Zimbabwe has approved a new tough bill seen by critics as tightening controls over the independent media ahead of crucial elections due next year.
The state-owned Heraldnewspaper said today the government has approved the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill to protect personal privacy and establish a media information commission to regulate the media industry.
The bill, published by the paper, puts restraints on media coverage, and says journalists could be charged and imprisoned in some cases.
The bill, which still needs parliament approval to become law, comes at a time of increasing government hostility towards journalists in the run-up to the elections and amid the country's biggest crisis sparked by President Mr Robert Mugabe's controversial seizure of white-owned farms.
The polls must be held by next April when Mr Mugabe will face the toughest challenge of his presidential career from opposition leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Heraldquoted the government information department as saying in a statement the bill was necessary because of a collapse of professional and ethical standards in the media.