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Nqobile Tshili Bulawayo Bureau
THE country’s biggest integrated media house, Zimpapers is on a drive to catch aspiring journalists at a tender age and has started a Zimpapers Junior Media Club targeting pupils from various schools countrywide and some will get scholarships to pursue journalism studies.
Zimpapers, in conjunction with the National University of Science and Technology (Nust), yesterday launched the Zimpapers Junior Media Club in Bulawayo at the university’s main campus.
Pupils from 16 schools in Bulawayo attended the event with aspiring journalists having a robust engagement with Zimpapers senior staff and lecturers from Nust.
Editors and senior journalists took pupils through the news production processes.
Nust lecturers also explained enrolment processes for the journalism and media studies degree programme at the university.
The inquisitive learners asked editors how online platforms were impacting on their operations given that the content aggregators were harvesting news freely.
Zimpapers Group Editorial Executive Mr William Chikoto said the Zimpapers Junior Media Club was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to help pupils to identify their career paths.
“We are not saying all of you will be in media but you will make a choice. If we are talking about Zimpapers, we are not just talking about journalists, if anything there are just about 100 journalists out of 1 200 employees. We have Information Technology (IT) people, engineers, lawyers, accountants and all sorts of skills. Today we are talking about media clubs. That is why we have the emphasis on journalism. So our journey is starting with you today,” said Mr Chikoto.
He said Zimpapers will continuously engage the Junior Media Club members until they complete their studies.
The Junior Media Club members will have access to Zimpapers publishing platforms so that they can publish their content.
“In Bulawayo Mr Ncube (Limukani) has already opened his paper (Sunday News) for those who want to publish in the Sunday News. So, there will be publishing platforms, there will be broadcast platforms. We hope working with your teachers you can create content that can be published, that can be broadcast,” said Mr Chikoto.
He said the company will also provide scholarships for some aspiring journalist who will be a product of the Zimpapers Junior Media Club to study journalism upon completing their high school studies.
Mr Chikoto said while the programme has been launched in Bulawayo it is expected to spread to Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South where pupils from rural schools will also be included.
“We are going to provide you coaches and mentors who are going to come to work with you in areas where you think you need to understand a few more things. You will also have these facilities, especially the broadcast facilities.”
Online Reporter