Electronic newspapers thrive
In Mozambique Radio is still the most important channel of communication for giving people news and information in Mozambique. Rádio Moçambique, the state radio network, and the country’s 80 or more community radio stations are widely listened to – especially in rural areas. But Mozambique has also developed some innovative ways of producing and distributing independent newspapers.
In other countries, printed newspapers often produce online offshoots.
But in Mozambique the reverse is true. Local publications often start off distributing by fax or email. They only develop a printed version once they have really got going.
The influential local weekly Whampula Fax in the northern city of Nampula has gone down this route.
Local media analysts says it is now more widely read in Nampula province than the government daily newspaper Notiicas.
Faisca (which means Spark in Portuguese), a weekly newspaper in Lichinga, capital of the northern province of Niassa, is another regional publication which was originally distributed by fax and email only. It now distributes a printed edition whenever possible.
Many independent electronic newspapers are run as a side-line by journalists who also work for the state media. They report the news much more frankly in their private publications and are often trenchant in their criticism of the authorities.
Electronic newspaper distribution began with the creation of Mozambique’s first independent daily newspaper, Mediafax, in 1992.
Mediafax was distributed exclusively by fax to paying subscribers. This saved the cost of printing and physical distribution.
It rapidly became a respected and influential alternative source of news to the state media. The founders of Mediafax subsequently set up a companion printed weekly called Savana. Both have acquired a reputation for fearless investigative reporting.
With the arrival of the internet, Mediafax and many other privately owned electronic newspapers set up in imitation of it, began migrating to email distribution.
Newspapers circulated by fax and email are cheap and easy to set up. Many of them have been important in breaking local news stories which the mainstream state media ignores or tries to play down.
A subsequent breakthrough to print enables these private publications to dramatically expand their readership.
But even where these newspapers only distribute electronically, the news they break is soon spread onwards by word of mouth.
Another successful newspaper experiment in Mozambique has been the development of @Verdade (@Truth), a free printed newspaper in the capital Maputo.
This weekly free sheet focuses on service delivery issues.
It is widely read in the city’s poorest suburbs, where many people are literate but do not ready other newspapers, because they cannot afford to buy them.
Only one million Mozambican’s – less than 5% of the population – are estimated to access to the internet. It is still the preserve of the educated urban elite.
The landline telephone network is similarly restricted.
Nevertheless, fax remains an important method of communication – especially when dealing with government officials.
A faxed letter or an SMS message often produces a faster reaction than an email.