HOW time flies! We are 14. The years have been punctuated by many firsts — the first newspaper to introduce tokens to address the problem of change, the first newspaper to introduce live updates of key events on our website and social media platforms and the first publication to introduce a talking paper in Zimbabwe.

While competition has followed us on live updates, the talking paper model is not an easy copy and paste.

We were the first on the local market to use infographics and short videos on our platforms. Our digital presence is strong, with an audience nearing 10 million.

Our website is customised for publishing, which means it matches international standards in terms of design and appeal. It is compatible with mobile phones as 95% of our online readership accesses the website via mobile phones.

All these are meant to give our readership a good user experience.

It has been a gruelling period of more hits than misses and we continue to strive to do better.

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We were previously barred from entering State House and our journalists were denied accreditation to cover Zanu PF’s 2022 congress. We engaged the officials and the “ban” was lifted.

Our journalists were also “banned” from covering First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s events. We have religiously turned up at her meetings or events because we believe our readers ought to know what the First Lady is cooking.

Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Owen Ncube early this year banned journalist from NewsDay and Masvingo Mirror from all government functions in the province.

We have not stopped covering his events because he is a representative of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and we are convinced the “ban” did not originate from State House.

We have taken it in a stride with the conviction that those we have “wronged” will “repent”. After all, those that used to denigrate the private media at their prime are now turning to the same publications after being ejected from the gravy train.

It is that realisation which has emboldened us to soldier on.

We made a pledge at inception that NewsDay will be a marketplace of ideas and we will maintain that covenant with our readership.

We are ensuring that NewsDay is the go-to publication in line with our payoff line “everyday news for everyday people”.

In fact, we are leveraging on artificial intelligence to serve our readership better.

We pay tribute to our partners — advertisers, subscribers and readers — who have stood with us from the word go. It is a partnership made in heaven.

Your support has galvanised us, making NewsDay the voice of the voiceless and speaking truth to power. We are indebted to your support.

Journalism is what maintains democracy. It’s the force for progressive social change, according to the late American author Andrew Henry Vachss.