NewsDay celebrates 10th anniversary

ZIMBABWE’S largest privatelyowned independent daily newspaper, NewsDay today celebrates its 10th anniversary with a special look back, not only examining the paper’s history and what it stands for, but on the history of the country over the past decade.

The daily paper will showcase its history in special retrospectives and a selection of features on the 10 most important Zimbabwean events during its publication life — social, economic and political.

The paper is published by Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), which also publishes weeklies Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, and operates Heart and Soul Broadcasting Services.

AMH editor-in-chief Wisdom Mdzungairi thanked publisher and chairman, Trevor Ncube, for his pioneering work, commitment and bravery in building this important voice. He also paid tribute to the dedicated team of professionals whose ideas and commitment have made the daily a household name in the country.

The editor-in-chief also paid tribute to the editorial team, for

its unparalleled commitment and dedication to the paper in order to tell the unadulterated Zimbabwean story producing this paper during an extremely difficult period.

Mdzungairi, who is also editor of NewsDay, said the daily will celebrate the anniversary by publishing a retrospective series for the next 10 weeks.

“NewsDay was established at a time when Zimbabwe was emerging from almost a decade of political strife, economic collapse and social distress,” he said in a statement.

“Its birth, therefore, in part represented the hope of a tortured nation as the paper sought to provide leadership when the country was returning to normal. It still seeks to provide a platform for Zimbabweans to talk to each other without fear or favour. Only through a robust engagement will Zimbabweans emerge from the current polarisation into a society characterised by high levels of tolerance. In that same breadth, NewsDay will continue to provide a platform on which Zimbabweans can express their fears and aspirations.”

Mdzungairi said it was, and still is, AMH’s aim to make the daily paper the “newsiest and best newspaper in the country”.

“This month, we celebrate 10 years since NewsDay, then and now the hallmark of independent journalism, first rolled off the presses. As one would expect of a newspaper, we have chosen to mark the event with reflections on the most significant events that have had the most impact on the Zimbabwean landscape in the past 10 years and how we covered those events. Our coverage begins today, and continues for the next 10 weeks in both print and online.”

Mdzungairi added that NewsDay has remained a witness to history locally, regionally and internationally. Today’s special anniversary pull-out is a celebration of the newspaper’s rich past, timely, positive and powerful look toward its future.

Initially conceived as solely a newspaper for the ‘everyday people’ it’s necessary to look at what people are doing, thinking and feeling about matters — their hustle as it were — that are seemingly remote from ‘business,’ but that influence it indirectly.

“It is both a blessing and probably ominous that our anniversary should coincide with one of the gravest threats to humanity in decades, and allows us to put this into perspective. It is tempting to believe that the COVID-19 outbreak is unparalleled in its effect on this country and the broader world, but there have been times in the past 10 years that we felt the same – civil strife, deterioration of people’s attitudes etc. — and we survived,” he said.

Mdzungairi underscored that the paper will also run a blog all year long, that will be updated with archival content that corresponds with dates in history and anniversaries.

“We hope to update the blog through the end of the year, to ensure that the interactive presentation of our archival material is active past the anniversary date,” he said.

In terms of reach, a Media Monitors study for 2016 on daily newspapers revealed that NewsDay is widely distributed in more than 42 districts out of 59 countrywide. That is no mean achievement for a six-year old then.

AMH chief executive Kenias Mafukidze said: “Over the years, NewsDay has been a pioneer. Its website has one of the highest following in the country as the world draws truth from its content. As a way of self-checking, NewsDay leads the market in having an independent advisory board which checks its balance, fairness and ethical reporting. The Editorial Advisory Board is supported by an ombudsman.”

NewsDay will present media roundtables and panel discussions throughout the next 10 weeks on Heart and Soul radio.