Zimbabwe Newspapers seems to have already written off its competition, the Daily Gazette. Sources say it is giving the Gazette three months. This would be very unfortunate because although the Gazette has not developed into the kind of alternative paper serious readers wanted, it has at least put its competitors on their toes.
Its demise would therefore mean that things would not return to the pre-October 5 situation but can even turn the tables further back as Zimbabwe Newspapers will be able to write whatever trash they want knowing that no opposition can survive.
Sources say the major weakness at the Gazette is that the management is concentrating its efforts in the wrong direction. They say instead of aiming at pleasing its target readership, the paper is being used to spite The Herald. This has therefore resulted in the management making political instead of business decisions. It has also resulted in the paper downplaying some major regional and international stories just to be different from its competitor.
Sources also say that to spite the competition the Gazette has been hiring a lot of reporters who do not have the experience to write for a daily paper. The staff have also since realised that there is no gold at the new paper and they are reported to be on a go-slow.
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