Print magazines around the world seem to be on a prolonged slog towards death for a while now. Print publishing is difficult, even with a supportive ecosystem and it’s likely worse for a place like Addis Ababa. Magazines across the world are slowly shutting down as operational costs rise and advertisers rely more on digital platforms. The attention span of readers has also altered with the advent of smartphones and increasingly screen-based lives.
Magazines in Addis rise and fall with each passing year, unable to meet production and printing costs with ad sales and customer purchases. Classic staples of the form like Selamta shuttered to the devastation of readers and non-readers. Many try to establish lifestyle-based publications but rarely do they sustain enough to continue past the first year. This undoubtedly leaves most founders and editors discouraged, while few might doggedly attempt to find the perfect formula for a self-sustaining publication.
Others have chosen to move their interest online, astutely observing the digital world is the perfect outlet for publications on business, lifestyle, health, and art. Linkup Magazine is the first one that comes to mind as it combines a good layout and great pictures with curated content on living in Addis Ababa for the middle and the upper class. Restaurant reviews, nightlife, new entrepreneurial ventures, and hilariously scathing film reviews one can enjoy even if they’re unlikely to watch the movies are consistent sections of the magazine. First published in July of 2018, Linkup is consistently published each month to its 9000 subscribers on telegram.
Telegram is the premier platform to reach an audience in this local digital publishing scene. One of the benefits of using telegram and social media, says Besufekade Mulu, editor of GETZ Magazine, is the amount of interaction it allows with readers.
“I think digital publishing affords a certain kind of liberty to say what you want. You can also publish things faster. It’s not regulated by anyone and community is the most important part,” he explains.
The days of letters to the editor have been replaced with comments on websites and subtweets in some ways. One of the restrictions digital publishing eliminates is the type of content allowed. There are of course many websites dedicated to news especially focused on political affairs and their readership is large but not diverse. News rarely features in these digital magazines but instead exploring topics that are underrepresented in mainstream print media.
GETZ is a beautifully designed magazine dedicated to giving a platform to creative professionals in the country. Articles often cover issues like the creative process and the hurdles artists jump through as they attempt to present their work to bigger audiences. Most articles have the unique, quippy, often sarcastic but ultimately sincere voice of editor Besufekade. His expertly selected list of things to read, watch and listen to is always a treasure trove compiled by a person who deeply loves media and just wants to talk about it. The illustrations and design of the magazine are led by the vision of co-founder Izzat Amanuel whose Afrofuturist influences are transforming what illustration and color theory can mean.
“We wanted to create a platform where creatives would present as professionals while retaining their unique identities. We wanted to reach a wide audience online and the internet is great at that. It’s also cost-effective, we can use designs and layout options that wouldn’t be feasible on print,” says Besufekade.
Each issue of GETZ follows a theme and they spend time finding creatives that are pushing the boundaries in their creative field. “We think that it’s really hard for a professional involved in the industry to be taken seriously because of the many negative perceptions and unfair industry standards and modes of operation. Moreover, while there is great talent present in Ethiopia, quality standards aren’t clear. What’s being promoted isn’t always what’s best.” explains Besufekade.
“I’ve learned that there are amazing contemporary writers who have great stories to tell and creative styles of writing to show… they just didn’t get the platform and maybe didn’t think the process of publishing online and reaching a new audience would be this easy,” says Teka Haile, co-founder of Aterira magazine.
Aterira focuses on publishing creative fiction, mostly in Amharic. The tone, in classic Amharic literary style, is often wry, a microcosm of how the personal is political. It slips between angst and expressing the doubts and insecurities about being a young person in a socio-economically complex world against the backdrop of the political minefield of Ethiopia. The writers are recurring and readers can get familiar with their writing style and most use pseudonyms. One of the writers, Bezawit Zerihun, also known as Bez Brown on Aterira published a book recently titled Yemehal Lij.
“I’m glad we are bringing those young and unique creative writers to the light. Sometimes the selection process would be difficult as most of the writers send in a lot of great pieces to choose from. But we always save the ones we didn’t publish for the next issue.” says Teka. “We are in the inevitable digital era and most of the youth are shifting towards that habit – which is getting their news online, socializing online, and such. We thought it would be wise to use the medium and reach the audience easily.”
Another magazine with a wide readership among high school and university students is ከTsenat. Founder Heldana Michael is a law student at Addis Ababa University and she has been publishing ከTsenat since January 2019.
ከTsenat is a lifestyle magazine that often includes articles and essays on daily life, mental health, fashion, music, and sometimes poetry. “You have to consistently be creative. We try to stay relevant to what’s happening and what people are doing. It keeps you on your toes,” says Heldana. This passion-driven project has 28 Amharic and English writers volunteering their time to the magazine.
“There are diverse voices and they are being expressed creatively. This brings content diversity for an audience that is thirsted for it. The media world is still in its infancy and this platform can be the necessary catalyst to help grow it. You can see what’s working and what’s not too. There are relatively objective metrics that can help gauge audience interest.” says Besufekade.
Social media platforms allow for direct engagement with readers and built-in algorithms can help measure the frequency of visits, time spent on a page, scrolling through a page, and sharing of content with others. These can be great tools for understanding how well the publication is doing, especially since sales don’t enter the equation. All these magazines are provided free.
Submitting to the whims of advertisers or giving in to companies they don’t morally agree with is a frequent occurrence in publishing. Branded content can sometimes be misleading to readers and the bulk of ads in an issue can overwhelm the purpose of a publication. However, without any income source, all these writers and designers are working on these publications for free.
Teka explains that it’s not easy to manage full-time jobs and publish Atirera but is sure they’ll continue. “It could be tough but since we also like to read and we want people to enjoy what those new-age creatives are writing, we manage. For now, the focus is supporting and encouraging new creative writers to write.”
All these publications have considered print at some point but are not certain when the right time to try could be. “We do have plans to monetize and make this our full-time jobs,” says Besufekade, “We’re not sure how but we will find a way.” It’s a big gamble but the reliability of digital publishing is undeniable at this time and it’s only likely to grow.
