ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT (SHOWING AMENDMENTS MADE BY ACT 5/2003) (a) to enquire, gather, receive and disseminate information; (b) to visit public bodies with the express purpose of carrying out duties as a journalist; (c) to get access to documents and materials as prescribed in this Act; (d) to make recordings with the use of audio-video equipment, photography and cinephotography; (e) to refuse to prepare under his signature reports and materials inconsistent with his convictions; (f) to prohibit the publication of, remove his or her signature from or attach conditions to the manner of using a report or material whose content was distorted, in his or her opinion, in the process of editorial preparation; or 50 (g) to circulate reports and materials he prepared under his signature, under a pseudonym or without any signature. 79 Accreditation of journalists (1) No journalist shall exercise the rights provided in section seventy-eight in Zimbabwe without being accredited by the Commission. (2) Subject to subsection (4), no journalist shall be accredited who is not a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is not regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02]. (3) Any person who wishes to be accredited as a journalist shall make an application to the Commission in the form and manner and accompanied by the fee, if any, prescribed: Provided that a mass media service or news agency may file an application for accreditation on behalf of journalists employed by such mass media service or news agency. (4) A journalist who is not a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is not regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02], may be accredited for any period specified by the Commission not exceeding thirty days: Provided that the Commission may, for good cause shown or for the purpose of enabling the journalist to work for the duration of any event he or she is accredited to cover, extend the period by a specified number of days. 51 (5) The Commission may accredit an applicant as a journalist and issue a press card to the applicant if it is satisfied that the applicant— (a) has complied with the prescribed formalities; and (b) possesses the prescribed qualifications; and (c) is not disqualified by virtue of subsection (2), or applies for accreditation in terms of subsection (4). (6) Every news agency that operates in Zimbabwe, whether domiciled inside or outside Zimbabwe, shall in respect of its local operations not employ or use the services of any journalist other than an accredited journalist who is a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02]: 50 Paragraph substituted by s. 16 of Act 5/2003. 51 Subsection substituted by s. 17 of Act 5/2003. 36