“The Adoption Of A Bilingual Daily Was A Welcome Initiative”

Cameroon Tribune today clocks exactly 50 years of existence. As one of the pioneers of the newspaper on July 1, 1974, what memories do you have of the first edition and its early days? 
The humble beginning of our national paper, Cameroon Tribune, has given way to what anyone of us can be proud of. From a 24-page daily in French and a 16-page weekly in English, this print medium of mass communication is today a 32-page coloured bilingual daily. Its content and presentation deserve the congratulations of the publisher, the managerial and editorial staff. 
However, the journey to this level was not an easy. Technical and editorial constraints, for example, stemmed from limited financial means which made difficult the employment of enough journalists and technical staff for the various aspects of newspaper production. In the absence of computers and internet, cell phones and other means of digital communication, the staff depended on type writers, tele-printers and what was available at the time as a printing press installed by the Cameroon Graphics Industries, AGRACAM.
With limited staff, news gathering and processing was irksome. For the staff of the English language weekly, their problems were aggravated by language problems. Texts for exploitation, or speeches, and news releases were mostly in French. This made it difficult for staff of the English bi-weekly, especially those who were not bilingual, to handle coverages and produce material for publication promptly.
In the absence of page makeup editors (page design desk), journalists had to lay the pages themselves. The coordinator of the weekly himself handled the design of the front page and Home news pages. This was a kind of baptism of fire for the young graduates from the Yaounde International School of Journalism. But these journalists worked hard to develop their skills on the job while facing the challenge of seeing their newspaper improve in content and presentation.

What in your opinion is the greatest achievement of the national bilingual daily in its half a century of existence? 
Despite all the constraints the paper faced during its early days, the most impressive elements or gesture worth appreciation is the fact that despite the challenges of the print media, the lag in Cameroon’s reading culture and the difficult circulation of the paper, the managerial and editorial departments have always worked hard to sustain Cameroon Tribune’s credibility while competing with the private press and the social media, the paper has not been tempted to be sensational or involved in fake news.
During the economic crisis, Cameroon Tribune was badly affected but did not close down.  Instead, more readers were attracted because of objective and careful handling of coverages. The adoption of a bilingual daily was a welcome initiative. For, it portrays greatly the multicultural status of our country and the importance attached to the two official languages.
Over the years, the pape...