DAILY NATION GOES DIGITAL ...as company
Launches e-Paper
THE Daily Nation Newspapers Limited has in its bid to reach wider circulation with objective, accurate, and factual information on national affairs launched an e-Paper, developed through collaboration with its partner, SAMPAY.
And Mr John Samaras, SAMPAY Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said the e-paper launch was an appropriate way of empowering Zambians with information and this would lead to having a well-informed people.
He said with this launch, people can buy and read the Daily Nation content from anywhere in the world.
And Bloggers of Zambia CEO, Richard Mulonga said the launch was relevant and timely because of the digital transformation that was taking place globally.
Mr Samara said the launch would enable Zambians within and outside the country be informed of what was happening in the country using online platforms.
He said the use of locally initiated online platforms such as SAMPAY to access news around the world shows that the country was making process in the digital space.
Mr. Samaras said the idea was started in 2018 and SAMPAY, a Zambian company helped develop and manage the program which was aimed at empowering the people with information.
‘’We first had our discussions in 2018 and we said how can we bring this idea to fruition and to the people of Zambia and I am proud to say at this launch that we have done it, it’s not about being online, it’s about empowering people with information so that we can have a well-informed nation,’’ he said.
And Mr Mulonga said the launch was relevant because of the digital transformation that was taking place globally especially in Zambia where the government has taken all its services online.
Mr. Mulonga said digital transformation was important for print media to survive and continue to play its role in a democracy under the humanitarian crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the Daily Nation has through the e-paper responded to the demand of the crisis the world was in which calls for innovation, entrepreneurship, strategy and creativity in the media industry
Mr. Mulonga said digital transformation was cardinal for the media industry to survive even in the concept of social media and all forms of information sharing and content creation.
He said digital transformation was important because of the need for journalists in
Zambia to be innovative, become more creative and adopt new technologies and digital skills to gather, process and publish news using digital tools.
‘’This is very important because it gives an opportunity for Daily Nation reporters to be the market leaders, to be able to share news on time and in a very easy and efficient manner. We want to see the
Daily Nation leading the market by being digital,’’ he said.
Mr. Mulonga said news print was very expensive and for the newspaper to be sold at K10 it was being subsidized because a lot goes into production of content.
He urged the Daily Nation to join the media and law reforms aimed at ensuring the survival of journalism in the digital and hard news print
era. Mr. Mulonga said there must be subsidies for the newspapers to enhance freedom of expression because when journalism dies, means that Zambia’s democracy was weak because the media cannot hold those in power accountable.
Speaking earlier, Daily Nation executive editor, Mary Mbewe said being available on various e-platforms was
not just to keep in step with technology but was a financial strategy and a desire to maintain relevance in an era when social media has taken over all traditional forms of communication.
Mrs. Mbewe said social media has taken over cultural and Christian norms and standards of behavior and was steadily displacing even parenting. She is of the view that
the main stream, conventional media must and could provide a sane voice in this jungle of confusion.
“At every street corner, every public house or government ministry there is an army of excited citizens with smart phones who are ready to record every event or action that happens, but who never get to the bottom of the story,’’ she said.