Durban — On Thursday the Daily News reached a milestone … Durban’s favourite newspaper celebrated its 145th birthday.
Daily News editor Ayanda Mdluli said it had been a very challenging period over the past three years for the newspaper industry.
“Being the editor of the Daily News in the current economic climate has been quite a challenging but yet exhilarating experience. The road has been full of ups and downs.
“I was appointed as editor at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the print media were under untold and unprecedented pressure.
“We have been through a lot as a publication. We also went through the July (2021) riots and the devastating floods. For us it has been a roller-coaster ride, but we are still standing and playing a very important role in the communities that we serve,” said Mdluli.
Mdluli promised to continue delivering unique and reliable content to the newspaper’s readers.
“The Daily News has always been known for delivering strong local, national and international content.
“What I have provided is ensuring that the paper punches above its weight as the go-to publication for all the national issues that we are currently facing as a country. We have been trying to strike that balancing act without losing our identity as the people’s paper in the province and as the people’s community paper in the various residential areas that we are serving,” said Mdluli.
He commented that since it was the Daily News’s 145th birthday, the vision was to take the paper back to its readers and give it more of a feel for the community, in terms of telling people’s stories and ensuring that the paper played a meaningful role and became the change that people wanted to see.
“Our future plans are to continue growing our digital footprint and to ensure that our print offering is of high quality,” said Mdluli.
Independent Media group executive for editorial and content, Mazwi Xaba, said it had been a great pleasure to witness the paper grow into what it had become today.
“When I got here in 1992, obviously it was amazing and the Daily News was selling 100 000 copies a day and it had a great influence on its readers and became so famous that there was an old building in Field Street named after the Daily News. The Independent Media building was referred to as the ‘Daily News building’.
“The ‘Daily News’ has been a great influence for a lot of people in the city. They used to ensure that they had a copy to read over lunch and to take home,” said Xaba.
He said, although there had been a lot of transformation in the country’s economy, the paper continued to thrive and deliver reliable content to its readers.
Aakash Bramdeo, editor of the Post, said the Daily News’s 145 birthday was a milestone that needed to be celebrated.
“Despite challenges that our society has faced over the decades and the last few years in particular, the Daily News continues to thrive.
“I have fond memories of reading the Daily News as a child. In fact, it is what got me interested in news and subsequently studying and working as a journalist.
“Today at this milestone, I pay tribute to all those who came before and those who are part of the title today,” said Bramdeo.
The Daily News is going to continue with birthday celebrations throughout the year and readers can look forward to a lot of activities, including competitions, and the Daily News Your Choice Awards, where businesses and consumers in the province are celebrated with amazing prizes.
The Daily News is a widely read English daily newspaper in the KZN province, and it is fiercely independent in covering the news.
It is bold in its presentation and offers popular platforms to constantly interact with readers.
WhatsApp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.
Daily News