The newspaper's origins date back to the 19th century. Its forerunner was launched on 27 June 1891 by William Fairbridge[1] for the Argus group of South Africa. Named the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times, it was a weekly, hand-written news sheet produced using the cyclostyle duplicating process. In October the following year it became a printed newspaper and changed its name to The Rhodesia Herald.[2]
The Argus group later set up a subsidiary called the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company[3] to run its newspapers in what was then Southern Rhodesia.
In 1981, after Zimbabwe became independent, the government bought The Herald and other papers from the Argus group, using a US$20 million grant from Nigeria,[7] and established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust[8] to operate them. The Trust created Zimbabwe Newspapers, Ltd., as the publisher of the papers.
In mid-May 2008, its website was briefly shut down by cyber hackers.[9]
For Robert Mugabe's 93rd birthday, the state-owned newspaper issued a 24-page supplement packed with goodwill messages from government departments.[10]
Other newspapers published by the same group include The Sunday Mail in Harare, The Chronicle and Sunday News in Bulawayo and the Manica Post in Mutare.[11]The Chronicle, launched in October 1894 as The Bulawayo Chronicle, is the second oldest newspaper in the country.[12]
The Herald has for some time been noted for its slant in favor of President Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party, and its demonisation of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It often accuses the MDC of being agents of colonial powers.[13]
The Herald faces limited competition from within Zimbabwe, mainly from independent newspapers, such as The Independent, due to very restrictive accreditation laws.[14][15] Many opposition media claim that the paper has evolved into an instrument of rather crude and aggressive propaganda.[16] The editorial staff are open in their partisanship.[17]