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Name of article: Why Daily News thrives against all odds
Name of publication: Daily News
Date: 9 April 2015
Country: Zimbabwe
Theme: Gender Equality
Skills: Language
Genre: News
GEM classification: Gender Aware
Description: This is a profile of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) Group Chief Operating Officer, Sharon Samushonga, who has managed to lead the company to âbeat the odds so spectacularly, and continue to thrive, seemingly against insurmountable challenges that have tripped many in similar situationsâ.
One of the few women in top media management in Zimbabwe and the SADC region, Sharonâs performance has been exceptional in the Zimbabwean media environment dominated by men in senior management positions. While other newspapers have been closing, her is growing and continues to defy all odds.
Analysis:
This article highlighted the following:
The article overturns common assumptions about women and challenges the roles that are usually assigned to them. It follows a woman who has become a game-changer in the male domain â senior management of a media organization.
Not only that, the article allows the woman to tell her story, how âfour years after that tough re-launch, ANZ is once again at the top of the media charts, leading the way in many of the key success factors for industry, including quality of editorial, cost management and operational efficiency that others who never shut down by the government are battling with and now trying to emulateâ.
Unlike societal gender stereotypes where woman are portrayed as vulnerable and in need of protection, Sharon is put forward as a brave woman who stood up to lead the newspaper company that had been closed down by government for being a voice of the voiceless.
So brave is Sharon that âfrom day one we knew it was not business as usual, and that we will not benchmark ourselves against players in the local market as they had advantages that we did not and would never enjoy, which we acceptedâ. The article demonstrates that women are equally brave, confident, intelligent and strategists who can withstand competition. With this, we can safely coin a phrase âBehind every successful company, there is a womanâ.
Although the story is placed deep inside (Page 14), it was given the whole page and even overlaps to page 16. The feature news style of reporting used allows the story to be in-depth. The first person writing style also gives the story power to hammer the point home that women too can do better even in the so-called menâs domain.
đRead the emotional article by @nokwe_mnomiya, with a personal plea: đżđŚBreaking the cycle of violence!https://t.co/6kPcu2Whwm pic.twitter.com/d60tsBqJwx
— Gender Links (@GenderLinks) December 17, 2024
Comment on Why Daily News thrives against all odds Name of publication: Daily News Date: 9 April 2015