New Ziana, formerly known as the Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency, is a state-owned news outlet in Zimbabwe that runs a news agency and several local newspapers. In the past, it was known as a propaganda outlet that was waxing lyrical about the late Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s last dictator.
Media assets
News agency: New Ziana
Publishing: Chaminuka, Ilanga, Indonsakusa, Masvingo Star, Nehanda Guardian, Pungwe News, Telegraph, The Times
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The government wholly owns New Ziana Private Limited, which runs New Ziana news agency. As part of recent reforms of Zimbabwe’s state entities, New Ziana has been transformed into a department in the Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services.
Source of funding and budget
New Ziana generates revenues from ads sold on its web page and in its local newspapers. However, the bulk of New Ziana’s financing comes from the government. For 2024, according to the latest government budget, the government earmarked a total of ZWL 3.5bn to cover the salaries of the agency’s employees and its operational costs. The agency received another subsidy of ZWL 1.2bn to cover its equipment-related costs.
Editorial independence
In recent years, New Ziana has been modernized as part of a larger strategy aimed at improving the agency to be able to compete with the increasing number of news media outlets online. However, the agency remains a state-run outlet that disseminates primarily news promoting the government and that rarely ventures into investigations or any critical coverage of the government.
No statute that establishes independence of New Ziana has been identified.
June 2024