ZO Changing of the guard
CHANGE is inevitable. It is also to be welcomed and desired.
But, as Paul Simon noted in one of his songs: ‘After changes upon changes, we are more or less the same’.
And so it is with the Zululand Observer, as this week we announce ‘a change at the top’, as our long-serving editor-in-chief moves over to accommodate his successor. Newspapers, as with all other businesses and professions, are always progressing and moving in new directions. Most often, these have to do with advances in technology, and within the 50-plus years the ZO has been in existence, we have graduated from literal typewritten, cut-and-paste news pages to an electronic publication in which we can add and edit stories and photos from afar.
But what has not changed is the end product.
Via totally different methods and means, the Zululand Observer continues to be made available to the public at the end of each deadline day.
And its content remains essentially the same: the editorial quality is uncompromised, relevant, accurate and important – largely due to the respect we have earned over the years as much as to the good relationships we enjoy with community stakeholders. We have made a name for ourselves within the newspaper industry, of which we are extremely proud and can boast of many honours and awards we have accumulated over the years. In particular, the highest editorial standards have been achieved and maintained, regardless of who has been ‘running the show’ in terms of leading the editorial team.
This will continue to be the case as we move into a ‘new dispensation’ with Ronelle Ramsamy as our editor-in-chief as she fills the big shoes of Dave Savides who, we are pleased to say, will remain with the ZO in a full-time capacity as our consultant editor, always still ‘on call’, so that his wealth of experience is not lost to ourselves or our readership.
There should be no noticeable difference to the end product – other than innovative new dimensions along the multimedia platforms as Ronelle puts her own vibrant stamp on the newsroom.