Of abundant newspapers but fewer buyers
It’s a huge irony that Ghana currently has one of the most vibrant media landscapes in the world, as well as a multitude of newspapers, but this is also the era when the price is preventing people from buying papers.
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That was the gist of my remarks when I spoke at a media event in Accra earlier this week. The occasion was the observance of this year’s World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), under the global theme, ‘Access to information and fundamental freedoms – this is your right!’
Currently, it appears that active newspapers in Ghana number about 40.
Strangely, the matter of declining sales and readership is the one subject our newspapers shy away from, even in their editorials. Maybe it’s because they don’t want to be seen as making a tacit admission that they’re losing circulation.
But, as with other problems, if you don’t speak out about an ailment, how do you find a remedy? How can the decision-makers, the Government, appreciate the gravity of the matter if there is no sustained campaign about it?
The annual commemoration of WPFD is held on May 3. This year’s celebration also marked the 25th anniversary of the adoption of what is known as the Windhoek Declaration, a set of press freedom principles.
I was one of the participants at the historic UN and UNESCO conference, held in Windhoek, Namibia, from April 29 to May 3, 1991, that gave birth to the Declaration. It was designated as the ‘Seminar on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press’ and I was invited in my capacity as co-founder and Editor of The Monitor, a weekly newspaper. (My ‘brother’ and colleague Mr Ken Bediako was the other founder.)
My reflections on this year’s theme were on, from a slightly different perspective, two of the concerns addressed by the Declaration, summarised as:
(a) “By an independent press, we mean a press independent from governmental, political or economic control or from control of materials … essential for the production and dissemination of newspapers, magazines and periodicals” and,
(b) “By a pluralistic press, we mean ….the greatest possible number of newspapers, magazines and periodicals reflecting the widest possible range of opinion within the community”.
There was a period in this country when apart from the direct controls discussed in Windhoek, other, underhand, tactics were used by people in authority to sabotage private media.
Thus, as I joked at the WPFD observance, by the time the benefits of the Namibia conference were being harvested by others, the Monitor, had collapsed. Yet, during its short life, it was recognised as a pace-setter. Among other things, it was the first eight-page, broadsheet, independent paper at a time when the norm was four pages.
The long delay in getting Parliament pass Ghana’s Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill into law, is undoubtedly a source of great frustration to journalists. However, to me another aspect of the access to information issue is that newspapers in Ghana are getting more and more expensive.
Obviously at GH¢2.50 a copy, for many people buying a newspaper has become an unaffordable luxury. Also, those who can afford to buy newspapers tend to rely on the other news sources at their disposal, which they claim have more satisfying content.
We are a nation encouraging people to read, and yet even one newspaper a day is apparently too expensive for the average household. And at present I don’t know of a single vernacular newspaper here. I would be very happy to be proved wrong!
Evidently, a newspaper in the house can be an invitation to all the household to read it, including the children, thus helping them form a reading habit.
While we continue to ask questions about the FOI Bill, we need to also campaign for an appreciable reduction in the taxes on newspaper production materials, such as newsprint, so that newspapers can be affordable again; to boost circulation and help sustain the newspaper industry.
After all, in this country, almost all the news that people get from the electronic media is generated by the print media, so why shouldn’t the public be enabled to get the news in full from the original source?
The irony is that now in Ghana we have the vibrancy and the numbers – although professionalism is still an issue – but taxes and the economic situation have put the price of newspapers beyond the reach of many.
Print journalists all over the world are mourning the fast dwindling newspaper buyers and readers. But elsewhere I believe that price is not the issue, but factors such as the Internet.
As I have written in this space before, it used to be that in our communities, one of the marks of an educated or sophisticated person was being seen as a newspaper reader. However, these days the mobile phone, the smart phone and the tablet are conquering all in their paths.
Even in Accra, beyond the city centre, one can go for long stretches without seeing a single news-stand. If the trend continues, there will be a time when students will not be able to answer the question ‘what is a news-stand?’
Shockingly, even people who need to be well-informed by reason of their work or position in the society confess unashamedly, that they don’t read papers! To my mind, this situation should be a worry to everybody, especially the Government, policy-makers and opinion leaders
The gravity of the loss of newspaper sales and readers lies not just in the impact on the sustainability of the industry, but, equally, it has serious consequences for the country. In the final analysis, it is about literacy and information. Citizens need the long-lasting benefits that newspapers offer to participate fully in decision-making.
Editors and the media family need to keep focusing attention on the importance of making newspapers affordable again. The Government has to be concerned; the crippling import duties on the production materials must be reduced!
In our context, in the African situation, affordability of newspapers needs to be seen as another side of access to information and a fundamental right.