Chairperson of the Expanded Parliamentary Committee on Estimates Highvie Hamududu said that it will become cost effective if government runs only one newspaper.

Mr. Hamududu thinks the two newspapers which government currently runs the Times of Zambia and Zambia Daily Mail have now become liabilities.He told Qfm News in an interview that government will do well to harmonize the two newspapers into one company and begin to run it as a business.

Mr. Hamududu who is also opposition UPND Bweengwa Member of Parliament says this entails that government bringing on board the private by way of selling shares of the newspaper.
He said if this happens the newspaper will be viable as opposed to the current situation where there seem to laxity on the part of the two government run newspapers.

Mr. Hamududu said that this laxity is evident in how much the two daily newspapers owe the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
He said by owing NAPSA and the ZRA the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail are in fact denying the people of Zambia the much needed taxes.

15 COMMENTS

mando March 9, 2015 At 3:14 pm

Conditions of service are different
- It's a worry March 9, 2015 At 3:18 pm
  
  Govt does not need to run any newspaper or engage in businesses and your advice should have been “sell them off” to the private sector and let them get on with it.
  
  Successive Govts are hell bent on keeping the national newspapers so they can spread their lies and fake claims of achiveing goals that never where.
  Simply deliver on your agenda’s and make them public in which case you will not need “media vehicles” in which to publish your covered up failures.
- Sattish March 9, 2015 At 6:50 pm
  
  I suggested selling all of them off and boy did I get insulted.
  The two newspapers may serve the government but their stories are not taken serious. And the government knows this. I don’t remember when I last bought any of the two newspapers. They are trash, when you really think about it.
- OBATALA from Panga to Plank March 9, 2015 At 8:47 pm
  
  Giving advice to PF dunderheads is a complete waste of time! In fact for PF to react Hamududu should have asked them to open a 3rd and 4th GRZ news paper……PF works in reverse
Lube March 9, 2015 At 3:34 pm

Makes sense, the Times of Zambia (esp) has become a “lame duck” completely uneconomical & unable to cover most/all of its costs!
It would have to be the one to go, maybe offered to the private sector (any takers) as it has become a serious drain on GRZ.
Unfortunately some hard decisions have to be made ASAP, the economics of the print media is under pressure all across the world (not just here) from the internet & its on-line/faster response time to breaking news. No time for sentimentality, “sink or swim”…
Fyanta mbuzi March 9, 2015 At 3:42 pm

Hamududu. Once people are laid off as a result of paper closure yor HH will condem the move. Stop politicking Hamududu.
- Kalu March 9, 2015 At 3:48 pm
  
  So what do you suggest.
TRUTH March 9, 2015 At 3:51 pm

YES, ONLY ONE GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER IS ENOUGH, AND ITS PUBLICATION SHOULD BE FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION. THIS IS TO ENSURE THAT EVERY CITIZEN AND RESIDENT IS GIVEN FREE ACCESS TO INFORMATION. IT IS ALSO A WAY OF PLOUGHING BACK TO THE PEOPLE BY GOVERNMENT, GIVING THE PEOPLE TO ENJOY THE NATIONAL CAKE BY RECEIVING SUCH FREE DISTRIBUTIONS. SO DON’T EVEN TALK ABOUT SHARES OR BUSINESS IN SUCH A COMPANY. HONEST GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD THAT HAVE LOVE FOR THEIR PEOPLE HAVE SUCH PROVISION.
The Chosen One March 9, 2015 At 4:17 pm

@Fyanta mbuzi
Workers can’t be laid off without being paid their dues.
Some workers can be redeployed to other govt departments, e.g ZNBC, ZANIS, Ministry of Information. Some would be more than delighted to get hefty perks and begin new life elsewhere. The days of laying off workers without paying them their benefits are long gone.
Chitutuma March 9, 2015 At 4:37 pm

Everywhere you go in in the wide-world there are newspapers/magazines of different types/shades that are run by governments. Moribund ideas/proposals with hidden agendas must not be entertained, whatsover.
- Sattish March 9, 2015 At 6:53 pm
  
  What newspaper is run by the US government?
- it's a worry March 9, 2015 At 9:07 pm
  
  @Chitutuma
  Please name the newspaper or indeed any publication run by the British Government?
  The problem with you “empty” tins is that you always see ill intentions even when good advice is given for free.
Bon lungu March 9, 2015 At 5:30 pm

Newspaper business is no longer viable and with the flow of information from so many sources the government should as a matter of urgency get out from running newspapers . Recapitalization is not the answer.
Chitutuma March 9, 2015 At 8:56 pm

USA Today is government newspaper.
- abena March 9, 2015 At 11:56 pm
  
  USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982.[2] The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, a distinction it had previously held since 2003. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper had 1.8 million copies as of March 2012[1] compared with The Wall Street Journal?’?s 2.1 million[1] though the latter figure included the WSJ?’?s 400,000 paid-for, online subscribers. USA Today remains the widest circulated print newspaper in the United States.[citation needed]