Zim GBC News | Harare Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harare \u2013 Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), one of Zimbabwe’s last major privately-owned media groups, is facing an existential crisis due to a US$400,000 debt owed by the government for unpaid advertising and subscription fees, senior company executives have revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debt, outstanding for over a year, has severely strained AMH’s cash flow, contributing to severe staff salary delays. The company publishes NewsDay, The Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, and Southern Eye, and operates the web-based radio station Heart and Soul TV (HSTV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile AMH\u2019s challenges reflect global pressures on legacy media, the government\u2019s failure to honour its advertising and subscription debts poses an existential threat to the country\u2019s last privately owned mainstream media house,\u201d a senior AMH executive told Zim GBC News in confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive stated that the government’s delayed payments to contractors, including media houses, appear to be part of a broader fiscal strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith government departments owing us about US$400,000, cash flows have been severely constrained. The delayed payments\u2026 appear to be part of a broader strategy to protect the ZiG from devaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The financial strain erupted publicly amid reports that AMH journalists received only US$50 each on Christmas Eve after months of incomplete salaries. Management believes this leakage is politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a deliberate attempt to smear management while ignoring the fact that the government owes us enough money to clear salary arrears,\u201d another AMH executive said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe difference between us and Zimpapers [the state-owned media group] is that they receive concessionary loans and direct government support \u2014 privileges we do not enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company’s troubles are compounded by what it describes as a hostile legal environment. In February, HSTV senior journalist Blessed Mhlanga was jailed for 72 days without trial after covering a press conference by a government critic. He and HSTV still face charges of \u201ctransmitting data messages that incite violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five months later, Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba and AMH were arrested and charged for allegedly insulting the President over a satirical column. Their trial is pending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn top of that, this has not been an ordinary year, given the arrests of senior journalists and escalating legal costs,\u201d the executive added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Advertising Media Association (ADMA) confirms the government owes millions to several media companies. In March, ADMA wrote to President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s spokesperson, George Charamba, seeking intervention, but the matter remains unresolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation highlights the intense financial and political pressures facing independent journalism in Zimbabwe as a critical election year approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a9\ufe0f2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Zim GBC News | Harare Correspondent Harare \u2013 Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), one of Zimbabwe’s last major privately-owned media groups, is facing an existential crisis due to a US$400,000 debt… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11472,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11470\/revisions\/11472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}