Online Reporter
Herald Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Newspapers Group has appointed Lawson Mabhena as Head of News as part of the Group’s ongoing transformation into a modern, digital-first and platform-agnostic media organisation.
In his new role, 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.
He will chair the Super Desk, the central coordination hub under Zimpapers’ Intake-Output editorial model.
The model is designed to improve efficiency and collaboration by allowing content to be gathered, developed and distributed across the Group’s multiple platforms while increasing audience reach.
Editors of individual platforms, including The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Chronicle, radio stations and television news services, will retain full editorial authority and responsibility for content published or broadcast on their respective platforms.
The structure is intended to strengthen collaboration while preserving the distinct identity, audience focus and editorial independence of each title and platform.
Mabhena brings extensive newsroom leadership experience to the position.
Before his appointment, he served as Editor of The Chronicle, one of the country’s leading daily newspapers.
He previously served as News and Politics Editor of The Herald, where he played a key role in national news coverage and political reporting.
His appointment is part of a broader editorial restructuring programme aimed at enhancing content quality, accelerating digital transformation and improving resource utilisation across the Group.
Under the new structure, the editorship of The Chronicle and Sunday News has been converged, with Hatred Zenenga, who was serving as Editor of the Sunday News, appointed Editor of both publications.
Zenenga brings extensive editorial experience to the position, having previously served as Editor of The Herald and The Manica Post.
Meanwhile, former Head of News, Elias Mambo, has been appointed Group Digital Services Executive.
In his new role, Mambo 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 Mr William Chikoto said the changes were aligned with the Group’s vision of creating a converged newsroom capable of serving audiences across multiple platforms.
“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,” said Mr Chikoto.
The appointments are with immediate effect.
