Over Four Decades Of Stewardship

The desire to inform Cameroonians across the national territory and even beyond has been a fascinating experience over the years with Cameroon Tribune. The paper has witnessed several mutations for the last 45 years of existence since July 1974 that the publication first appeared on the newsstand as two separate publications in English and in French. 
This 1st July  2019, will mark another landmark event as the paper celebrates another birthday. Facing stiff competition from other daily newspapers and the fast growing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environment, the reality has been that of aggressive digital news sources. Within such a set up, Cameroon Tribune is bound to carve out a niche to be able to survive. 
In addition, since the rebirth of the multiparty democracy in the country that followed a period of economic crisis, the hurdles have only grown bigger for any newspaper, Cameroon Tribune being no exception. Visible fallouts of such teething problems have included the deceptive views from certain quarters that the publication could run out of steam because they see it as the master’s voice. Yet, the fact remains that any print organ that fails to live for a purpose will obvious die for no reason. The information dished out to the public on a daily basis has the sheer objective of ensuring a better informed population that can make choices, either political or otherwise, based on hard facts. No more, no less. 
Even if the desire to avoid sensational reporting may not always appeal to some who rather see in such search for distinctiveness murky stuff, the truth remains that facts and facts. The continuous existence of the paper could just be a logical conclusion to the clear mandate that the paper has had as a public service press. Doubts, criticisms and even outright rejection expressed by some could all sum up to a reflection of the diversity in the country. 
And what about the current challenging moments? There again, the reporter may not relish in cynicism, but the other fact is that to remain relevant, any media structure must be able to reflect the society especially where it operates. There is no way therefore in news reporting to avoid the rough and tumble that generally befalls human communities at any given moment.  The fine line between the choices that one press organ makes and another may only help to highlight its specificities. 
As Cameroon Tribune clocks 45 therefore, the context of growing plurality, diversity and even conflicting views that prevail in the country can only serve to emphasize the need for insight and professionalism so as to continue to serve. It may be difficult to bring all Cameroonians see through the same lense, yet, nation building which has been so topical within the last  forty-five years in the country must carry