Around the world, print media – particularly newspapers – is under threat in the more developed countries. However, this is not the case in Africa, where slow and unreliable internet access throughout most of the continent has actually helped spur the sale of newspapers in some places.
To meet the growing demand for print news in East Africa, the region’s largest newspaper publisher – Nation Media Group’s Daily Nation – recently invested US$20 million in a new printing press.
According to an AFKInsider report, even though most internet users on the continent get their daily news fix on their mobile phones via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the click-through rate on news links found on these sites remain low due to slow connections and the amount of data they consume, resulting in users still buying the print alternative.