TODAY marks a remarkable 15 years since the Daily News, the country’s most influential newspaper, made a stunning return to the market.
We, together with our millions of loyal readers and business partners across all our platforms, remember fondly this special day in March 2011 when the iconic newspaper rose from the dead — having been shut down violently and unjustly in September 2003, for eight long years, by the administration of the late former president Robert Mugabe.
The Daily News’ extraordinary rebirth, its well-earned reputation for telling it like it is — coupled with its rare commercial sustainability in a troubled sector — surely make the publication Zimbabwe’s greatest media story of all time.
This is especially so given that these phenomenal feats have been achieved without donor funding or the lucre of politically exposed persons (PEPs). To underline this key point, although we now enjoy constructive engagements with authorities, the Daily News’ parent company, Jester Media Services (JMS), now stands certifiably as the only mainstream media house in the country in which neither the government nor PEPs have a stake. It is surreal.
In a politics-obsessed and deeply divided country, where habitually dishonest hacks, overrated lawyers and snake oil politicians vomit deluges of malicious garbage on digital platforms every day, voices of reason like the Daily News have become increasingly uncommon — making the independent paper even more important in the life of the nation.
For the deceitful lot that appears hellbent on burning Zimbabwe to the ground through their detestable disinformation campaigns, what is right and wrong depends entirely on what they get out of the situation, all to the detriment of the broader society. Sadly, some of these con artists include quack scribes who masquerade as top journalists.
We at the Daily News firmly believe that our nascent democracy can only thrive if the authentic media and news people are free, tell it like it is and, crucially, also play by the rules. After all, what good or watchdog role can an incompetent, lying or foolishly partisan media play in the life of a nation such as ours?
In other words, credible, factual and trustworthy journalism, as practiced by the Daily News and its other leading sister news brands, is vital for the country, as it serves as a foundational pillar of our nascent democracy.
Yet, when Mugabe’s government shut us down for telling Zimbabwe’s story without fear or favour, as we still do — our haters thought that it was curtains for us. When we returned to the streets, even some of our friends believed that a snow ball had a better chance of surviving in hell than we did.
But a glorious 15 years later, the Daily News is not just thriving, but also now widely regarded as the country’s most respected paper. JMS is also, and by far, the biggest privately-owned media house in the country in every respect — and is well on the way to achieving its goal of becoming the nation’s largest by the end of this decade.
All this is due to many factors that include the paper’s non-partisan and high journalistic standards that have been publicly extolled by the likes of the European Union and the Zimbabwe Media Commission. This winning strategy is also premised on offering unique and newsworthy content, while always acting as the mirror of our society.
Very soon after the Daily News was relaunched in 2011, the Daily News On Sunday followed. And thereafter, a dozen other exciting projects — including top independent national television station, 3Ktv, Radio 3000, breaking business news e-newsletter Business Live, Jester Events, a strategic communications offering, and the country’s number one business publication, The Financial Gazette, came on stream — with many more in the pipeline. This makes our group the only growing media organisation in the country.
Here is to many more years of the Daily News telling it like it is, without fear or favour. To all our readers and business partners we say thank you. It’s you who makes us great!
n Also see bumper special Daily News 15th relaunch jubilee pull-out in today’s paper.