Zimpapers
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Zimpapers | |
Formerly | Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company (1927–1980) |
Company type | Public company |
Industry | Mass media |
Founded | 8 March 1927 |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Southern Africa |
Key people |
|
Owner | Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (51%) |
Website | herald.co.zw/about-zimpapers |
Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited, operating as Zimpapers, is a state-controlled Zimbabwean mass media company. Originally a newspaper Publishing company, in the 2010s it expanded its operations to include commercial printing, radio and television. The company's portfolio includes over a dozen Magazines and newspapers, including The Herald and The Chronicle, several radio stations, and a television network. It is the largest newspaper publisher in Zimbabwe.
Zimpapers traces its origins to 1891, when
Overview
Zimpapers publishes over a dozen Newspapers and Magazines, including the two leading
History
Origins and Rhodesia years, 1891–1980
Zimpapers traces its origins to 1891, when William Fairbridge, the Rhodesia representative of South Africa's Argus Printing and Publishing Company, established the Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times in Salisbury (now Harare).[2][3] The Mashonaland Herald was succeeded by The Rhodesia Herald in 1892.[2] The British South Africa Company Government Gazette was published between 1894 and 1923, initially as a supplement to The Herald.[2] In 1893, the company established The Umtali Post in Umtali (now Mutare), followed in 1894 by The Bulawayo Chronicle in Bulawayo.[2] In 1927, Argus spun off its Southern Rhodesia newspapers into a new company, the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company Limited.[1][2] The company went public on the Rhodesia Stock Exchange on 8 March 1927.[1][4] Argus gave up a majority of shares, but still held a controlling shareholding.[3]
In the 1930s Sunday editions of The Herald and The Chronicle—The Sunday Mail and The Sunday News, respectively—were added through the inexpensive purchase of two existing weeklies bankrupted by the
Zimpapers, 1980–present
When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company was renamed Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited.[1][3][4] In 1981, the Zimbabwean government, concerned about the foreign ownership of the country's newspapers, purchased a controlling 43-percent shareholding in the company from the Argus Group, using a grant from Nigerian government.[3][5][6][7][8] The trust continued buying smaller amounts of shares and eventually acquired a 51-percent majority shareholding in 1986.[3][6] In January 1981, the government established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) to manage the Nigerian grant and to oversee Zimpapers through an independent board, to shield it from commercial and political influence.[3][6][7][8] That year, information minister Nathan Shamuyarira told a meeting of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, "We created the MMT so that the media would be in neutral hands and not business tycoons or the government—that would quash the free voice of journalists.[6] The ZMMT appointed a new board of directors as well as new editors for the company's three biggest papers, The Herald, The Chronicle, and The Sunday Mail.[3] After the acquisition, Argus offered guaranteed jobs in South Africa to former Zimpapers staff, leading to an exodus of whites from the company.[3] The staff shortages that followed were addressed by the implementation of large-scale training and hiring programs.[3] In addition, many vacant posts were filled by returning black Zimbabwean journalists and printers, particularly from Zambia, as well as by a small number of anti-apartheid South Africans, who arrived in the years after independence.[3]
In 1984, Zimpapers took out a loan and purchased new
After the Zimbabwean government opened the radio and television markets to private actors, Zimpapers applied for one of the first commercial radio licenses.[1][3] In 2012, it launched the Harare-based Star FM. It has since launched other radio stations in Harare, Mutare, and Kariba.[1][3] In 2014, Zimpapers reentered the television market with the launch of Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), having previously been one of the leading early shareholders in Rhodesia Television before it was nationalized during Rhodesia's UDI years.[1][3]
Post-independence government control
When the Zimbabwean government created the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) to oversee the Zimpapers newspapers, there were initially safeguards to guard against interference by the state and the ruling
