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.
In April this year a new regional weekly appeared on newsstands in Ghana. Despite initial financial losses and ongoing challenges to attract new advertisers, the man behind The Effia Kwesimintsim Observer is hopeful that these obstacles can be overcome. RAP 21 spoke to publisher Nana Kofi Coomson about staying close to his readers, developing his advertising sales network and drawing on the infrastructure of his other publication, the Ghanaian Chronicle.
With a 21 percent yearly increase in sales since its launch three years ago, the Zulu language newspaper "Isolezwe" is one of the most prosperous newspapers in South Africa today. Through writing about daily life in a local language, Isolezwe has earned a reputation as being close to the its readers and valuing them.