Namibia: Government paper goes daily
The Namibian Government’s bi-weekly New Era newspaper went daily on Monday, August 2 2004, amid questions about its financial viability and the possible burden on the taxpayer. The Chief Executive Officer of the New Era Publication Corporation, Protasius Ndauendapo, said that while the company expected its costs to escalate "the bottom line is that by going daily we will be making a profit".
MISA Communiqué (Namibia)
August 4, 2004
Government paper goes daily
Source: The Namibian
The Namibian Government’s bi-weekly New Era newspaper went daily on Monday, August 2 2004, amid questions about its financial viability and the possible burden on the taxpayer.
The Chief Executive Officer of the New Era Publication Corporation, Protasius Ndauendapo, said that while the company expected its costs to escalate "the bottom line is that by going daily we will be making a profit".
"Our printing costs will definitely go up because we will be printing five times, but we projected this to be offset by increased advertising and sales revenue," he said.
However, he was unable to provide any figures for advertising, sales or costs.
Speaking at the launch of the daily publication at a Windhoek hotel, Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab cautioned that the efficiency and profitability of any newspaper depended on its flexibility and competitiveness.
"Thus, one of the reasons why the [New Era] newspaper has been transformed into a parastatal was to enhance its integrity and self-reliance," the Premier noted.
New Era, together with the other two State-run media institutions, the NBC and Nampa, took about 72 per cent of the N$152,4 million allocated to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in this year's national Budget.
And critics expect the three institutions to continue drawing more resources from taxpayers, despite the commercialisation of both New Era and Nampa.
Ndauendapo said the main difference of a daily New Era would be to focus on exclusive stories and rural reporting as opposed to the current situation where the newspaper relied heavily on feature articles.
"There will be minor hiccups at the beginning but I am confident with time we will be able to overcome them," he said.
Ends
Zoé Titus
Regional Programme Manager: Media Freedom Monitoring
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
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