Nation Publications Limited emerged in 1993 and offered an alternative view to the one-party-mentality media, it was not alone but 20 years on many have fallen and it still grows strong, I engaged its CEO, Mbumba Achuthan to hear the joys, jaunts, memories and jobs of NPL in the past 20 years, I cannot help but tell you in advance here that NPL is more than just a company...Q and A style..
Q:
Twenty years on and still going strong. Even stronger! How does it feel
when you
look
back over this period?
A: I was asked in a session just a few days
ago, to close my eyes and imagine all the people who had engaged with NPL over
the last twenty years surrounding the office.
I was asked to imagine the effect we have had on all those thousands of
people, to imagine our impact on the country and all developments. It feels good to imagine that we have
contributed something, I have contributed something. It has all been worth its while.
Q:
So how did it all begin for NPL in terms of conceiving the idea of a company
and getting off the ground?
A: Hon Aleke Banda, other people and I had been
working on various publications during the period leading up to the change to
multiparty democracy. It was during
this time that we started talking about what we could do thereafter that the
idea of starting a newspaper was hatched.
He
approached Hon Dr Ken Lipenga who bought into the idea and became the founding
Editor-in-Chief and then we roped in the current Deputy Chief Executive
Officer, Mr Alfred Ntonga, the Production and Distribution Manager, Mr Alfred
Mtaula, Mr Billy Mphande and a few others.
We
started off with a computer, typewriter, limited furniture and one car in a two
roomed office building.
We
started by coming up with an Editorial Policy and Mission to guide us and this
has served us well to this day.
Our
first publication was The Nation
produced twice a week, later thrice a week and which then turned into a daily.
We
then brought in Saturday Nation, now Weekend Nation, added Nation On Sunday and the rest is
history.
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| Achuthan - has steered NPL to greater heights |
Q: What is it that you would
pick out as the key success factors in the growth of the company?
A: There are several success factors that I
will zero in on:
Our
editorial policy and mission has been the guide that newsroom has used
throughout the twenty years. This has
helped us ensure that we produce our products according to professional
standards. It has helped us ensure that
at all times our allegiance is to the people or the nation and not any
individual or group. This has ensured
that we maintain our credibility.
The
dedication, loyalty and quality of our staff has been the foundation on which
all else has been built and achieved.
The
consistency in the way we have maintained our relationship with our key
stakeholders – advertisers, readers/subscribers, vendors/agents, suppliers, and
others has ensured that we have not only sustained and but also consolidated
and grown the business.
Q:
What would you say are the stand-out areas that set the NPL of today apart from
the company of 1993?
A: We
have advanced technologically in that we now have a completely new state of the
art printing outfit that ensures quality products produced cost effectively and
on time. We are now able to reach most
of our markets in the morning whereas in 1993 it could take two days to reach
certain markets and it did not even make sense to distribute to some markets because
of the newspapers shelf life. We are
also able to produce a product that can be full colour on any page with
consistently good colour quality.
We
have diversified our product offering to include on line news and a vernacular
product that is bi-lingual and distributed fortnightly to the rural and
peri-urban areas free of charge. This
has led to our ability to reach a much larger audience.
We
have a trained workforce. The practice
of journalism and the media business was very limited in 1993. All staff that came on board save for the
few who came from Blantyre Newspapers Limited, had to be trained literally from
scratch. Today we have staff that come
trained and we simply super-impose the NPL style and give them the platform to
practice their profession and gain the experience needed to enable them become
journalists of note.
Q:
At a personal level, in what way have you had to adjust the manner you have
managed the company over the years?
A: In
the early years we had to do a lot of multi-tasking. I led the organization and did all the
administrative work, at times I wrote, I delivered the product, I worked in the
design studio, I made coffee for staff when we worked long hours, I worked in
the print inserting and wrapping, I went out to help find and interview sources
during the Mwanza murder investigations, I went out during Operation Bwezani –
I literally did everything. All leaders
had to play a very hands on role.
All
this was done while developing systems and standards, operational manuals all
literally from scratch. This was the
case because we did not have models we could learn from other than the limited
offering from the main existing newspaper organization at the time.
With
time we also got more opportunities to learn from other organisations all over
the world and made all relevant adjustments.
With time, we also brought in specialized teams to handle the different
areas of the business and my role became more of a leadership role creating a
platform for the team to make their contributions in full towards fulfilling
our goals.
Q:
Have there been moments when you felt like, well, it's not worth going on with
this… As in closing shop? What are they?
A: The newspaper business is a tough 24/7
business, that in its formative years, gives little room or time for rest. The challenges are many and there all the
time. The pressure is continuous. You have to work in it to know and truly
appreciate it. I have never got to the
point where I felt I wanted to close shop.
But there are times when I have asked myself why I did not get into
something simpler.
These
moments are short lived, however, because it is a business that also has so
many fulfilling sides/elements to it.
Q:
When Bingu wa Mutharika went flat out against the company, you still kept your
workforce, even employed more people, how did you overcome that hurdle?
Firstly,
we ensured that everything we did was according to our editorial policy and
mission and all our other systems and standards. We ensured that we maintained our
professionalism and remained true to our stakeholders. As a result of that we got their
support. Our loyal readers, subscribers
and advertisers stood by us because we gave them the product that they wanted
and expected.