Beginning in the early 1980s, the Zimbabwean government began appointing loyalists to top posts within Zimpapers, who the company's former chief executive, a ZANU–PF supporter, referred to as "ZANU's hatchet men".[6] The party and government directly interfered with the selection of newspaper editors starting in February 1981.[6] Between 1985 and 1989, three Zimpapers editors were dismissed on ZANU–PF orders for political offenses, without objection by the ZMMT.[6] Journalists were routinely subjected to warnings, reprimand, and other forms of intimidation.[6] When Willie Musarurwa was removed as editor of The Sunday Mail in 1983, Minister Shamuyarira said that Prime Minister Robert Mugabe wanted to replace him with a "true and trusted cadre".[6] In 1989, Geoffrey Nyarota, the editor of The Chronicle in Bulawayo, was moved to an insignificant administrative post in Harare after he exposed government corruption in the Willowgate scandal.[6] Zimpapers managing director Elias Rusike, who was appointed by Shamuyarira in 1984, resigned in 1989 in protest of increasing political interference in the company's operations.[6] By the 1990s, The Herald and The Sunday Mail consistently supported President Mugabe, though they would occasionally criticize his cabinet ministers.[6]
On 14 December 2000, the board of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust was disbanded, allowing the Zimbabwean government to exercise a more direct role in Zimpapers operations.[7][8][10] The decision to dissolve the board occurred after a reported meeting between its chairman, Honour Mkushi, and information minister Jonathan Moyo.[8][10] The trust still technically owned Zimpapers, but without a board of trustees, it was effectively nonexistent.[8] In November 2019, the government announced plans to revive the ZMMT.[11] President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed a six-member board, with Mkushi as chair, with effect from 10 February 2020.[12][13]
Publications
Publication | Location | Founded | Language | Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
B-Metro | Bulawayo | 2010 | English | Daily
|
Bridal Magazine | Harare | 2011 | English | Biannual
|
Business Weekly | Harare | 2017 | English | Weekly |
The Chronicle | Bulawayo | 1894 | English | Daily
|
H-Metro | Harare | 2009 | English | Daily
|
The Herald | Harare | 1891 | English | Daily
|
Kwayedza | Harare | 1986 | Shona | Weekly |
The Manica Post | Mutare | 1893 | English | Weekly |
The Southern Times | Windhoek | 2004 | English | Weekly |
Suburban | Harare | 2016 | English | Weekly |
The Sunday Mail | Harare | 1935 | English | Weekly |
The Sunday News | Bulawayo | 1930 | English | Weekly |
uMthunywa | Bulawayo | 2004 | Ndebele | Weekly |
Zimtravel | Harare | 2003 | English | Monthly |
Radio and television
In 2011, Zimpapers expanded its portfolio beyond newspaper publications with the launch of the Harare-based Star FM, Zimbabwe's first commercial radio station.[1] It later launched several other regional radio stations, including Diamond FM in Mutare, Nyaminyami FM in Kariba, and Capitalk 100.4 FM in Harare. In 2014, the company entered television with the launch of Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), which started broadcasting on 7 October 2017, and it was officially started broadcasting as a free-to air TV channel known as ZTN Prime on DStv Channel 294 on 24 May 2022 at 5:30pm.[1][14][15]
See also
- Media of Zimbabwe
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "About Zimpapers". The Herald. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Argus Printing and Publishing Company Ltd". The Rhodesian Study Circle. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Independence Supplement – The Zimpapers Journey: 1980 to 2015". The Herald. 18 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Rhodesian Printing & Publishing Co., Ltd". The Rhodesian Study Circle. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-520-06818-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8122-0004-1.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4666-9614-3.
- ^ a b c d e Ndlovu, Mandla (19 February 2019). "Government does not own Zimpapers". Buawayo24 News. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ "Zimpapers launches Business Weekly". The Herald. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Mass Media Trust Dissolved". The Standard. 17 December 2000. Retrieved 17 May 2020 – via AllAfrica.
- ^ Machivenyika, Farirai (23 November 2019). "Govt to revive Mass Media Trust". The Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ Netsianda, Mashudu (20 February 2020). "ED appoints Mass Media Trust board". The Chronicle. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ "Mnangagwa appoints Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust trustees". Bulawayo24 News. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ "IT'S TIME FOR ZTN PRIME". H-Metro. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ "ZTN Prime gets slot on DStv". The Chronicle. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 20 May 2020.