MASERU — Lesotho’s only Sunday paper hits the streets this weekend, heralding a new era for the country’s nascent media industry.
The Sunday Express will be Africa Media Holdings (AMH)’s second publication in Lesotho, coming hard on the heels of the Lesotho Times which has quickly established itself as a must-read since it was launched in April last year.
Sunday Express editor Darlington Majonga said the new paper will be a total package that will accommodate every reader.
“It will be a paper for every member of the family as it will be a blend of serious and light reading,” said Majonga.
“The Sunday Express will thrive on incisive analyses, social features and serious investigative journalism that will tell the story behind the story.
“In short, it’s a paper for those who want to know how things happened.”
In a statement, AMH said the new title in its Lesotho stable would give readers “something to value every Sunday”.
The statement said the launch of the Sunday Express would rectify yet another major anomaly in Lesotho’s media sector in which readers have to rely on foreign publications as there has been, for a long time, no local title published on Sunday.
“Conventional practice in the publishing world has established that readers generally have more time to consume media products, particularly newspapers, when they are laid back in their homes on Sundays,” the statement said.
“The Sunday Express will therefore give readers something to value every weekend.”
An extensive distribution network that will take the Sunday Express to the suburbs, as there is little traffic into town every Sunday, is already in place and the newspaper will be within easy reach.
“Although there is no daily newspaper in Lesotho — and it’s not viable to publish one — both the Lesotho Times and Sunday Express will give readers all the relevant information they have to know about their country every week,” said AMH.
