Herald's seamless role during the bitter struggle for Africans’ independence is not well sung.
Today marks the 82nd anniversary of the Pan-African paper, The Ethiopian Herald. The oldest paper that has amplified the voices of Africa during the fierce struggle against colonialism and apartheid.
One may argue that Herald represented the true voices Africa. If anything, other papers published both in the late 18th C and early 19th C onwards had protected the interests of then colonialists.
To anyone's dismay, most search engines and AI bots such as Chat GPT-4 do not include The Ethiopian Herald when you feed them with key words such as 'oldest newspapers in Africa'.
The fact of the matter is that The Ethiopian Herald played a seamless role in Africa's battle to remove the shackles of all forms of colonialism. No doubts, time will come soon to shed light on the paper's contribution in this regard.
| Year / Period | Region / Country | Newspaper(s) & Language |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Uganda | Mengo Notes (Uganda Notes), English |
| 1902–1905 | East Africa | African Standard → East African Standard, etc. |
| 1903 | South Africa | Ilanga Lase Natal, Zulu/English |
| 1908–1920s | Mozambique | O Africano, O Brado Africano |
| 1911 | Uganda | Munno, Luganda |
| 1912 | South Africa | Abantu‑Batho (ANC), multilingual |
| 1916 | Namibia | Allgemeine Zeitung, German |
| 1917+ | Malawi / Zimbabwe | Central African Times / Nyasaland Times |
| 1920s | Uganda/Kenya | Sekanyola, Gambuze, Dobzi Iya Buganda |
| 1926–1930s | Nigeria / West Africa | Nigeria Daily Times, nationalist titles |
| 1937 | Nigeria | West African Pilot, Nigerian nationalist |
| 1927 | Dahomey (Benin) | La Voix du Dahomey, French-language |
List of 'prominent' papers of the 20 C generated by Chat GPT-4
Herald did not only witness the most important turning points in the history of Africa. It was also the driving force for the creation of those crucial unfolding. The establishment and growth of UNECA cannot be imagined without Herald. When UNECA was inaugurated in Addis Ababa in 1958, Herald also became a daily paper, except Mondays, from a previous weekend paper.
The brainchild of Pan Africanism, the OAU/AU, came to view in just five years after UNECA took shape. Herald advocated for the creation of a united Africa, and has continued to reinforce Africa's unity.
The activities behind long-established papers such as Herald, at the newsroom and in the printing house is never the same though. Both the process and outcome are becoming more and more efficient due to the ever-evolving tech-driven solutions.
As we mark the day, we also contemplate about innovation, a phenomenon that is driving our world at a dazzling speed, significantly impacting the way we live.
From accessing information at the click of the button, to online
interviews, design and layout works to web-printing, newspapers and magazines
have shown tremendous transformations both in content quality and appearance.
In less than two decades, Herald turns digits to a hundred. No one will tell whether or not we happen to witness the day. And no one knows whether the print media will perish or flourish in the next decades.
It is unpredictable to determine the
type of gadget we use in those days both to disseminate and access information.
We can say one thing for certain. That is all about READING.
Reading cannot be substituted with other means of receiving information and knowledge.
There are solid reasons to back the assertion.
But let’s quote this from The University
of the People, accessed on July 2, 2025.
Reading is a neurobiological process that works out your brain muscles. As you do so, you can help to slow down cognitive decline and even decrease the rate at which memory fades. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have even found that reading reduces the level of beta-amyloid, which is a protein in the brain that is connected to Alzheimer’s. Who knew that reading could have physical, psychological, and spiritual benefits?
Prominent researchers /writers such as Bahru Zewde (Professor Emeritus at AAU), late Prof. Richard Pankhurst published various works on it. Authors like Abe Gubegna edited the paper.