Newspaper first for small town
2006-10-19 12:38
Cape Town - A South African woman, now living in Madagascar, has launched a local newspaper in Fort Dauphin - the first in the history of that region.
Wendy Ann Christen, originally from Bloemfontein, married a French Canadian man - working for World Bank in Fort Dauphin - three years ago.
Initially, Christen thought she'd help her husband improve infrastructure in one of the underdeveloped areas in Madagascar.
After realising that there was no local newspaper in the area and the community was only relying on national publications, the idea of starting up a newspaper came about.
Christen said: "Although I am not a journalist by training, having done Hotel Management with Sun International for 12 years, I have a degree in Business English and Communication, and I write well," she told News24 on Thursday.
Christen plans to employ more people
Currently, Christen has five people working for her, but plans to employ more staff as the business expands.
Christen this week published the second edition of Le Dolphin Gazety - the paper covers a wide range of issues including politics, social, developmental and educational issues.
The newspaper is self-funded - Christen spent thousands to kick-start the business.
She said: "The printing of my first edition cost me $7 000 (about R42 000), all self-funded. I need advertisers desperately, as newspaper sales do not even cover one of my staff's salaries.
"I am confident though that I will get advertisers, I have only just hired my two commercial and sales managers, so they need some time to get the business in."
Fort Dauphin's population speaks mostly French, English and Malagasy. All the national newspapers are published in French and Malagasy.
Christen added: "We have a huge expatriate population here, all of whom speak English, and that is why I have included English in my paper. Being the first regional newspaper, I want it to reach all the people, and this is the best way for me to do this."