Abstract

Communication is said to be very effective when the intended message is well transmitted by the sender to the receiver and the receiver is left in a state of complete understanding. Thus, when the information from the source is well understood by the receiver, there is communication.

The implication here is that, the readership of publications from the print media such as newspapers, magazines, banners, fliers, solely depends on the receivers because the journals and other printed material are readily available for public consumption. Therefore, the study is focused on the readership of newspapers amongst youths and students in Buea.

In this study, we set out to see why people are not connected to newspapers as before, considering that they are the ancient landmark and remain the main source of information and the best that is always referred to, what is that thing that influences people’s attitudes towards newspapers to decline. So, we have to assess what accounts for the limited readership of these papers amongst youths and students and also to examine whether prices have a direct influence on newspaper readership.

The data was collected through the administering of questionnaires to a cross-section of youths and students in Buea. Findings indicate that due to the difficult economic situation, price has a direct influence on readership due to the fact that papers cannot be bought on a daily basis. Also found out that the advent of the internet and social media, poor quality of newspapers, sensational and empty titles, outdated and unresearched information has a direct influence on readership.

With these findings, it can be concluded that a majority of youths and students do not read newspapers which acts as ignorance and just a few do in order to be informed. Therefore, the researcher recommends that students and youths should cultivate the habit of reading newspapers frequently, publishers should endeavor to do an abridged version of these papers in order to curb prices, the researcher recommends that the publishers should do a thorough research to improve on the content of information before publishing, publishers should always do online publications, lastly government help to newspapers should be regular.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Study

The term newspaper became common in the 17th century in Germany, publications that would be considered today as newspapers were for the following reasons; they were printed, appeared at regular intervals and had frequent publication intervals including a variety of news items, these news items were produced at the printing press.

A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium such as paper, cloth thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods. Typically used for texts, the invention and global spread of the printing press was one of the most influential events in the second millennium.

In Germany, around 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, which started the printing revolution. Gutenberg’s most important innovation was the development of hand-molded metal printings matrices, thus producing a movable type-based printing press system, making possible the precise and rapid creation of movable type in large quantities. These two inventions; the hand mold and the printing press together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents in Europe particularly for shorter print runs.

The printing press spread in several decades in over two hundred cities in a dozen European countries, introducing mass communication are which permanently altered the structure of the society, thus circulating information and ideas across borders and captured the masses in the reformation and threatened the power of political and religious authorities. This sharp increase in literacy broke the monopoly of the literate elite on education and learning across Europe, also increasing cultural self-awareness to its people.

In the 19th century, the replacement of the hand-operated Gutenberg –style press by steam–powered rotatory press allowed printing on an industrial scale. Gutenberg’s improved version of the printing press led to the rapid economic and socio-cultural development of the intellectual and technological conditions. Technological conditions led to the manufacturing of papers, the development of ink, woodblock printing, and the distribution of eyeglasses.

Gutenberg adopted the basic design thereby mechanizing the printing process. However, printing puts a demand on the machine quite different from pressing. To speed up the printing process, he introduced movable Undertale with a plane surface on which the sheets could be swiftly changed. He also improved the process by treating typesetting and printing as two separate work steps, his type pieces from a lead-based alloy which suited printing purpose so well that it is still used today.

Another development was the success of medieval papermakers at mechanizing paper manufacture. The introduction of water-powered paper mills, the first certain evidence of which dates to 1282 allowed for a massive expansion of production and replaced the laborious handicraft characteristics of both Chinese and Muslim papermaking. In the 13th century, the papermaking centers began to multiply in Italy, reducing the price of paper to one-sixth parchments then falling.

It appears that the final breakthrough of paper depended on the rapid spread of movable-type printing. Codies of parchment, which in terms of quality is superior to any other writing material. After much experiment, Gutenberg managed to overcome the difficulties which water-based inks caused by soaking the paper and found the formula for an oil-based ink suitable for high-quality printing with metal type.

The first weekly newspaper was published in Germany by Johann Carolus in 1604, called Relation aller Furnemmen und gedenckwurdigen Historien, the publication satisfied the four tenets of a “true” newspaper that is accessibility by the public, published at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly), information is current,  covers a variety of topics( politics, events, entertainment, sports). Later on, the first English newspaper was published in 1665 in Oxford, England is known as the Oxford Gazette, it later moved to London in 1666 and was renamed the London Gazette, which still been published today.

At first, newspapers were sold to the literate and wealthy Americans who could afford to pay for subscriptions in advance. In the 1830s it all changed when advances in printing and papermaking made it possible to sell newspapers for one percent per copy. This increased the rate of literacy as well as the technological advancements such as the telegraph-which made it possible to quickly share news over great distances. While the rotatory press contributed to newspaper growth, the penny press made newspapers affordable to the entire public and spurred an explosion of newspaper publishers across the United States.

The industrial revolution spawned giant presses capable of printing 10,000 papers per hour and contributed to massive growth in the newspaper industry from 2,526 papers in 1850 to more than 11, 0000 papers in 1880. By 1890, some papers boasted circulations in excess of one million copies.

In addition to mass production, the technologies of this period made it possible to feature detailed illustrations published as pictorial weeklies. These illustrations were printed from woodcut engravings made from reports sketches or another new revolutionary technology-photograph. By the early 20th century, newspapers included features that are recognized in modern newspapers today; banner headlines, photos and illustrations, comics, and sports coverage in addition to the political and event news.

