Herald Editors down the years

The Herald, October, 1992
THE HERALD has had 14 Editors since 1892 – from the self-made, all rounder William Fairbridge to journalist and pilot Tommy Sithole.

Each of the 14 men have had different impacts  on the community during their terms of office, and will be remembered for their work as men who headed a paper that chronicled the history of this country.

Mr Tommy Sithole was also Editor-in-Chief of the group’s newspapers, a post to which he was elevated in 1990.

Formerly Editor of The Chronicle in Bulawayo, he joined the paper in 1983, taking over from  Farayi Munyuki (late), the first black Editor of The Herald.

Mr Munyuki joined the paper after working for many years on the Zambia Daily Mail, the Times of Zambia, and the Weekender where he was Editor-in-Chief.

Below is a full list of all editors of The Herald during the last 100 years:

1. William Ernest Fairbridge: 1892-1896
2. T. Shillington: 1898-1903
3. C.D. Don: 1911-1915
4. R.H. Douglas: 1915-1927
5. W. Addison: 1927-1931
6. Col Norman Ferris: 1931-1955
7. C.J. Cowan: 1956-1962
8. Malcolm Smith: 1962-1967
9. Syd Swadel: 1967-1970
10. Rhys Meier: 1970-1974
11. Roland Fothergill: 1975-1980
12. Robin Drew: 1980-1981
13. Farayi Munyuki: 1981-1982
14. Tommy Sithole: 1983-1992

TODAY’S LESSONS

• The Herald which started off as the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times turns 129 years this year.
• The post-Independent era has seen 23 black editors at the helm of the country’s flagship newspaper.
• Current Editor Hatred Zenenga took charge on March 1, 2020.
• Veteran journalists Pikirayi Deketeke and William Chikoto are top executives – Chief Executive Officer and Editorial Executive, respectively, of Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Ltd.
• Other past Editors include Charles Chikerema, Bornwell Chakaodza (both late), Ray Mungoshi, Innocent Gore, Caesar Zvayi and Joram Nyathi.
• Editors have shaped the telling of the Zimbabwe narrative, and the journalistic and media profession.
• As the pioneer newspaper, The Herald has withstood many challenges, and in the process multiplying itself to create a formidable media group – the only one listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
• The Herald has also resulted in the biggest collection of archival material of print and digital material compiled to date, becoming the biggest.

For historical information contact:
Zimpapers Knowledge Centre at Herald House on:
+263 8677 004323;
+263 0242 795771
E-mail: [email protected]