizen”) newspaper and a correspondent for Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, shortly after the journalist arrived at Dar es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport on March 18, 2016, according to news reports and a statement she made to the Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition…

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Advertising and Censorship in East Africa’s Press

The printed word is thriving in parts of Africa, but advertisers’ clout means they can often quietly control what is published. By Tom Rhodes Kenyans read election coverage in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, the capital, on March 9, 2013. One reason that advertising revenue trumps circulation for East Africa’s newspapers is that readers often…

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Tanzania suspends two leading newspapers

Nairobi, September 30, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a decision by Tanzanian authorities to suspend two leading private Swahili dailies on accusations of sedition. The government issued a statement on Friday suspending Mwananchi and MTanzania for 14 and 90 days respectively.

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Incumbent Tanzanian President Jakaya Kiketwe during rally in September. (AP)

Government threatens press in pre-election Tanzania

As the October 31 national elections draw near, Tanzania’s media is in a frenzy trying to cover the close race between the two leading presidential candidates. But government threats and draconian media laws may be getting in the way of objective coverage.

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