La presse panafricaine, un modèle à réinventer?

In this article the author delves into the world of the Pan-African press. It had its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but today, has shriveled away. Because of a fragile economic model, erosion of the purchasing power of readers, depressed advertising market, competition from new media, unsystematic management, today, there are no more than four or five Pan-African magazines in addition to some specialized publications focusing on economic information. Edited in Paris, Geneva or London, they remain true to their original dual purpose: to cover news of the Continent and to propose an “African perspective” on world issues. They also have in common the fact that they remained within the fold of their founder. This independence, which was the norm a few decades ago, is now a remarkable singularity, at a time when most of the media are now backed by major industrial or communication groups. A source of pride for their leadership, this jealously cultivated independence is also an objective constraint, which requires them to balance their accounts and checks their investment capacity. And this, at a time when information is becoming increasingly expensive to produce…