The National Catholic Communication Council opened last February 20 in Yaoundé. Catholic journalists, who are participating in this meeting, are reflecting on ways to boost L’Effort camerounais, the Church newspaper founded in 1955 by Mgr Pierre Bonneau when he was bishop of the diocese of Douala.
The roadmap for this revitalization project is known. The Catholic Church wants to reposition L’Effort camerounais at the head of the gondola of kiosks in the national triangle. But on the other hand, nothing is said about the approach that will be adopted to achieve this objective. All we know for the moment is that the National Communication Council is responsible for pushing the thinking to offer readers content that is both “unifying” and of quality.
The members of this council are also considering ways to find sources of self-financing to support the production of L’Effort camerounais. A specification is currently being drafted.
As a reminder, L’Effort camerounais had a long history in the media landscape of Cameroon before taking a nosedive and disappearing from newsstands in 1992. It was relaunched two years later by Mgr Christian Tumi, former archbishop of the diocese of Douala. In recent years, the newspaper has evolved unevenly before disappearing from the radar again. Last year, the National Communication Council of the Catholic Church chose to resurrect it.