Online Reporter
Online Reporter
Zimpapers is pleased to announce the appointment of Lawson Mabhena as Head of News, a key leadership position within the Group’s ongoing transformation into a modern, digital-first and platform-agnostic media organisation.
In his new role, Mr Mabhena will lead Zimpapers’ integrated content factory, the central newsroom responsible for generating news and current affairs content for the Group’s newspapers, radio stations, television platforms and digital channels.
As Head of News, Mr Mabhena chairs the Super Desk, the central coordination hub within Zimpapers’ Intake-Output editorial model. Under this structure, content is gathered, developed and distributed across the Group’s multiple platforms to ensure greater efficiency, collaboration and audience reach.
While the Super Desk coordinates newsroom operations and content flows, Editors of individual platforms, including The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Chronicle, radio stations and television news services, retain full editorial authority and responsibility for content published or broadcast on their respective platforms. The model is designed to strengthen collaboration while preserving the unique identity, audience focus and editorial independence of each title and platform.
Mr Mabhena brings extensive newsroom leadership experience to the position. Prior to this appointment, he served as Editor of The Chronicle, one of Zimbabwe’s leading daily newspapers. Before that, he was News and Politics Editor of The Herald, where he played a significant role in shaping national news coverage and political reporting.
His appointment forms part of a broader editorial restructuring programme aimed at enhancing content quality, accelerating digital transformation and improving resource utilisation across the Group.
As part of the new structure, Zimpapers has converged the editorship of The Chronicle and Sunday News. Mr Hatred Zenenga, who has been serving as Editor of Sunday News, has been appointed Editor of both publications. Mr Zenenga brings a wealth of editorial experience to the role, having previously served as Editor of The Herald and Editor of The Manica Post.
Meanwhile, former Head of News Mr Elias Mambo is now the Group Digital Services Executive. In his new role, he will spearhead the monetisation of Zimpapers’ growing digital content portfolio and oversee the development of new digital revenue streams, audience growth initiatives and content commercialisation strategies across the Group.
Commenting on the appointments, Zimpapers Chief Executive Officer William Chikoto said:
“These leadership changes are aligned with our vision of building a truly converged, platform-agnostic newsroom capable of producing high-quality content for every audience, on every platform, in real time. The appointments of Lawson Mabhena, Hatred Zenenga and Elias Mambo position us strongly to accelerate our transformation from a traditional media company into a modern multimedia organisation driven by content excellence, innovation and sustainable growth.”
