The lack of a printing press, a weak advertising market, inadequate professional staff, and a poor reading culture are just a few of the problems listed when RAP21 asked a panel of editors-in-chiefs what they saw as the principle constraints facing small publications in Africa and around the world.

Contributing Panel Members:
  Gilbert Ahnee, Editor, "Le Mauricien", Mauritius,
  Momodou Touray, Editor, "The Observer", Gambia.
  John Schalch, Editor-in-Chief, Capricornia Newspapers, Australia

Problems cited by the panel were:

High production costs, particularly the purchase of newsprint, which are among the primary factors between profitability and bankruptcy for small newspapers. Often tied to this problem are soaring distribution costs, which can also erode profits, particularly where there are no fixed contracts.

Providing quality with limited resources, particularly when the audience has access to larger sources of information, is another challenge. Small newspapers are expected to offer a similar quality, in terms of good photography, professional editing, and professional cartoons, as the other big players, yet improving these elements can be too costly for many newspapers to properly address.

Off-site training poses other complications for small newspapers, for in newsrooms with only 5 or 6 journalists, it is extremely difficult to send journalists away for training. It is also often a struggle to find the resources to do so.

Another issue: small papers in the poorer economies will always struggle for advertising revenue, and they are particularly prone to be held to ransom by a government; which is often the newspaper’s largest advertising customer.

Finally, readers are only prepared to pay for a paper they can trust. Inaccuracy is the Number 1 "bugbear" for turning off readers/buyers. Readers feel if the paper is inaccurate - and that often comes down to poorly-skilled or poorly-resourced staff - they can no longer vouch a newspaper’s credibility. This can and does hit the bottom line of circulation sales.

The More People who Share a Problem, the Easier it is to Solve: the Launch of the Small Newspaper Information Exchange

As an editor-in-chief or publisher of a small publication, have you experienced any of the problems mentioned in the preceding articles?

If so, you may be interested in a listserve that is to be launched by the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) for editors and publishers of small publications in Commonwealth countries around the globe.

The listserve, called the Small Newspaper Information Exchange (SNIE), aims to stimulate frank, wide-ranging and lively international discussion to provide solutions to subscribers’ dilemmas, and raise a stronger awareness among the small paper community of its own capacity to train its personnel.

"Our role is to offer assistance to all papers and their editors and journalists," said Jane Rangely, training director at CPU, in an interview with RAP 21.

The exchange will allow editors to learn the skills that exist elsewhere without having to look up towards any "Big Brother".

Specifically, the listserve can help to do this by joining together its subscribers with existing CPU and other online sites to provide industry-based online training for working journalists from other working journalists.

"In many parts of Africa, economics determine that people are not always able to attend training courses or have access to the latest technology and advice. This way we believe newspaper editors and publishers will be able to benefit fairly instantaneously from the expertise in the industry throughout the Commonwealth," added Rangeley.

"Very small papers are often set up by journalists who have had no training in management. Their businesses are surviving but they need help and advice on how to make them more profitable," she concludes.

One concrete example of how the exchange can help: Poor quality and expensive communication systems will impact the ability of a small newspaper publisher/editor to share ideas with their peers and share resources such as articles, photos, online training, research, staff etc. SNIE is ideal for such a practice, as all interaction is carried out through the web.

"The listserve, in my opinion, should act as a kind of one stop service for small newspapers," said Momodou Touray, editor of "the Observer" in the Gambia.

John Schalch, Editor-in-Chief, of Capricornia Newspapers, Australia will moderate the exchange, and is also well equipped to work with members on specific problems they are facing, having been a training co-ordinator for over 450 regional newspaper journalists throughout Australia for five years.

If one of the management issues raised on the listserve stumps the group, external expertise will be brought in from journalism academics at the Queensland University in Australia, as well as those on the editorial board of APN, News & Media which publishes several small newspapers that serve the vast rural communities of Australia.

How does the listserve work? Everyone on the exchange is subscribed to one email address, and as soon as a message is posted, it goes out to all subscribers. Members of Commonwealth countries who are interested simply need to send an email to Jane Rangeley, training director at the CPU, to register. jane@cpu.org.uk