When Liberian newspaper executives saw the printing press of Ugandas biggest newspaper, they realized it looked familiar. Thats because the press was the same kind Liberias largest newspaper had owned before war and looting destroyed it.
It made me realize that if we had not lost everything for so long, wed probably be in good condition now, said Sando Moore, who was on the staff of The Observer, which owned that press. The Observer was selling more than 10,000 copies a day when its press was destroyed and its building burned to the ground. Now the highest-selling Liberian daily sells barely 1,000 copies.
The World Association of Newspapers and the Danish International Media Support brought Mr. Moore and five other Liberian newspaper directors to Uganda to study how newspapers there had rebuilt after a civil war and destruction similar to that which has only recently ceased in Liberia.
Newspaper executives in a post-conflict country have no time or strength to think strategically or about common solutions when they are in or near their offices. said Aralynn McMane, WAN director of development and education. There is not a minute that is not about immediate survival, especially when they are direct competitors. She said that is why it was so important that all of them agreed to be away from their offices for more than a week and examine the situation in a country that had survived similar turmoil and recovery.
The local partner was the Ugandan Newspaper Editors and Proprietors Association (UNEPA), which is a member of WAN. I am glad that Uganda was chosen for this programme, said UNEPA president James Walulgembe. I am looking forward to see the Liberians put what they have acquired in Uganda to work. If they do, I think they will achieve some positives in their media industry at this time when everything they have is in pieces.
The group examined the structure and role of the Ugandan newspaper association, management of newspapers in a post-conflict era and strategies to assure a literate next generation interested in reading newspapers. Over and over, in separate meetings, Ugandan newspaper executives emphasized the need to pay close attention to the commercial side of the paper.
I dont think youve gone into journalism to get rich; you believe in something, said William Pike, managing director and editor of The New Vision (35,000 circulation daily). However, just because you are a journalist, you shouldnt forget it is a business.
One of the reasons New Vision [which was founded by the government] is the top paper in Uganda is that we are the most business-minded, Mr. Pike said. He encouraged the group to learn the basics of accounting. Create proper accounts that tell you at the end of the month if you are earning a profit. Then, if you are not, make adjustments such as by cutting down on salaries.
For Wafula Ogutu, the founding managing director of the independent Monitor (22,000 circulation daily), a key to success is a strategic plan and the budget that goes with it. There is a high mortality rate of newspapers after conflict, he said. Journalists want to start newspapers; they see a niche, but they cannot follow-up. He said directors of new newspapers need to frugal, putting the money back into the paper.
Mr. Pike also emphasized keeping the money the paper earns within the newspaper company. Resist the temptation to pay personal dividends or your daughters school fees, he said. He also strongly advocated zero tolerance for internal corruption: Once you find that someone has taken any money, sack him.
Ugandas own newest newspaper is following this advice according to James Tumusiime, editor of the new Weekly Observer. Founded just a year ago after ten reporters broke away from Monitor, the paper has grown from 8,000 copies to 13,000 weekly. And it does not yet pay salaries to its managers. Not until we develop our capital, he explained.
The Liberian group took the advice to heart and will explore the idea of a strategic planning short course after examining two publications that WAN provided, the basic management guide New Times by Tatiana Repkova and Financial Management for Small Newspapers by Lloyd Donaldson. The trip was partly financed under WANs NIE Development Project which encourages the use of newspapers in the classroom.
Liberia has already moved toward a pilot, joint newspapers in education project that will send unsold copies of newspaper association members into Monrovia classrooms for use in all kinds of courses. With the help of Norske Skog paper company, which supports the NIE Development Project, WAN will send a training team from Ghana later this month to help Liberian teachers learn how to best make use of the papers. In Uganda, the group witnessed a lesson in which a teacher used newspapers to teach 102 eleven-year-olds about the fishing industry and its problems.
The group also examined other solutions that a newspaper association can offer in post-conflict countries, such as lobbying for good media law, joint ownership in a company that provides printing or distribution, coordination of staff continuing education and contests and education campaigns to promote better advertising.
Participants in the tour were Mr. Moore of the New National and president of the Newspaper Publishers Association of Liberia; Stanley Seakor, publisher and managing editor of The Analyst; Sheriff Adams, editor-in-chief of The News; Sam Dean, publisher of The Independent; Augustus Fallah, managing editor of The Forum and Philip Wesseh, managing editor of The Inquirer.