Mugabe was among several leaders from Southeast Asia and Africa taking part in the Langkawi International Dialogue, aimed at fostering closer ties between the two regions.
"The press and journalists, are they driven by the sense of honesty and objectivity all the time? Or are they swayed from objectivity and truth by certain notions arising from their own subjective views?" Mugabe said at the only session of the three-day conference that reporters were permitted to attend.
"I say that in the light of reports quite often deliberately intended to tarnish and deceive. Should the journalists really indulge in what they know to be misleading stories, and therefore stories that go against objectivity and the truth?"
Zimbabwe is struggling to contain inflation running at 5,000 percent and battling unemployment of 80 percent under Mugabe's leadership. The country ranked 140th among the 160 countries whose press freedom was rated by watchdog Reporters Without Borders in 2006.
Last week, Mugabe signed into law an act allowing state security agents to monitor phone lines, mail and the Internet, a measure officially described as meant to protect national security and prevent crime, but which human rights groups feel will muzzle free speech under a crackdown on dissent.
Article courtesy of http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
