In Zimbabwe, bloggers and journalists pay a high price.

At PBS MediaShift, Mark Glaser takes a look at the harsh realities facing internet, broadcast, and print journalists in Zimbabwe. The African nation has been under the rule of President Robert Mugabe since its independence in 1980. Mark says,

The government has stifled the media, either blocking, shutting or surreptitiously taking over newspapers there for the past few years. I had an email exchange with freelance Zimbabwean reporter Frank Chikowore, who talks about being jailed in 2005 for filming police beating street vendors, and asks for Western media outlets to help employ journalists there.

Here's a clip from Mark's interview with Frank Chikowore, a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe:

"Unfortunately blogging is still very unpopular in Zimbabwe and most African countries. Of course the use of the Internet has enabled journalists to transmit their news and information to their readers and listeners but the cost of doing so is very [high] considering that several journalists are not gainfully employed and they live by the grace of God.

In fact, journalists have been reduced to beggars in Zimbabwe. Journalists now use pseudonyms as the government continues with its onslaught against independent journalists. The cost of registering as a foreign correspondent has become inhibitive for journalists to register -- hence they prefer using pseudonyms."

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