Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE’s largest integrated media house, Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited, is accelerating its transition to a digital-first model as audiences increasingly consume news online, marking a fundamental shift in the country’s media landscape.
The transformation comes amid declining print circulation, but rising digital audiences, with the organisation repositioning itself for long-term growth driven by changing consumer behaviour.
Speaking at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), Zimpapers Head of News, Elias Mambo, said the media group began its digitalisation journey in 2024, focusing on restructuring both newsroom operations and mindset.
“Zimpapers has embarked on a serious digitalisation journey that started in 2024 that has largely been successful so far. We started by breaking down the physical pillars of the traditional newsroom before turning to a complete shift in mindset of our staff,” he said.
“This was essential in that we are moving from a largely print-centric model to a digital-first model, which entails that our reporters generate content for all our platforms to suit audience preferences that have shifted so much over the years.”
Mambo said the shift is informed by audience trends, with a majority of consumers now accessing news via mobile devices.
He said about 80 percent of Zimpapers’ audience is consuming news on mobile phones.
“So, as Zimpapers, we need to follow the money by producing digital first news then later curate that news for our legacy media, which is the print newspapers,” said Mambo.
Under the new model, journalists are now required to produce content for multiple platforms, including social media and digital subscription services, ensuring wider reach and faster dissemination.
Despite declining newspaper sales, Mambo said print remains a significant revenue stream, contributing about 90 percent of the company’s income through advertising.
However, he acknowledged the need to grow digital revenue streams to sustain profitability.
“It’s, however, important to note that as print goes down, digital first must rise because, as a business, we have to remain profitable, so that is why we are pushing digital subscriptions to ensure that we don’t make losses,” said Mambo.
At ZITF, the company intensified digital activations aimed at increasing subscriptions and expanding its online footprint.
Zimpapers Intake Editor Limukani Ncube said the organisation’s strength lies in credibility, which continues to draw audiences seeking verified information in an era of misinformation.
“The simple reason why readers turn to Zimpapers to verify the authenticity of news that they would have read or seen on social media is that it all borders on trust.
“The reason why readers trust our newspapers is that the publications have been reporting news everyday for centuries,” he said.
Ncube said Zimpapers’ structured editorial processes, including multiple layers of verification, ensure accuracy and accountability, setting it apart from unverified online sources.
“Zimpapers has got institutional layers that ensure quality and accountability in our reportage of news. A reporter at Zimpapers cannot just post anything online simply because it’s breaking without verifying with relevant authorities such as police and other institutions,” he said.
“We still have multiple layers in the newsrooms that ensure that news that eventually goes out to our audiences is verified as factual, unlike other publications that are a one-man band operation that just post information without verifying its authenticity.”
Ncube said the decline in newspaper sales is not a reflection of a drop in the consumption of news but a shift in the preferences of audiences.
“The job of a journalist remains the same, which is to get good stories and to verify those stories before publication. It’s the selling stories that will give us the eyeballs on our digital platforms,” he said.
“As a media house, we are transitioning from relying heavily on hard copy sales to focusing more on eyeballs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp channels. The more we get eyeballs on digital platforms, the more business we make to cover up for the losses incurred on hard copy sales.”
Ncube said the number of Zimpapers’ audiences has increased.
“From the days we sold 100 000 copies a day, our audiences now consume news depending on their taste, the areas where they live among other factors. It is thus our duty as journalists to make sure that we feed the various social media platforms where our audiences have migrated to with the news that they want to read,” he said.
derick.khumalo