https://zimbabwe.misa.org Impact of Covid 19 on Media Sustainability A superficial examination of the data available for the countries in the Southern African region reveals that geographical location hides great diversity. The countries of Southern Africa vary in wealth, size, population, language and urbanization. What all have in common is a colonial history, many of them being formerly British colonies, including those examined in this study. The media landscapes of many were marred in the post-colonial era by censorship or State monopolies of news production. It was only in the 1990s did the collapse of communism, symbolized by the fall of the Berlin wall, and the concomitant fading of the dream of African socialism marked by centralized control of communication allow liberalization and news media. The proliferation of independent, private newspapers, radio stations and TV broadcasters accompanied what could be seen as paradigm shift in communication policy. The global Covid-19 crisis has given rise to talk of a need “not to let a good crisis go to waste” to prompt much-needed systemic change.1For news media, the increased use of communications technology during self-isolation plus the difficulties of distributing and accessing newspapers and magazines revealed and widened the fissures in the business models of legacy media while boosting broadcasting and online platforms – along with starving all news media of advertising. The resulting disruption has accelerated shifts that were already under way to the online environment, featuring demands for subscriptions to read articles i.e. retreats behind paywalls, as well as sparking innovation, for instance increasing the use of e-paper editions, simulations of physical newspapers and magazines. Whether this is another paradigm shift or not is unknown, but what is certain is that the news industry has been suddenly and dramatically shaken, and that the very existence of news production and journalism has been seen as being under threat. In turn, a new focus is needed on sustainability in the sense of the business of news, essentially who will pay for the news and how will it be paid for in a way that allows a degree of independence. 1.Ncedisa Nkonyeni, “OPINIONISTA: Covid-19 Is Too Good a Crisis to Waste – Let’s Change the System,” Daily Maverick, August 17, 2020, https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/ opinionista/2020-08-18-covid-19-is-too-good-a- crisis-to-waste-lets-change-the-system/. 3