Newspaper design has evolved with the addition of color. Color photographs and color elements changed the look of the newspapers, and though color printing seems a modern advancement.  The first color comic in an American newspaper made its appearance in1894, though it was not the first use of color in newspapers-the Milwaukee Journal used blue and red to commemorate an election in 1891. Color printing is expensive and newspapers did not adopt it as mainstream until the 1990s. Still, at the top of the information food chain, newspapers began to face serious competition with the mass production of the radio beginning in the 1920s and television 1940s.

Today, the newspaper industry continues to face challenges as the digital age threatens their survival (digital printing is when you reproduce a digital-based image to print format, using a physical surface like paper, film, plastic, photographic paper, or cloth. The number of daily newspapers in the US has decreased from 1,730 in 1981 to 1331 in 2014.

This trend is likely to continue s consumer consumption of news has shifted towards digital delivery which is cheaper from a production standpoint, as print newspapers decrease, the number of unique visitors to newspaper websites increases. A more telling trend from 2014 to 2015, the newspaper advert revenues fell by 7%, during that same period, digital advert revenues for online newspapers increased by 20%.

In 2015, digital audiences for online newspapers peaked at at least 180 million readers. Of the estimated 5 billion newspaper readers in the world, 3 billion read the print form. In addition, certain nitches and industries may prefer print over digital; particularly demographic-targeted industries that focus on senior citizens and others who might be reluctant to adapt to an online world.

However, it is easier to produce an online newspaper, yet possible to achieve greater advertisement revenues. Business minded publishers will increasingly focus on delivering digital content and drop print production.

Journalism in Cameroon is a strong phenomenon influenced by the pattern of the nation’s past. The first newspaper to appear in Cameroon was produced by the European religious missions in the early 1900s, written in the native languages. They attempted to teach the norms and values of the new civilization been introduced by the local chiefs, they also encouraged the people to respect and serve colonial authority.

They were not journalists as such, the articles were written by missionaries, local officials, and native contributors. Thus, from the very beginning the Cameroonian press had its intention not only to inform but also to persuade readers to agree with a point of view; interview of May 9th, 1991, public and private press in Cameroon by Gallagher, Mani Ekoudi, and Francoise Marie.

The French colonial period saw the emergence of the first “opposition” press in the 1920s, produced by Cameroonians themselves and challenging European domination. This press was a means of expression, a weapon for the colonized blacks, and in the final analysis played a role in the integration of the dominated African masses.

Several obstacles face thus early press, first was the lack of adequate means of production and distribution as few printing press were in the hands of the Africans. The second was the illiteracy rate of the majority of Cameroonians. These greatly hindered the ability of the press to integrate a mass audience and continue to hurt the effectiveness of the press today.

One of the notable papers was Mbale “The Truth”, a paper written and printed by Cameroonians in French which intended to reveal the “hidden truth” to the Cameroonian people. This honestly did not impress colonial administrators who shut down the paper after three issues in 1929, despite these problems, this period saw the first use of newspapers as a means of political education of the masses. Of the the71newspapers that came and went during this period (1945 to 1959), at least forty were attached directly to one of the ninety-one political parties in the country.

After Cameroon gained independence in 1960, the opposition press still existed but lost much of its impact. More neutral and pro-government papers appeared, notably the paper, La Presse Du Cameroun. The number of newspapers dropped from 30 to 9 in just five years (in Ahidjo’s new single-party UNC government, created four months before).

No newspapers appeared until 1974 when the government created a publishing house, The Societe De Presse d’Editions du Cameroun (SOPECAM) and its newspaper Cameroon Tribune. This paper of the state dutifully recorded government activity and national events and frequently enjoyed a near-monopoly at the kiosks.

Thirty or so newspapers appeared and disappeared, all of which supported the regime. In most cases for lack of another viable option, most were heavy on sports and avoided politics.

Biya’s democratization program, ‘Le Renouveau’ or ‘New Deal’ aid makes journalism a practical enterprise again if not, always a profitable one. Many new independent papers came up and were hailed by Biya’s supporters as signs of the new democratic age. Meanwhile, the Tribune established itself as the mouthpiece of the state and Biya’s ruling party now called the CDPM.

The state or public owned newspapers are; Journal Officiel de la Republique du Cameroun, which announces the publication of laws, and Cameroon Tribune, the official national daily produced in French and English.

The privately-owned are; Le Messager- weekly best-selling newspapers, Mutations, La Nouvelle Expression-includes an online edition, The Herald-includes an online edition, The Post-includes English online edition, Le Popoli-humour paper, La Voix du Paysan, La Nouvelle Tribune-weekly economic and financial news, Le Jour, Dikolo, Eden newspaper, The Guardian Post, The Star, The Rambler  and The Sun.

The researcher’s focus is on the readership of newspaper readership amongst students and youths in the Buea municipality. With the various di-openings of the social media that is WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, it has become impossible for youths and students to read newspapers. Rather, they turn to belief in the information gotten on the medium above.

It is becoming rare by the day and the hour to see youths and students in front of newspapers kiosks either scanning through newspapers or buying them. These youths and students do not even know where these papers are sold or how much they are sold in Buea.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

One of the best ways to inform, educate and entertain the population is through the writing and publishing of newsworthy articles in the various print medium in Cameroon, Buea in particular. The problem is that, why are people not connected to newspapers as before, what it is that makes people’s attitudes towards newspapers decline, also noticed that newspaper kiosks are very few in Buea which hinders readership.

1.3 Research Questions

1. Why the limited number of newspaper kiosks in Buea?
2. Why is newspaper readership not common amongst youths and students in Buea?
3. Can prices influence newspaper readership?
4. Are students aware of the existence of these papers?