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'The EastAfrican' marks 25 years

Thursday November 21 2019
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'The EastAfrican' Managing Editor Washington Gikunju (fourth from left) joins Nation Newspapers Division Managing Director Francis Munywoki and Head of Marketing Caroline Kahora-Githii at the Nation Centre, Nairobi, to cut a cake on November 21,2019 to mark 25 years of the weekly publication. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG

By NJIRAINI MUCHIRA

The EastAfrican, a publication of the Nation Media Group, on Thursday marked its 25th anniversary with celebrations at its Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Kigali bureaus.

The weekly, which covers regional politics, business, diplomatic and policy news, was started in November 1994.

After a quarter century of being at the forefront of documenting the East Africa Community (EAC) integration journey, the publication is renewing its commitment to spearhead member countries’ understanding of the region.

“Our commitment to continue delivering factual, timely and relevant news to our readers remains our key objective for years to come,” said the Nation Media Group managing director for the Newspaper Division, Francis Munywoki.

“We truly value our external partners who have supported the paper for many years and used it as an avenue to reach out to their consumers across the East African region,” Mr Munywoki added.

The changing landscape of the media industry driven by digital disruption has shaken the financial foundation of news organisations across the world, but Mr Munywoki said the Nation Media Group remains committed to delivering factual, timely and relevant news to readers in the coming years.

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The EastAfrican has documented EAC’s key milestones including the revival of the trading bloc in November 2000.

The publication is marking its 25-years in the same month when the EAC marks 20 years of re-unification.

The newspaper has captured both the high and low moments for the region. It documented the birth of a new South Sudan after decades of fighting and displacement of people.

It has kept its EAC readers informed, educated and entertained, joining in the celebrations of major political and socio-economic achievements and highlighting missed opportunities and failures.

The EastAfrican has won admiration and also attracted criticism along the way but never has there been any temptation to veer off the straight and narrow path of professional, balanced and objective journalism,” said Washington Gikunju, The EastAfrican’s Managing Editor.

With the media landscape evolving fast, the publication has adopted new technologies including having a strong online presence and producing a digital paper to reach more readers not only in the EAC but also across the wider Eastern Africa market.

“Infrastructure inadequacies, huge economic inequality among the populace, political intolerance and suppression of human rights are alive today as they were in 1994, these continue to be the focus of the paper in the next 25 years and beyond,” noted Mr Gikunju.

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