When a newspaper decides to go online, it demands a lot more than the technical creation of a web site. In a series of articles, RAP 21 will examine the online versions of Africa newspapers and the investments it has demanded - both on a financial and a personnel level.
The "Cameroon Tribune" is a bilingual (French and English) daily newspaper with a circulation of 30,000 for the print version and 1,000 daily hits for the online version. The newspaper went online on 1 July 2002.
"The reason for launching an online version on the "Cameroon Tribune" was due to the fact that the distribution of the print version did not reach all places within a desirable timeframe for a daily paper. With the online version we wanted to reach people outside the country, especially Cameroonian people living abroad, but we also wanted to reach the people inside the country who have difficulties receiving the newspaper because of geographical distances," said Augustin Fogang, the technical editor-in-chief of the "Cameroon Tribune".
External company involved in online version: For the technical creation of the website the "Cameroon Tribune" turned to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). "We also recruited a webmaster and appointed several journalists who provided him with the content for the web site and answered e-mails from the readers," said Mr Fogang.
The rest of the staff also got appropriate training in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
The first result of these efforts was a website containing the essential part of the newspaper’s content. Progressively, the paper started creating interactivity around the online articles, such as debate forums, guest books and surveys. The aim of this was to offer different ways for the reader to play an active role with the newspaper. Today the readers can react on each article published and have discussions about subjects they feel concerned about.
One important feature of the online version is the survey, which always concerns a subject of general interest either on a national or international level. Each question remains on the site for a few weeks.
This week’s online surveys concerns Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and what people think about them. The readers can choose between three options: 1. "GMOs would be the ideal solution to the famine in Africa" 2. "They should be approached with caution" 3. "They should be condemned as a menace to African agriculture"
"For the time being there is not a high number of people voting in the surveys, but they exist," said Mr Fogang.
Currently access to the newspaper archives (dating from 2002) is free, but Mr Fogang said that once the number of regular visitors has reached desired levels, the newspaper plans to charge a small fee for access to its archives.
A need to invest in personnel: "Today the team in charge of the online version of the newspaper consists of four people. The head of the team is the technical editor-in-chief, who supervises a webmaster and two journalists (one English and one French-speaking) who are in charge of putting material online and updating it," said Mr Fogang.
Altogether the newspaper company employs 250 people, of which 60 work in the newsroom. The technical maintenance of the web site is presently handled by an external company with which the newspaper has signed a service contract.
The immediate benefits of the online version has been the increase in readers outside Cameroon. When asked if the website has attracted advertisers or other investors, Mr Fogang answers that the present objective of the online version not is to generate financial revenue, but to develop the newspaper’s brand.
Attracting advertisers it is more of a long-term goal for the online newspaper. This, Mr Fogang noted, will hopefully happen once the papers has reached higher levels of interaction with the readers and when the website has been improved.