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Other articles in the RAP 21 Newsletter n° 55/2002:
The Business of Newspapers
Sports journalists in Burkina Faso want renewal
Newsletter n° 55
THE BUSINESS OF NEWSPAPERS PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

Ugandan newspapers demand vendors to pay in advance

In Uganda, the press employs different methods to make sure it gets the gain for its product, the newspaper. One of them is to demand the newspaper vendors to pay for the copies in advance.

"The reason for us doing this is purely financial. It is too risky to give the newspapers to the vendors without asking for any kind of security. We did it in the past, and a lot of people ran off with all of the money. Today we ask them to pay in advance," says Linda Nabuasayi, treasurer at the Uganda National Editors and Proprietors Association.

She gives the example of the newspaper where she is working, The Monitor, which costs 700 shillings (50 euro cents). The newspaper sells the newspaper to the vendors for 600 shillings, who get to keep the 100 shillings gained.

"Unfortunately the newspaper vendors are not organised in any way. There are no media outlets in Uganda and no newspaper distributing service. This makes it difficult to have a well-functioning system that pleases everybody. If the vendor has an address, there is no problem. He can then get newspapers on credit and pay us once a week or once a month. There are vendors like that, working in shopping centres, who have an address. There are also distribution companies which employ news agents who in their turn employ vendors, but they still run the risk of having vendors who will not bring back the money."

Even though sales have gone up after the introduction of the new system, it is not an ideal one, admits Ms Nabusayi.

"The disadvantage is of course that there are only a few people selling the newspaper. Many people do not have the possibility to pay in advance. It also encourages the black market of newspapers. Still, it is worth it. Running a newspaper is a business, and gaining a little is better than gaining nothing at all."

Even though the vendors were initially against a system where they have to pay in advance, claiming that the newspapers did not have trust in them, Ms Nabusayi says they have come to agree that it is a good system.

"We also organise regular meetings within the industry, when for example the taxes or the newsprint increase. Then we get to meet the vendors, to discuss different matters, says Ms Nabusayi.

Another problem of the Ugandan press is a system widely spread in Africa: newspaper vendors who "rent" the newspapers to the readers. The newspaper vendor can for example rent the newspaper for the price of 200 shillings per reader, giving him quite a gain.

"Sometimes one newspaper can be read by 20 to 30 people, it even happens that they fill in the crosswords, but still the newspaper vendor returns the newspaper to us as an unsold copy," says Ms Nabusayi.

In order to prevent this, the Monitor newspaper has began stapling their newspapers in some areas, not taking back copies where the stapler has been removed. And the system works, the number of returned copies has decreased significantly, according to Ms Nabusayi.

The Ugandan press is also faced with pirate distribution of newspapers.

"People working for the printing companies print extra copies of the newspapers which they sell in the street before the ’real’ paper is distributed. They might sell the newspaper for 500 shillings or less. It is very difficult to prevent this. The newspapers constantly change their security systems, but quite honestly we don’t know what measures to take to dispose of this problem. We cannot be at the printing house all the time, following what is happening," says Ms Nabusayi.

How does your country deal with newspaper distribution? Send your comments to rap21@wan.asso.fr
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