New Zimbabwe website set for revamp

New Zimbabwe website set for revamp

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By Staff Reporter

NEW Zimbabwe.com readers should expect extended periods of disruptions to the website’s 24-hour news coverage, starting Friday night right through to Sunday due to important maintenance work.

A new-look New Zimbabwe.com website will be given a test run during the course of the coming week, and as part of that roll-out, some important changes in the website’s hosting are necessary.

New Zimbabwe.com editor Mduduzi Mathuthu said: “We have had the same look for almost four years, and we believe that we have to move with the changing times.

“As part of this change, we are going to see a more comprehensive coverage of the Zimbabwean story with the introduction of a database-driven site, blogs, an RSS feed, a picture gallery (backdated), new discussion forums and dedicated news, sports and showbiz sections.”

Further development is planned to introduce pod-casts, video services and a picture gallery on the site, Mathuthu said.

“Technology is constantly on the march, and we have to keep up with it or risk irrelevance. As the leading Zimbabwean website, it would be nothing short of criminal to remain stuck in a time-warp while the world is moving full steam ahead,” he said.

New Zimbabwe.com will be unveiling an exciting list of bloggers and opinion makers who will be writing blogs from around the world.

As part of the expansion project, the website will be seriously pursuing the possibility of having an online radio station, buoyed by the success of former Radio 3 DJ Peter Johns’ radio show which has been running for a year.

Mathuthu said: “It is important, moving forward, that we take the youth with us, which is not to say we are abandoning our traditional readership. But we have found that the new generation does not associate with the current politics-driven approach to online publishing and we have to take that on board to produce a website for everyone.

“There will be improved effort all around – in our news coverage, our appearance and other freebies for which our readers have credited us in our five-year existence since launch in June 2003.”

Mathuthu also hinted the New Zimbabwe print newspaper, which marks a year in circulation this July, could soon be available in Zimbabwe.

"We are very thankful for the support of our loyal readers and advertisers who have kept us going for a year. Zimbabwe is the ultimate prize, and we are thrilled that we are very close to getting the paper available there. Simply, the plan is a radical shake-up of newspaper publishing in the country."
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