SIERRA LEONE, Freetown: Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and Guild Of Editors (GOE) have in a consultative and reformation meeting yesterday Monday 24th January at the CCSL hall agreed to increase advertising prices in newspapers due to the escalating prices of materials, given that it has taken almost 18 years since there was an increment.
Chairman of The Guild Donald Theo-Harding said that the price increases over the years and other challenges faced by editors and publishers have given cause for the price review.
What the newspapers spend on production and the constant increase of printing materials have affected the market and both parties will look at ways on how they can work together with investors to bring in print materials that they will sell on cost recovery basis.
The President of SLAJ Ahmed Sahid Nasrallah said it is good that finally the Guild and SLAJ have met in the MRCG/NED sponsored program to chart the way forward for restructuring the Guild as well as look at the cost of printing and the advertising rates.
“For the past two years I have been calling on NASSIT to work with SLAJ on how they can help us import printing materials that newspapers will buy at a cheaper rate and the profit will go back to SLAJ and Guild. If we can come together and work as a team we would be able to get this done and we would be able to address the advert prices that we have not done in over a decade. This we must do today, I am happy that we have majority of the editors present.”
With a unanimous voice the Publishers and Editors agreed that the advert prices should be increased and that it would be communicated to all by press release that all newspapers will publish.
The Guild and SLAJ agreed that the new advert prices will be as follows:
Full page black and white will be increased from Le800,000 to Le1 million. Half page black and white from Le600,000 to Le800,000; Quarter page from Le500,000 to Le700,000, and Centerspread from Le1,600,000 to Le2,000,000, all for black and white.
For colored pages, the new prices agreed that a full page colored costing Le2 million will now be Le2,500,000; Centerspread from Le4 million will now be Le5 million; half page from Le1,200,000 will now be Le1,500,000.
Concerning bottom strips the bodies agreed that the cost will be negotiated by the papers and all these new prices will take effect beginning 1st March, 2022.
Guild of Editors and SLAJ agreed that the newspapers should publish the press release until the 1st of March when the new prices will take effect. AT/25/1/2022
