Impact of Covid 19 on Media Sustainability https://zimbabwe.misa.org Going Online Most interesting was the decision of Media24 in May to stop distributing a print edition of its mass market Sun newspaper to all but four provinces in South Africa, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West. The rest of the country would be served by an online version The Sun, a popular tabloid. Since a digital divide exists in South Africa, and like other dividing lines is based on income and race, it could be argued that the paper’s predominantly black and low-income audience would be excluded, but the group boasted of the paper’s presence online, and recent market research showed the prevalence of smartphones together with access at the workplace and free Wi-Fi hotspots was making online publications more accessible.37 Around the region, publishers have decided that some publications should migrate permanently or temporarily online, and often the format has been the e-paper, especially where printing has been physically impossible. 38 The Botswana Gazette, The Patriot on Sunday, and Newsday in Botswana and Zimbabwe were reportedly circulating PDF copies online. “Others, such as The Voice in Botswana, have switched to Press Reader, a digital newspaper distribution platform.”39 During the first phase of the strict lockdown in South Africa, when magazines could not be published, the Financial Mail was distributed as an e-paper readable through the ISUU service.40 ZimPapers in Zimbabwe too has migrated some of its newspapers online.41 37. Glenda Nevill, “Daily Sun Changes Footprint, Goes Digital Only in Five Provinces,” The Media Online (blog), May 4, 2020, // themediaonline.co.za/2020/05/daily-sun-publishes-last-print-issue-goes-online-only/. 38. Rumney, “SANEF’S COVID 19 Impact on Journalism Report (Interim),” 26. 39. Ntibinyane Ntibinyane, “Coronavirus May Spell the End for Many of Africa’s Print Newspapers,” Global Investigative Journalism Network, April 27, 2020, https://gijn.org/2020/04/27/coronavirus-may-spell-the-end- for-many-of-africas-print-newspapers/. 40. “FREE | Read the Full April 9 Edition of Financial Mail,” Business LIVE, accessed October 16, 2020, https://www.businesslive.co.za/ fm/fm-fox/2020-04-09-free-read-the-full-april-9-edition-of-financial-mail/. 41. ZimPapers, “Reviewed Condensed Half-Year Results of Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Ltd for Year Ended June 2020” (Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, September 24, 2020). 12