The Death of the Good Old Newspaper?

Freetown, 20^th July, 2026 – Once the heartbeat of Sierra Leone’s public discourse, newspapers are now gasping for relevance in Freetown’s fast-changing media landscape. A new survey by Meraki Analytics shows that more than 95% of residents no longer depend on newspapers for news, signaling a dramatic decline in print readership.

The Citizen Lens survey, which interviewed 1,217 residents across the capital, found that social media has become the dominant news source, with 54% of respondents citing platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp as their primary channels. Traditional media – radio, television, and print combined, accounts for just 23%.

Among the dwindling group of newspaper readers, Awoko leads the market with 33% and Standard Times 23% remain the most recognized names. Other names such as Awareness Times, Concord Times and Night Watch hover around 12%, while Global Times and Salone Times barely register at 2%.

The report warns that unless newspapers embrace digital-first distribution, they risk extinction. “Offline newspapers appear to be losing their relevance as a daily news source,” the study notes.

The decline of print is part of a broader shift: what Freetownians see, read, and believe is increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than editors. Facebook alone accounts for 29% of news consumption, while TikTok (15%) has already surpassed television and is closing in on radio (17%).

The generational breakdown underscores the crisis for print. Gen Z and Millennials are overwhelmingly digital-first, with TikTok and Facebook leading their news habits. Baby Boomers remain loyal to radio, but even here, newspapers barely feature.

The collapse of print readership has profound implications. Advertising revenue is migrating to global platforms, weakening the financial base of local journalism. Verified reporting risks being overshadowed by viral content, while civic debate increasingly unfolds on feeds owned by international tech companies.

Meraki Analytics urges newspaper outlets to reinvent themselves online. “The audience figures suggest that the future is digital. Newspapers that fail to cater to the growing online audience might go out of business,” the report cautions.

For decades, newspapers were the trusted record of Sierra Leone’s civic life. Today, they are on the brink of irrelevance. In Freetown, the death of print is not a distant forecast, it is already here.