The Importance of Newspapers in Political Thought

Tanzania is slightly unusual within the region in that an independent press developed comparatively late. In Kenya and Uganda we see a very lively vernacular press in the 1920s. We don't see that same thing developed in Tanzania. The first independent newspaper that's able to sustain itself is the newspaper Quaytu which begins publication in 1937. And there are various reasons for this. One aspect is the censorship regime in Tanzania which meant that a hefty bond had to be paid if you were to publish on a regular basis. So when I went to the 1920s and 30s what I found was predominantly government and missionary newspapers and periodicals.