Abel Ndooka
IN the last two weeks we have been off the radar, in terms of the publication of the physical copy of your favourite newspaper, as we took our annual break to look back at the past year.
Of course, we didn’t close shop.
We remained active on our digital platforms and that’s very important because that is where our real future lies and this year will be big in terms of our movement towards that arena.
We are not the only newspaper doing that.
It’s where our industry is heading to in a changing world in which newspapers have been hit hard by the migration of readers from the physical copies to online content.
It’s the physical copies which have been affected and we have seen many iconic newspapers react by putting a lot of thrust into their digital platforms and also changing the way they are reporting their content to fit with the needs of online consumers.
Other iconic newspapers, like City Press of South Africa, have stopped publishing their physical copies and gone full-time online.
The newspaper industry in this country is not immune to the challenges which are affecting the media industry around the world and, like others, we have to react or we die.
We have refused to die because we believe we are a relevant piece of the media industry in this country and, thanks to the foresight of those who provide the leadership for us, we have already taken the first steps to ensure that this year we will make the bold step which will define our future.
Zimbabwe Newspapers, the company which owns us, demonstrated its commitment, towards the end of the year, of going into the digital arena full-time and also ensuring that it will be the number one priority.
As H-Metro we believe that we will play a big part in that and, as we return from our short break, which we used to look into the mirror and try and ensure we will take on the challenges we will face this year with confidence and commitment, we announce that we are ready for this defining year.
We thank all our readers for staying with us and our valued advertisers for their support.
For us, this is a very important year and, as a team, we are determined to ensure that we will make a big difference and deliver the content and products which our readers expect from us.
We don’t take the loyalty of our readers for granted.
Unlike others, who compete with us, we are guided by the principles of journalism and we have to be seen to be fair to the people we write about.
We are guided by the truth and ours is not a blind chase for numbers and likes on social media. We have created a reputation for ourselves that if it’s in H-Metro then it’s true and we will not destroy that for the return of likes and other things.
Online Reporter
