The “World Press Trends 2005” report, released at the WAN 58th Annual Newspaper Congress in Seoul, shows an increase in circulation and revenue from advertising for the newspaper industry worldwide in 2004. As part of a five week special, RAP 21 will publish African data from the report and speak to the leaders of some of the most successful newspapers on the continent about trends in their markets and their views on the future of the newspaper industry.

The newspaper industry in Senegal

With a population of 10.6 million, Senegal has a GDP of US$17.9 billion and a GDP per capita of US$1,575. It is one of the richest African countries in terms of GDP per capita and has always been relatively stable politically and economically.

At the close of 2004, there were at least 15 independent and 3 government-affiliated dailies, as well as several weekly newspapers and magazines. Senegal has traditionally enjoyed one of the most unrestricted media climates in West Africa. Indeed, the government does not generally practice censorship. However, self-censorship arises from laws which prohibit reports that discredit the state, incite disorder or disseminate "false news".

Le Soleil

The government-owned “Le Soleil” is Senegal’s largest daily. In 2004 it had an average daily circulation of 25 000. RAP 21 spoke to editor-in-chief Habib Demba Fall about changing trends and his newspaper’s performance over the past year.

One of the major trends in the newspaper industry in 2004 was a 2% circulation increase among dailies. Fall confirms this increase for “Le Soleil”, saying that the sales in 2004 were much better than in 2003.

“This can partly be explained by our change of distribution system. Before 2004, we had an exclusive contract with one single distribution agency. This proved problematic, as in several parts of the country people received the newspaper with a one day delay, and consequently did not get the news on time. Some parts of the country were even completely left out from the agency’s distribution network. With the new system, we use several distribution agencies which compete with each other. This has led to a clear increase in our sales. The results achieved by the old agency in one month are now achieved in a week.”

Another major newspaper trend in 2004 was the increase in newspaper advertising revenues. Fall also confirms this trend, saying that: “the advertising revenues have been increasing over the past years even when our single copy sales were diminishing.”

A number of different factors account for the general success of “Le Soleil”. Fall says that the most important aspect, discovered through reader surveys, is credibility. This is a real challenge for this government-owned newspaper and in the past it has sometimes been hard not appear as merely the government’s mouthpiece. In 2000, “Le Soleil” faced some problems following accusations for uncritical reporting about the ruling socialist party. Fall says that a lot of effort was put into rebuilding the credibility for the newspaper.

“Today we aim at giving more space to the opposition in our political column. We don’t want to work any longer only for the government and the ruling party but for the public,” says Fall. He adds that as today there are various sources of information in Senegal and that there is no longer any monopoly of information by the government, “it would be ridiculous not to be neutral, as people would simply change newspaper.”

He continues: “Although as a government newspaper we have to give institutional information to our readers, we also want focus on other things that make our newspaper more attractive to the readers. Since most Senegalese people have rural origins, our readers are always very interested in news from the rural areas. Consequently, we have one daily page dedicated to regional news and a special supplement every two months entirely devoted to local news.”

Several other strategies were implemented in 2004 in order to increase the newspaper’s popularity.

Firstly, “Le Soleil” systematised the use of regular supplements about subjects such as education, culture and traditions. Important financial players in Senegal sponsored some of the supplements, which besides giving additional revenue also allowed for the newspaper to cover the subjects more thoroughly.

Regional offices have also been created with the aim of contributing with innovative ideas to the central newsroom and to spread the paper in zones that were not covered before.

In order to maintain the current readership, “Le Soleil” and its website will go through a face-lift this year, with the aim of becoming more modern and eye-catching.

To visit the website of “Le Soleil”, go to: http://www.lesoleil.sn/

Next week, RAP 21 speaks to editors of leading newspapers in Benin.