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Other articles in the RAP 21 Newsletter n° 28/2003:
PRESS FREEDOM
Alerts from the Continent
NEWS FROM THE MEDIA SCENE
Liberian Institute of Journalism Vandalised and Looted
Press Freedom Violations to be Monitored in Somalia
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Journalism Course Available for East and Southern African Journalists
Training for Sports Reporters in Malawi
Newsletter n° 28
THE BUSINESS OF NEWSPAPERS MANAGEMENT

Good Journalism in Malawi

"The Chronicle" newspaper is one of the few privately-owned newspapers operating in Malawi. The quality of the newspaper was formally recognised recently when it was awarded a prize for investigative journalism by MISA-Malawi for a political story on the ruling UDF party. This success can be attributed, in large part, to editor-in-chief and owner Rob Jamieson, who has channelled both his professional and personal energy into running a quality newspaper, despite the political and economic odds stacked against it.

"The Chronicle" newspaper is one of the few privately-owned newspapers operating in Malawi. The quality of the newspaper was formally recognised recently when it was awarded a prize for investigative journalism by MISA-Malawi for a political story on the ruling UDF party. This success can be attributed, in large part, to editor-in-chief and owner Rob Jamieson, who has channelled both his professional and personal energy into running a quality newspaper, despite the political and economic odds stacked against it.

RAP 21 examines how he’s run "The Chronicle" in the past ten years and in doing so, strives to re-affirm the belief that excellent management equals editorial excellence in a newspaper.

Through concentrated personnel management, including instilling a sense of teamwork, focusing on in-house training, and innovative business strategies, "The Chronicle" has prospered in the face of limited funds and a challenging economic and political climate.

Fostering Journalistic Excellence with limited resources:

For the story that led to the MISA award, three of "The Chronicle’s" staff of six were placed on the trail of a tip which claimed that the ruling UDF party was planning to appoint a presidential candidate outside of the party ranks for the country’s upcoming national elections. The editor-in-chief gave the journalists six weeks to investigate the lead and dig up the hard evidence, a move practically unheard of considering the size of the newspaper’s staff.

Jamieson says hard work resolved the potential problem of day-to-day responsibilities being neglected during the lengthy investigation. The solution, according to the editor-in-chief, was relatively simple: "We all tucked in to compensate for it". The extra work was worthwhile because he saw how important the story could be for his newspaper: "This was a groundbreaking story and one that was very important for a private paper to break, given the culture of ’misinformation’ which surrounds much of Malawi’s media. This was the beginning of a an expos of how political parties were operating."

Engendering Loyalty and Providing Training with limited resources:

Staff loyalty is vital for the successful functioning of a newspaper. "The Chronicle" has managed to develop this, in spite of limited financial resources: "We have instilled a certain amount of pride in our staff. They are proud to be with The Chronicle as we have a reputation for being thorough and accurate".

This thoroughness and accuracy comes from training and development: "Ours is an ongoing training programme - our young reporters join the paper and know they will get good training." This can pose problems too: Having received this training, staff members tend to move on for higher compensation. To this, Jamieson adopts a philosophical stance: "I feel we provide good groundwork for young journalists in their career path from which they can move on. We cannot afford them in the long-run, but we are happy to contribute to their career."

Commercial Success in a Harsh Economic Climate:

A key problem for newspapers is how to stay afloat in a shaky economic climate. Working as a team and providing staff training will not in itself ensure a newspaper’s success. A shrewd business sense is also necessary. Jamieson realised some time ago that despite the verbal support of the international community for his efforts to run a quality broad-sheet, they had yet to effectively provide direct funding. So he approached them for advertising revenue; foreign advertising now makes up 10 per cent, roughly one-third of the total. Advertising now stands at 20 to 30 per cent of the newspaper’s total revenue. Although Jamieson believes this figure should ideally rest at around 60 per cent, looking externally for advertising revenue has already contributed significantly to the newspaper’s survival.

Currently, "The Chronicle" appears weekly, and has a circulation of between 10,000 and 20,000 depending on what is happening in the news. Jamieson hopes to start publishing more frequently; and has recently purchased a printing press - and in doing so, has taken a mortgage on his house to raise the necessary capital.

When asked the biggest challenges to maintaining a standard of excellence in today’s newspaper climate in Malawi, Jamieson replied: "remaining independent and non-biased politically." Two challenges the newspaper is well positioned to face.
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