(c) Print media SURVEY data suggests that the use of newspapers in hard copy is minimal, as shown by 68% who said they do not use public newspapers as their sources of news and 12%, respectively, said they use public newspapers to get an appreciation of what is happening in Zimbabwe and across the globe. A tiny proportion, 2%, reported doing so to get information about daily life. In contrast, a similar proportion indicated that they do so to obtain information related to work or studies. Private newspapers as sources of information do not play a pivotal role in the life of Zimbabweans, with 72% reporting that they do not use this medium. The major underlying reason is the acutely low circulation of print newspapers, especially outside the main metropolitan cities. It is in the main cities that the few printed copies are bought and read. Extrapolating from the key economic issue of cost, it is mainly in the low density/high- income areas that these are purchased and read. Of those who indicated that they use private newspapers, 12% claimed that they use them to receive information on what is happening worldwide. The survey shows that 6% claimed that they use that as a means to get information about what is happening in the country, while three per cent said this would be motivated by the need to get different perspectives on what is happening. Magazines are the least used source of information, as shown by 77% of the surveyed population responding that they don’t use them. Again, local production of print magazines has decreased drastically, with famed magazines such as Parade and Moto going out of circulation long back. Only 5% of the surveyed respondents reported that they use magazines to obtain information about daily life (for example, travel, health, taxes and education), and 6% said they resort to magazines to know what is happening worldwide. In contrast, a similar proportion said they use magazines to pass the time when waiting / travelling/ commuting, or bored. These survey results were corroborated through both group discussions and informant interviews, which pointed to the downward trend in readership of print newspapers and other sources such as magazines. It is worth noting, however, that the fall in readership of the print version has not necessarily translated into a shift from the concept of the newspaper or other formats of print media such as magazines, which have increasingly seen a “re-birth” or resurgence in online forms with Zimbabweans accessing news headlines on WhatsApp groups and with the likes of 263 Chat sharing news headlines daily to subscribers via WhatsApp. Print media practitioners have thus become creative by creating shortened digital versions shared on WhatsApp groups in response to the new realities in the media landscape. However, the reach of these shortened digital versions remains a grey area that needs to be pursued in further studies. Figure 11: Source: GeoPoll 2019 Source: GeoPoll 2019 In the second half of 2022, the Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (ZAMPS)19 reported 16 that 23% of the adult population read daily newspapers and 13% read weeklies. The Herald