The first newspaper in Africa was established in Mauritius in 1773 by the French. It was called in French “Annonces, Affiches et Avis Divers pour les Colonies des Isles de France” (Announcements, Posters and Different Opinions from the French Colonies and Bourbon) newspaper, which was the first in Africa, was the first published on January 13, 1773 by Nicolas Lambert. The name of the newspaper is so long that it sounds like the headline of a story or a legal statement. As one can see the name of the first newspaper in Africa is too long by the standards of modern journalism.
Nowadays, the names of newspapers are not only shorter but also reflect the main focus, philosophy, objective or symbol of the paper. Maybe in those days newspapers were expected to be as much explicit as possible when they give names to the early newspapers. Nowadays, the names of newspapers are more implicit and subtler than during the centuries gone by. Anyway, the first newspaper in Africa was published 250 years ago, long before colonialism was deeply entrenched in the continent. It is to be recalled that colonialism was a 19th century phenomenon that has brought misery and suffering to Africa in the name of Western “civilizing mission”.
The second oldest newspaper is the Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser, which was the first South African newspaper. The newspaper as printed weekly from August 16, 1800, to around 1929 by the British South African government. We can keep on providing a list of the first newspapers that appeared in Africa in the course of the 20th century. For our purpose here, we can perhaps divide the development of newspaper publishing and the print media in Africa into two major historical stages, namely the colonial and post-colonial periods.
What prevailed in pre-colonial Africa was predominantly an oral culture where knowledge as well as information was transmitted vertically from the rulers to the people vertically or in a top-down way, while the written word made its first appearance after colonialism forced Africans to adopt its languages and cultures. Ethiopia and a few African countries were exceptions whereby they could develop their own scripts and escape from full-fledged colonial dominations of their cultures and languages.
According to available data, “From the eighteenth century onwards the colonial situation shaped what it meant to be an African writer, shaped the language of African writing and over-determined the culture of letters in Africa.” This included the development of newspaper and/or print media culture that were largely shaped by European colonial interests in mind while there were a few exceptions to this rule. In the case of East Africa for instance, newspaper printing was started by Indian entrepreneurs who produced newspapers both in their languages and in English, thereby providing a solid basis for the relative growth and development of the print media in the region.
From 1773 to 1891, there were some 14 newspapers published in African countries under British colonial rule. Historical records testify to the fact that Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa were countries where modern newspapers first appeared. These newspapers had an impact in the history of Africa in terms of shaping both government and public opinions and in developing political attitudes vis a vis colonialism and its impacts. According to the same sources, “newspaper publication was restricted by the government policies and lack of sufficient technology for frequent and bulk production. However, in countries such as South Africa, the publication of newspapers came as a relief for many who could now access government information and services.”
In an essay entitled, “Print Media in the Colonial Word”, Mohamed Eishahed, writes that “Across the colonial world, the nineteenth and twentieth century saw a flourishing of newspapers and periodicals. Some fleeting newssheets, others enduring forums of discussion, some published by colonial state, others by enterprising editors and entrepreneurs. In recent years, a growing body of literature has explored the role of these print media in colonial societies. This however tended to focus on the content rather than on the form, mining newspaper for information rather than considering their constitution.”
Another study on African media under colonialism, entitled “Africa: Media System” by Winston Mano maintains that, “Following the partition of Africa in Berlin in 1884, the colonial era saw the establishment of mass media systems that initially served minority white settlers located in the emerging urban centers. Both early print and broadcasting frameworks were affected by the different policies and approaches of the colonial powers.”
The same author discussed the spread of the mass media in general and the print media in particular in sub-Saharan Africa by saying that, “The spread and access to the mass media in sub-Saharan Africa has been a highly uneven process. Estimates vary as accurate and up-to-date figures are very hard to find, but development has been rapid in the past 50 years.”
The post-colonial or post-independence period has witnessed the continuation of this rapid growth in the print media. The same author maintains that, “One of the most obvious features of Sub-Sahara African media is that the print media were introduced in different parts of the region. The press in English-speaking West Africa was the earliest in Sub-Saharan Africa…The beginnings of the press in East Africa were not only different from other parts of Africa, it was largely created for its settler populations. The first paper was established in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombassa in 1902 by a member of the Asian community, A.M. Jeevanjee.”
The French colonial authorities had a different approach from that of the British. According to Winston Mano, “The French, in keeping with their policy of assimilation of Africans into French culture, preferred to freely circulate newspapers produced in the metropolis to their African colonies. It was much later, in the 1930s, before citizens who were deemed to be in good standing with the French colonial authorities were allowed to publish in the colonies.”
The 20th century has largely witnessed the exponential growth in the African media in general and the print media in particular. As we can see from the above statements, the post-independence period saw the explosion in African newspapers that advocate and fight for the continent’s genuine economic and political liberation. In these countries, a polarized newspaper culture slowly appeared reflecting the differences in the political perceptions of the different classes and groups of people including those of newspaper owners, as well as the political and the educated elite. At the dawn of this century, phenomenal advances in communication technology have made the media landscape in the world in general and in Africa in particular more crowded, more democratic and at the same time more chaotic.
According to the author we quoted above, “Regulatory and technological issues dominate the twenty first century African media system. There are increased calls and moves towards more diverse media frameworks. State monopolies have been undermined by a wave of deregulation, commercialization and privatization of broadcasting and telecommunication. Demands for democratic changes have included calls for democratization of the media space and technological changes have increased technical options, allowing plurality in the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors.”
The African print media, both the conventional and modern ones, are increasingly playing positive roles in shaping public opinion and producing new ideas as well as serving as platforms for African intellectuals who are working for the continent’s comprehensive liberation or emancipation. Some of the pioneering African countries and journalists who are producing the print medium outputs are fighting to produce contents that can help change Africa’s image from Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” to the new motto of “Africa Rising”. However, images of Africa in the Western media are still deeply troubling and psychologically disturbing.
The print media in Africa have witnessed tremendous growth largely assisted by the above-indicated technological advances. Nowadays, hundreds of millions of Africans have become social media users in a record time. The traditional or conventional print media is increasingly giving way to the internet-fueled publishing alternatives. New online publications are finding their niches in the otherwise chaotic and highly diversified social media environment. New generations of African journalists and writers are claiming their places in this dynamic environment while talented professionals of the print medium are claiming their rightful place to make the Africa a better place for its people.
Journalism in the African context is still a job far from being completed. The future of African media in general and print medium in particular is now brighter than ever before despite the challenges that are coming from actors and factors that are contrary to the development of free speech and democracy. Africa is still struggling to achieve genuine independence from neo-colonial influences, thoughts and practices. In this new environment, social media may be both a boon and a bane depending on what the new generations of African journalists choose to use these opportunities to contribute to the creation of a new and totally emancipated Africa.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD 5 JULY 2023
