The Guardian Post was created in 2001 under very dire, cataclysmic and tumultuous circumstances. The Guardian Post, which is cherished by many, haunted by some, but read by them all, first hit the newsstands on August 30, 2001. Twenty-three years in Cameroon’s turbulent media market, a lot of water has passed under the bridge and many things have happened to media house.

The Guardian Post has over the years trudged rough and tumultuous roads but it surmounted these countless challenges and continued to march on. Surviving these calamitous circumstances, some of which seriously threatened our very existence, is a tale of sweat, resilience, dedication and focus. The Guardian Post, has in the past 23 years of existence, through its middle-of-the-road editorial policy and objective approach to issues, trudged valiantly on the path to journalism excellence with unbending reputation, earned through its credible and objective reporting; despite teething challenges.

Moving from a weekly to a bi-weekly, to publishing three times a week and later five times a week and now publishing every day, is not a given in our context. Twenty-three years down the lane, The Guardian Post is at the pinnacle of print media in Cameroon, with several records and towering achievements to its credit. The Guardian Post quickly moved from a weekly publication to a bi-weekly and later began publishing three times a week.    

In January 2016, having acquired its own printing press, The Guardian Post began publishing five times a week, becoming the first English language newspaper in the annals of print media landscape in the country to do so. In November 2019, The Guardian Post Magazine was launched, published as a quarterly glossy magazine. In early 2020, another printing press was bought to add to what it already had in order to upgrade quality.      

On Sunday February 7, 2021, the Sunday edition of The Guardian Post hit the newsstands. This was a major milestone in the print media in Cameroon. This edition has been receiving applause from across the board. In January 2022, the Saturday edition of The Guardian Post, dedicated purely to sports, was launched. This thus made The Guardian Post the only newspaper in Cameroon and in the entire CEMAC Sub region, that publishes all seven days of the week – Monday to Sunday.

Meanwhile, in March 2022, The Guardian Post, with its unflinching zeal to better serve its readers and advertisers, began printing in colour. Today, the newspaper which took off with a meagre capital of 150,000 FCFA and with a one-man staff, has a personnel strength of 40, who are regularly paid. For its twenty-two years of existence, workers of The Guardian Post have never gone beyond the 25th of every month without having their salary!

Apart from the aforementioned records, The Guardian Post is housed in its own building. Construction of the imposing structure at the Efoulan-Lac neighbourhood in Yaounde, began in February 2019 and by October the same year, the two-storey building; comprising a ground floor for the printing press and offices on the other floors, had been completed.

The Guardian Post is among others: the first English language newspaper in Cameroon to publish daily and first newspaper in Cameroon to publish seven times a week - Monday to Sunday. The Guardian Post is among the few print media houses in Cameroon that own its printing press. It is among the few newspapers in Cameroon that publish a regular quarterly magazine - three or four times a year. The Guardian Post is equally the only newspaper in Cameroon that runs five editorials every week.

A few years back, The Guardian Post created another record by opening a bureau in Washington DC, to cover the United States of America and other North and South American countries. It is among or the only newspaper that survives on sales and boasts of a record over 12,000 direct subscribers of its electronic version. With a slippery media landscape where libel is criminal, The Guardian Post, in its 22 years of existence, due to its professional and responsible journalism, meticulous, objective and balanced reporting, has never been dragged to court for libel or defamation.

The newspaper is endowed with a cream of seasoned reporters and editors, who ensure that the news published is verifiable. Nonetheless, the road covered by The Guardian Post in its 23 years of existence has been a thorny and rough one. Years back, it suffered unjustified suspensions by the National Communication Council, NCC. However, the suspensions by NCC only went a long way to embolden The Guardian Post to move on. It should be noted that after each suspension, the newspaper came back stronger, increasing its periodicity.

The Guardian Post has survived Cameroon’s earth-shattering media landscape is a picturesque laced in sacrifice from day one. The Guardian Post has survived blackmail and witch-hunting. As an institution, we have more enemies than friends. Many of those who consider us enemies do so on the basis of assumptions. Like every other newspaper, The Guardian Post has felt the pinch of the advent of social media and citizen journalism.

Nonetheless, it is innovating to surmount this hurdle by opting to be more creative, going in for incisive and in-depth reporting, which readers can’t get from the social media. To also boost income, The Guardian Post now has a very functional website - www.theguardianpostcameroon.com; from which readers worldwide can buy the electronic version of the newspaper or read articles. Another major challenge that The Guardian Post has been facing is the dwindling advertisement within the media sector. Even when adverts come, it takes months, even years, for the bills to be paid. This is if they will even be paid.

Since the war in Ukraine, the prices of printing materials like papers, plates, ink and other accessories have been skyrocketing, putting the newspaper in dire financial straits. But The Guardian Post continues to trudge on, determined to serve its teeming readers and committed advertisers with unfettered journalism. According to the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Ngah Christian, the media organ also has plans to move the number of pages from 12 to 16 in a not-too-distant future.

With offices in Bamenda, Douala and reporters in Limbe, Buea, Kumba, The Guardian Post also envisages opening two more offices; one in Garoua for the North and Far North Regions, another in Bertoua to cover the East and South Regions and Bafoussam to cover the West Region. The Guardian Post also plans to open other international bureaus in Europe (Istanbul, Turkey), Asia (Hong Kong), United Kingdom (London) and Middle East (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). The Guardian Post has hit this milestone, continues innovating to meet current media market demands and looking forward to the future. One of the unique guiding principles that has kept The Guardian Post afloat is that we make all staff, be they cleaners, feel being part of the institution.

The challenge now for us is staying at the top and being able to foot our ever-increasing bills and practicing responsible journalism.