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Zimpapers has taken a giant step towards diversifying its business by launching a radio station

Knowledge Mushohwe
When the radio was invented, many thought newspapers would be eventually elbowed out, but they survived. Television, incorporating what newspapers and the radio did, was thought to spell the end of printed news when it became a household appliance.
Some link the long survival of newspapers to the culture of reading among the literate. Newspaper reading, popularised by printed materials circulated during the liberation struggle, is a recognised part of the Zimbabwean culture.

Underground leaflets, pamphlets and other publications were created by nationalists engaged in the liberation struggle, and distributed to the majority of Zimbabweans.

Visual and textual communication informed and inspired the black population during the years of the struggle, and after independence reading became a tradition, especially among the working class.

During the early1980s, and up to this day, the rural folk would get ‘stale’ news from hoards of newspapers brought from the town by relatives.
Though the main purpose of newspapers in the rural areas is their functionality as ‘tissues’ and ‘cigarette rollers’, readers there would pick on one or two pieces of information that were topical days, weeks or even months earlier.

But recent statistics show sharp declines in readership across the board. This trend must be worrying for those who rely solely on printed newspapers for business. What most media houses have tried to find out is what happened to their former consumers. What is clear from online activity is that the former newspaper reader is still around and still getting informed, but elsewhere.

The shift from traditional news to electronic content should not be viewed as cost-cutting but a significant cultural change. Since the internet and digital television became available for a fraction of the newspaper cost, most city-based readers became uninterested in perusing newsprint for information.

The nature of the Internet has changed the communication model that previously existed between the newspapers and its readers. News has ceased from the linear, one-way “from us to you” model to one where readers are more involved and contribute to news production and dissemination.

And newspapers are beginning to realise from their websites that not only do many readers have so much understanding of current news, but, crucially, their contributions are an important barometer of the views of their readership.

The newsmakers themselves are now providing unsolicited information through social networking, blogs and personal websites. News is no longer about face-to-face interviews or waiting on the telephone for “scoops”.

There is now a direct link between the newsmakers and the consuming public.
News organisations now work harder to present whatever they get in a format that is both readily available and having the unique ability to capture the imagination of the reader.

For example, the Seke Road accident that claimed 10 lives on Monday May 19, 2014.
By mid-afternoon Facebook users and other ‘social networkers’ were being provided with news of the accident, including pictures and emotional comments.

Suffice to say, by the end of the day on Monday, very high volumes of information had been posted, exchanged and viewed by the general public.
The challenge for newspapers on Tuesday morning (yesterday) was to find fresh angles or provide new information to complement what the public already knew.

Simply saying ‘the accident happened along Seke Road’ and mentioning the number of causalities would not in any way help the readers.
There will always be gaps, especially relating to new, developing story such as the Seke Road tragedy.

Who exactly was the driver and what do those that knew him say?
What does the commuter omnibus owner say?

Who are the victims?
When the Malaysian Airlines plane disappeared, CNN, BBC, Sky, Russia Today and other international news organisations gave the world ‘bites’ about who each and every person on board was.

Newspapers have an obligation to tells their readers more, not to be a parrot simply repeating what appears on social networks.
The readers have moved closer to the news and they are now a bigger part of the whole domain. Newspaper organisations have to diversify if they are to forge stronger ties with their readers. Today’s average reader is looking for two things — to have available different forms of news presentation, including text, visual and audio, and an interactive platform.

While people still care about reading flowery descriptions about how Takesure Chinyama scored a hat-trick the day before, they also want to see the goals and how they were scored.

They also want to hear or see the hero speak, they want to hear what others say about him, and they want a platform to speak their mind and get feedback. Part of why the traditional newspaper industry is in decline is that the readers have higher expectations. They want news but in diverse packages. It would be folly for newspapers to plan ahead without a thought on how to create new packages for information they gather.

Zimpapers has taken a giant step towards diversifying its newspaper business by successfully launching a radio station. Zimbabweans have for the first time been given audio, print and electronic packages of information by one organisation.

The point Zimpapers is making is that a news organisation gets hordes of information every day, some of which it never uses, but by providing the public with options, there is a greater chance of reaching many.

The revolution is, of course, not finished yet. An organisation with online presence, a radio, a television and a traditional newspaper would in one way or the other appeal to a public that has significantly changed its way of living in a fast-paced digital world. The hard fact is that many Zimbabweans are spending more time online and watching DStv than they do reading through newspapers.