International Editor of the Year Award

2002 Recipient

Iden Wetherell

Iden Wetherell, editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent (Photo courtesy of the Zimbabwe Independent).

UPDATE:
More Media Arrests in Zimbabwe

World Press Review Zimbabwe correspondent Julius Dawu reports on the arrest of four independent journalists in the first weeks of the new year.

The Battle Ahead for Zimbabwe's Press

Andrew Meldrum, a veteran foreign correspondent who was deported from Zimbabwe last May, writes that Zimbabwean journalists are bracing themselves for a renewed government offensive after the arrest of four independent journalists.

As Zimbabwe battles a headline-grabbing political and economic crisis, the press should perform its role as public watchdog by exposing rampant misrule and populist deception, says Iden Wetherell, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, a leading political and business weekly published in Harare. Wetherell, 53, has been named the 2002 World Press Review International Editor of the Year, becoming the 33rd recipient of the award since it was established in 1975. WPR presents the award each year to an editor or editors outside the United States in recognition of enterprise, courage, and leadership in advancing the freedom and responsibility of the press, enhancing human rights, and fostering excellence in journalism.

Interview: Iden Wetherell

World Press Review Web editor Elijah Zarwan speaks with Wetherell about the political dimensions of famine, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's crackdown on civil society and the press, Zimbabwe's role in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and how the U.S. media can do a better job of covering Zimbabwe.

Iden Wetherell: Pulling No Punches

Zimbabwe correspondent Julius Dawu profiles Iden Wetherell, Editor of the weekly Zimbabwe Independent.

"Sanctions Rage" Turned on Citizens

"A country that desroys the means of its survival will understandably be regarded with little respect on the world stage," writes Wetherell in a blistering Aug. 2 editorial.

Mocking the Law

Of all the public comments by ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front) leaders over recent years that have damaged international confidence in Zimbabwe, few could have been more calculated to harm this country's standing than President Robert Mugabe's declaration last Thursday that government will defy court judgments it does not like.

A Small Victory

Wetherell, commenting on Guardian correspondent Andrew Meldrum's troubles with the Zimbabwean government, writes, "No government confident of its political security acts to remove critics in violation of their legal rights. The Mugabe regime is demonstrating precisely that insecurity that weak governments everywhere betray."

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