Грант DNTF помогает изданию Xenor Projects оцифровать 34 года доверия жителей Йоханнесбурга

Shirley Govender is a long-standing member of the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP). As part of a series celebrating AIP members who have received grants through the Digital News Transformation Fund (DNTF), we look at how her newsroom, Xenor Projects, has spent 34 years telling the stories of Johannesburg’s Deep South and how it is turning decades of community trust into digital growth, without losing what made that trust possible in the first place. A newsroom built on trust For more than 34 years, Xenor Projects has served and represented the communities of Johannesburg’s Deep South through Orange Farm News, Globe Post and Walkerville & Savanna City Times. Its publications were built on a simple belief: communities deserve journalism that sees them, hears them and reflects everyday life. Xenor was born during South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy. For more than three decades, it has given local communities a voice, held power to account and celebrated the extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Today, Xenor reaches a combined community audience of more than 1.5 million people across print, websites, social media and WhatsApp. Its journalism focuses on the issues that matter locally – from service delivery, education and health to entrepreneurship, community achievements and Solutions Journalism that explores credible responses to local challenges. The platforms have changed, but the purpose has not. Community trust remains the foundation of everything Xenor does. “Holding up democracy with duct tape” Like many independent publishers, Govender’s team was rich in purpose but limited in resources. “I often joked that we were holding up democracy with duct tape,” says Govender. Behind the humour was a real challenge. Xenor had decades of community trust, committed journalists and strong local brands, but not the technology, systems, specialist skills and digital capacity needed to translate those strengths into a modern newsroom. For Govender, the Digital News Transformation Fund represented more than financial support. It represented belief – belief that independent community journalism matters, and that local publishers deserve the opportunity not only to survive a changing media environment, but to innovate and grow within it. “We applied because we wanted to become digitally stronger, more strategic and more sustainable, while safeguarding the trusted, public-interest journalism our communities depend on,” she explains. A shift in technology and mindset Govender describes Xenor’s biggest achievement since receiving the Fund as transformation – a transformation in both technology and mindset. The Fund has helped the newsroom strengthen governance, improve digital publishing systems, build new skills and introduce responsible AI into parts of its workflow, ensuring ethical and efficient practices. More importantly, Govender says, it has given her team the confidence to experiment, measure results and make decisions based on what audiences are telling them through data and engagement. “We no longer chase digital change; we harness it deliberately,” Govender notes. Her team can now see which platforms are building loyalty, which stories are reaching new readers, and how community engagement can lead people back to trusted journalism. For a small independent newsroom, that ability to test, learn and adapt is enormously empowering. The DNT Fund has fundamentally changed the trajectory of Xenor’s newsroom, and that shift is starting to show up in its audience data. Perhaps the clearest evidence of that transformation is WhatsApp. Xenor’s WhatsApp products and channels are increasingly becoming a bridge between community conversation and its journalism. On Globe Post, the majority of the platform’s most loyal website readers now arrive via WhatsApp – proof that the newsroom is building direct relationships with readers, not just accumulating followers or chasing reach. Across the portfolio, the numbers tell a similar story: Website traffic is growing by approximately 25% month-on-month. In July 2026 alone, Facebook content reached more than 500,000 people, with the vast majority of that reach coming from within the communities Xenor serves. This followed approximately 50% month-on-month growth over the previous quarter. The Fund has also strengthened Xenor’s governance, digital skills, editorial systems, responsible use of AI and its ability to understand audiences through data. These changes help the newsroom publish more efficiently, make better-informed decisions and serve its communities more effectively. “The DNTF gave us permission to think bigger,” she adds. A message to other independent publishers To other independent publishers, Govender’s advice is simple: never underestimate the value of the trust you have built within your community. “Trust is our greatest asset,” she says. “Technology should deepen that trust and make journalism more accessible.” Independent publishers may not have the biggest teams or budgets, she adds, but they have something powerful – proximity to the people they serve. To Google, the Association of Independent Publishers and the Digital News Transformation Fund, Govender extends her thanks for seeing potential where independent publishers sometimes saw only obstacles. “You gave us the chance to turn 34 years of passion into measurable growth,” Govender says, “stronger systems and renewed confidence in local journalism.” Xenor’s numbers are growing, but for Govender, the number that matters most is the person behind every click, WhatsApp message and newspaper: someone in the community who is better informed because independent local journalism exists. “We began as resourceful survivors,” she reflects. “Today we are digitally empowered innovators – stronger, better governed, more confident, and reaching audiences in ways we could only imagine before.” Govender’s story is one of several being featured in AIP’s series celebrating members who are using Digital News Transformation Fund grants to strengthen their newsrooms and their communities. “This is what becomes possible when passionate independent publishers are empowered to innovate. And this is the lasting legacy of AIP members’ partnership with the DNTF ” says Govender. Visit Xenor Projects news platforms: Globe Post – https://globepost.co.za/ Walkerville & Savanna City Times – https://walkervilleandsavannacitytimes.co.za/ Orange Farm News – https://orangefarmnews.co.za/