A much needed shake-up.

It is difficult to know or predict exactly what Rubicon Group will be once their three newspaper titles are running in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Perhaps, then, it is important that we qualify that our excitement and analysis is merely based on what we know, for now. But the fanfare with which they made their grand entrance into the local media fray in March was telling as did the impact in newsrooms across the country.

For decades now, local journalism has been deteriorating in the hands of owners who have hardly cared about investing in creating a worthwhile media product. This isn't rocket science; investing in the people, investing in the work environment, investing in facilities, investing in a wide array of stories- these are the hallmarks of a media house committed to creating a consistently high quality media product that the public seeks and enjoys. In turn, this ensures that the industry attracts and retains the best talent.

But no newsroom in the country has made enough such investments, leading to an industry that has one of the worst working environments, hugely demotivated staff and, as expected, a product consistently falling short of meeting high quality standards.

As a result, journalism has been used by many, including myself, as a conveyor belt to better opportunities. I worked with so many bright minds in newsrooms but they didn't stay long, they had to go. It is not that they were not passionate, the environment was just not allowing. Those that remain are still figuring their way out.

It is no surprise then that, at their emergence, Rubicon Group have captured the imagination of so many journalists and media workers across various newsrooms in the country. Junior and senior media workers alike have been excited at the prospect of working for a media house that seems to put its people at the forefront of its growth.

In their call for applications for one of their titles, the Group made it clear that they would offer "highly competitive and above-market salary packages to attract & retain the best talent." Investing in the people.

The Group further promised to provide training "in all aspects of editorial production, from copyediting, proofreading, page layout and design to site uploading and management, SEO headline writing and basic HTML, and picture, video and audio editing" as well as "a comprehensive internal training programme and...guidance on every step of your journey to take your career to the next level" for its entry level journalists. Investing in the work environment and the people.

This kind of approach shouldn't be amazing us, it should be standard practice across all newsrooms in Eswatini. And yet, such thinking and such programmes are non-existent in our media houses. Training for what when we have a newspaper to sell and profits to make? Instead, we have journalists on their second decade in newsrooms and having not taken part in even a single training programme. And yet, such training is necessary in a media environment that is forever evolving and requiring journalists and media houses alike to find and adopt new ways to find and tell stories. The less said about salaries, the better.

Without such thinking, such programmes, such competitive rewards, media entities risk being obsolete, being out of touch with what modern audiences want and expect. What has sustained local media houses for so long is the lack of options for audiences. But now, competition has emerged and it looks to be serious competition. While winning a majority of the audience share can be a long process, there is no doubt that it is doable especially in an environment like ours. No media entity in Eswatini can claim to have an unshakeable grip on an audience share.

Rubicon Group won't top the sales charts or win a majority of the audience share overnight but their approach looks to be well-calculated and it will shake the foundations of the media industry in Eswatini. It should also ring warning bells for media owners who have, for so long, cared very little about the sustainability of the industry and the quality of their product. It is a time for media owners to do some introspection.

While media entities are businesses and profits are a priority, it is time media owners ask themselves if aiming for profits means totally neglecting the wellbeing of employees and the quality of their product. Can't these things coexist?

It is also my hope that the emergence of Rubicon Group will herald a new era of Editors and Supervisors- Editors who are kinder, who guide rather than ridicule. So much talent and passion in newsrooms has been destroyed by Editors with zero people and leadership skills and yet tasked with overseeing people working in such a demanding industry. Rubicon's emergence should force the entire media industry to seriously rethink who gets to be an Editor. It shouldn't end there. Media entities should invest heavily in consistently training these Editors, particularly on managing people, to ensure that they can then get the best of the people they manage.

Rubicon's establishment will hopefully also lead to the doing away of so much of the archaic and spiteful thinking that still persists in newsrooms- including this thinking that a news or sports reporter cannot knock-off at 5pm even when they have submitted their quota of stories. Or the habit of some Editors recalling, from home, a reporter who has knocked off just to fix a single typo in their story. Imagine.

The challenge for those who will lead Rubicon, some of whom, you expect, will come from existing media houses is to ensure that Rubicon Group doesn't end up mirroring the status quo. Rubicon should be a fresh start, a benchmark on how to produce quality journalism, how to manage people, how to invest in the growth of people.

Rubicon is a promise to a crossover to a new world. A world where journalism graduates from UNESWA and Limkokwing will be looking forward to working in local media, a world where journalists, will, for once, be proud to be journalists in this country.

Rubicon cannot function as a media entity alone in Eswatini. We need competition and we need different media houses. So, it should be clear that our excitement on their emergence isn't hope for the folding of other media houses. Instead, we can only hope that it leads to serious, long overdue reforms within newsrooms towards a people-focused approach.

By: Sibongiseni Zondi

NB: Sibongiseni Zondi writes this opinion article in his personal capacity.

Zondi holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Eswatini (2017). He has previously worked for both national daily newspapers in Eswatini.