When he joined Standard Group PLC as its top editor nearly six years ago, Mr Ochieng Rapuro was hailed as a leader who would restore calm to a newsroom buffeted by cost-cutting and debt-related challenges that had affected its ability to pay staff salaries on time.
Now, he’s exiting with little warning—an abrupt departure that leaves the oldest multi-media organisation in the country in a state of flux.
Rapuro told staff members on Friday, January 3, that he was stepping down and would not be able to lead the team as the Editor-in-Chief through the next leg of change required as the company continues deep into a more converged newsroom set-up due to the disruption of digital channels on traditional media.
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He did not specify exactly why he was leaving, but he did say that his last day would be on Friday, a source told The Kenya Times.
Rapuro joined Standard Group as Editor-in-Chief in July 2019 and has been leading its multi-media newsroom in a highly digitally fronted operation that is in tune with the current demands of audiences in the face of technological advancements and evolving media consumption patterns.
Previously, the University of Nairobi and Germany’s University of Potsdam alumnus held various editorial positions, having been the founding News Editor of the Business Daily, the largest business newspaper in East and Central Africa by Nation Media Group, where he rose to the position of Managing Editor for a record 10 years, two years after serving as Business Editor at Standard Group from May 2004 to August 2006.
Ochieng Rapuro describes himself on his official LinkedIn page as an experienced news executive and business journalist with strong leadership skills, strategic focus, and the ability to implement change.
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