At
the same time we have a workforce that believes in what they do and that works
as a team. The external threat served
to bring the team closer together in a determination to survive. It was, almost, a challenge that everyone
took head on.
At
the same time various business strategies were engaged to ensure survival and
in some areas growth.
Q:
What would you cite as the lowest and highest points in the life of the company
over the past twenty years?
A: The results of the Mwanza Murder
investigation and the stories we carried on that and what followed remains a
high point from an editorial point of view.
Our
survival of the harsh political climate and the fact that we came out of it
even stronger is another.
The
acquisition of our brand new printing outfit also stands out.
Most
importantly the constant recognition from our clients over the years has been a
major plus.
The
low points have been the loss of our founding father, mentor and guide, Hon
Aleke Banda. He never, one day, worked
at NPL. He never went out to bring us
business. He never influenced
stories. However, he demanded the
highest of standards and that is the biggest gift he gave to NPL. He always said: one day I want you to be
like The Times of London. Where we
erred, he expected us to have an intelligent and complete explanation. Where we did well he was our biggest
supporter and a great source of encouragement.
He was our inspiration.
We
have also suffered at the hands of the political systems where leaders have
failed to accept that we are a mirror on society and have a watch dog role to
play.
The
introduction of tough media laws was also a very negative development that came
up.
Q:
In an industry in which maintaining clients and readers is a dog eat dog
affair, what does it take to keep everything and everybody tight?
A: It is important to ensure that the team
knows, understands and buys into the company’s mission and vision and lives by
its values. It is important for the
company to look after its team as best it can and for employees to feel part of
the Nation family and to grow personally and as a team as the company grows. We therefore endeavor to have in place
programmes and projects that ensure this at all times.
Q:
Looking ahead, anything up your sleeves for NPL, the company's clients and the
nation at large?
A: With the acquisition of the new printing machine and
accessories, our plans on diversification that include new products and
development of our current products, our clients and the nation at large can
look forward to NPL providing media solutions that are of superior quality and
accessible to most.
Q: What are your best personal picks in the 20 years of NPL
existence?
A: The whole Mwanza
Murder experience: from identification of the sources; meeting them; compiling
the story; the publication and following up on what followed. The satisfaction of seeing the result of our
work.
The Nation Achiever year that saw us choose the farmer at
Manthimba who designed his own irrigation scheme the result of which led to his
travelling to other countries to see other irrigation schemes and also having
visitors from all over Malawi and the world visiting Manthimba to see and learn
from what they had done.
The Mothers Day Fun run and its impact on Mothers and babies at
the various hospitals we have been to throughout the country.
The development of our team.
Looking at staff 20, 15, 10, 5 years ago and looking at them now from
all angles – we have truly grown, individual and as a team.
Our cartoons – the quality of them and the impact they have had.
Visiting a point in Chitipa a some years ago where no local
radio transmission was able to reach and talking to the owner of the small
grocery shop that was selling a copy of Weekend Nation – their access to news.
There are so many but above are sighted just a few.
Q: What inspires you as a person? Why did you venture into the
media industry?
A: I always want to
learn and to grow and I always want to make a positive difference to a
situation and to the people around me.
As noted earlier, we were working on communication during the
change period from one party rule to multiparty democracy. It was clear to me and to Hon Aleke Banda
that there was a gap in the area of provision of information and a platform for
communication. We felt that if we could
venture into the media business, it would serve the family from a business
point of view, but also serve the nation and contribute to nation building at
the same time.
Q: Your father was a politician, how easy was it to be NPL with
his shadow?
A: Hon A K Banda
believed in setting standards. He set
standards in the form of the editorial policy and mission. He set standards by making it clear what
sort of publication he expected us to produce.
He set standards simply by being an excellent performer in his own
right, so he led by example. So long as
the standards where maintained, we would not hear from him other than a word of
encouragement or appreciation where relevant or engagement on ideas from time
to time.
He was therefore not intrusive, and he did not have any
expectations of us other than that we produce the paper to the highest
standards possible. He expected us to
treat him and any political party or other group he was involved in as a
newsmaker just like any other.
Initially people did not believe that we could be neutral and
professional. Always upon hearing he
was a part of NPL, people would be skeptical.
But it was after engaging with us and our products that people were able
to see that NPL operated professionally and was never a mouthpiece or tool for
Hon Aleke Banda.
In fact Hon Aleke Banda suffered a lot of abuse and suspicion at
the hands of his colleagues as a result of NPL’s neutrality and perceived lack
of support.
Q: Should we expect NPL Radio or TV in the near future?
A: Radio, TV, mobile and
more.
Q: Any other issues and comments you have?
God is good and has seen me personally and the NPL family
through a lot to where we are today.
He has granted us the wisdom, strength and ability to do what we have
done. For that I am thankful.
The NPL family is a wonderful team of men and women, mainly
young, vibrant, and intelligent and with a lot to offer. NPL will do its utmost to provide the
platform on which they can excel and continue to contribute to the building of
the nation and of themselves.
Our clients should expect and demand a lot from us. I can assure you that we are geared to be
your media house of choice and to provide you with more than just news.
