Journalism professor and students
produce independent publication
Professors and
students at the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE) have launched
an independent newspaper that has a mission to inform the public and train a
new generation of journalists.
Bernardino Ndze Biyoa, editor
of the independent newspaper El Lector, is a professor of communications
at UNGE’s Malabo campus.
“We saw that with El
Lector, we could do something different. That is, working on the same
subject matters as other media, but with a different editorial line, more
objective and directed to the population,” he said.
Ndze Biyoa describes the government’s response to El
Lector as “very positive.” The government reaches out to El Lector for coverage of issues and
events at home and abroad, and the newspaper counts most government ministers
and President Obiang
Nguema Mbasogo as regular readers.
“We are working very well together,” said Ndze Biyoa. “We have not had any
problems.”
El Lector also has
an educational mission because reporters are college students studying
journalism. Journalism is a relatively new profession in Equatorial Guinea, and
most of the people in the national media have not been trained in the craft of
news reporting and writing. As a university professor, Ndze Biyoa works with
journalism students to give them practical experience through the newspaper.
“We go over the theory in class and practice on the work
they do at the newspaper. We select the best pieces and we publish them,” He
said.
Ndze Biyoa says that El
Lector’s fundamental challenge is economic. He started the newspaper with
personal funds and support from friends. To meet current expenses, El Lector seeks advertising and news
from companies in Equatorial Guinea and sells the paper at kiosks, grocery
stores and other locations in the country
“The revenue we make, we need to leave it mostly for the
paper to keep it running, Mr. Ndze Biyoa said. “When there’s something left
over, we distribute it among the writers. At the moment, they don’t get a
paycheck; we incentivize them to continue to work. If we had the resources, we would have salaries and everyone would get a
normal paycheck.”
Ndze Biyoa says he wants to create a website to be able to
reach people in Europe and Asia. “It’s something we are working on for next
year, and we’re trying to save money. For instance, if we had 2 million CFAs,
next year we could have a website.”
El Lector is
currently published twice a month and
provides social, economic, and cultural news. It was established a year and-a-half
ago as an effort to provide more independent and non-governmental focused news
to Equatoguinean citizens.
