The Amharic language newspaper, "The Monitor" - an offspring of the English language "The Daily Monitor" - was launched six months ago into a very competitive market. It hopes to compete by offering international and regional news, reaching out to the youth market, and offering weekend supplements. The launch of an Amharic-language newspaper is an ambitious move, as there are more than 80 publications printed in the language.

Namrud Berhane Tsahay, editor-in-chief of "The Daily Monitor" speaks to RAP 21 on expansion into the Amharic-language newspaper market in Ethiopia.

"One of the problems of the Ethiopian public is that not that many people read in English. So we decided to launch the Amharic newspaper," says Tsahay.

Despite the high number of newspapers already produced in Amharic, the largest spoken language in Ethiopia, the editor-in-chief believes the recently launched newspaper contains a number of features that will offer an attractive alternative to those already in production.

"Most papers cater to people who want to read about local issues, so we plan to provide news of an international and regional nature," he says.

Another strategy to develop readership is to focus on materials that have an immediate impact on people. For example, the newspaper has plans to run a column on strategies for people to start their own businesses with limited resources. The weekly column will feature financial and commercial experts offering their advice on financing and launching small businesses, including representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Tsahay believes the column will have wide appeal to currently unemployed Ethiopians. It is also part of a broader strategy for the newspaper to attract young readers: "There is a high number of unemployed youths in Ethiopia. We believe this column will appeal to these youths."

Both "The Daily Monitor" and "The Monitor" have existing strategies in place to attract the youth market: "We run a weekend supplement called ’Life is Sweet and Sour’ in "The Daily Monitor", which deals with celebrity news and entertainment. This is popular among the youth market". This section, along with a popular science column, is carried in the Amharic newspaper as well. "The Daily Monitor" also carries a page exclusively devoted to women’s issues, and has plans to expand its sports section as a means of offering more to its current readers.

Although some of the features in the new paper have found their inspiration in "The Daily Monitor" the newspapers remain very different entities. "’The Daily Monitor’ mostly appeals to government offices and diplomatic missions, a relatively narrow market, and "The Monitor" to regular Ethiopians, and a much larger target audience. There are staff members, which work 100 percent on their respective newspapers, although from time-to-time, when one newspaper carries a particularly interesting or relevant story, the other one will pick it up.

"The Daily Monitor" is Ethiopia’s only English language private daily. Launched 11 years ago, its average circulation fluctuates between 1,800 and 2,000.

An online version of both the English and Amharic newspapers is also in the works, and is set to go live in the next few weeks. www.monitorethiopia.com will have an additional feature not found in the newspapers: "We want it to carry business information, and we will mainly deal with regional issues on the horn of Africa," says Tsahay. The website will be updated daily.

The editor-in-chief is adopting a cautious approach to the newspaper’s online expansion, "I am going to train someone in-house, rather than go externally to run the newspaper online, so I will have to find someone who has time during the day to add this to their responsibilities!"

The newspapers suffer less from technical problems and more from manpower. It operates its own printing press, and there are rarely any problems with distribution or paper shortages. With a combined editorial and technical staff of around 35 to run both "The Daily Monitor" and "The Monitor", it is not altogether surprising that when asked what the greatest day-to-day challenge of running a newspaper, Tsahay responded: "staff shortages".

Another significant challenge for the newspaper group is training: "Training in journalism is something developing nowadays here, they have started up training courses at the university, and are even planning to offer masters degree, but it is something new. I was trained here, and most of our journalists were trained here too," he says.

The editor-in-chief has adopted a pragmatic approach to newspaper expansion in the Ethiopian market: "We will evolve to include the bigger stuff as and when we are able. We are going to take it step-by-step".