In early 2002, Sierra Leone’s 10-year bloody civil war came to an end. The "Standard Times" daily newspaper continued to operate throughout the majority of the conflict despite extreme conditions. 18 months after the peace agreement, Ibrahim Karim-Sei, managing editor of the "Standard Times", reflects on the impact of the war on his newspaper, and challenges to recovery.

Before the conflict, the daily circulation of the "Standard Times" fluctuated between 10,000 and 15,000. Today it is around 2,000 and often dips lower than that. "People are so poor from the effects of the war, they cannot afford to buy the newspaper," said Karim-Sei. "Many people also fled the country during the war, and are only now beginning to return. This hit our newspaper sales hard," he acknowledges.

During the course of the war, the newspaper’s offices were burned down, causing the loss of expensive equipment such as computers, printers and office furniture. The "Standard Times" also suffered a personal loss - that of its deputy editor, Paul Mansalay, who, along with his wife and three children, was brutally murdered in January 1999.

Staff levels of the "Standard Times" have also not yet resumed pre-war levels. In order to continue production during the conflict, the newspaper had to shave its staff by 20 percent, reducing the number of employees from 20 to 15. "We decided to let certain staff members go instead of lowering existing wages. This is a competitive industry and we could not afford to keep our full staff," Karim-Sei said.

Today, ensuring the regular production of the "Standard Times" continues to be a issue. "There are only one or two printing plants in Sierra Leone and so many newspapers," noted Mr. Karim-Sei. "Even though we are a daily, sometimes we are forced to skip an issue. For example, we were not able to print yesterday’s edition. The newspapers in line before us were able to print, but we ran out of time. There are just not adequate facilities," he concluded.

Another ongoing logistical problem when managing a newspaper in post-war Sierra Leone is electricity shortages. The power supply in the country is still erratic, and although the "Standard Times" has generators so it can continue to operate in lieu of electricity, the newspaper has already gone through two generators due to extended periods of use. This is a problem that not only creates further production costs for its operations, but also slows them down.

Today, 90 percent of the newspaper’s revenue comes from advertising. This marks a substantial shift from pre-war days, when the majority of the newspaper’s revenue would come from direct sales.

Since the dramatic decrease in its circulation, the newspaper has focused its marketing strategy into attracting advertisers to make up for this lost revenue source.

"It is a competitive market, and we know the ’Standard Times’ has to be as attractive as possible to the advertisers, so we started to carry more varied subject matter to attract a broader base of readers," Karim-Sei said.

For example, the newspaper, instead of focusing primarily on politics and business, has added features on entertainment, sports, food and culture, as well as stories to attract female readers.

"We also had to convince the advertisers that we can actually reach a large geographical market, and to do this, we had to re-erect a strong distribution network throughout the country. Much of our financial loss has come from not having been able to distribute to other parts of the country during the war, particularly in rural or isolated areas," the managing editor said.

Not surprisingly, re-establishing this network is a key part of the "Standard Times’" recovery strategy. Since the end of the war, the newspaper has concentrated on forging new partnerships with distributors and re-establishing former partnerships with those that were suspended during the conflict.

The "Standard Times" is now in the process of negotiating a distribution deal with the national postal service, as it has access to even the most remote areas of Sierra Leone, with contacts and offices all over the country. The newspaper is hoping to develop this partnership while continuing to work in conjunction with its existing distribution partners.

Overall, however, the newspaper industry in Sierra Leone has been severely damaged by the 10-year civil war. "Newspaper production was severely impacted. Most editors and publishers left the country during the conflict," Karim-Sei noted. "Besides that, many people who stayed lost their jobs, and today very few can afford to buy a newspaper. Most of the papers do not publish regularly because the economy is so bad, " he said.

Despite the obvious challenges facing the "Standard Times", Karim-Sei concludes his interview with RAP 21 on a positive note: "It is a very slow process, but since the end of the war, investors are slowly coming back into the country."

The managing editor also anticipates the newspaper’s circulation will reach pre-war levels within 1 to 2 years. "We are beginning a recovery but people are still poor, still displaced. Many publishers have given up on producing newspapers, however I am determined to keep my head above water. This is my business, I don’t know anything else."