The Chronicle is responding to market and ownership demand - Ex-journalist

A recent front page of the Chronicle

The Chronicle is responding to market demands, a former journalist of the Chronicle has said.

Speaking to this blog on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, a former Chronicle journalist said most of the front page stories on the Chronicle are determined by ownership and the need to make sales.

"I remember when were there we the editor by then used to choose the stories that would increase the circulation of the paper on the following day," said the journalist. "Even if it meant sex scandals those stories would be published and indeed some of them were Umthunywa type of stories. The other thing is that since that ownership issues also impact on the content."

The Chronicle is owned by Zimpapers Ltd. The government and private entities have shares in the company.

Meanwhile, readers have condemned the Chronicle for being partisan, favouring government officials at the expense of the public's right to be informed objectively.

"When MDC makes a blunder that becomes a story but sometimes when the government also makes a blunder it is never reported," said Nkazimulo Moyo, a regular Chronicle reader.