Main newspapers in Mauritius

The history of newspapers in Mauritius goes as far back as the 17th century when the first paper in the African region was published under the French supervision. The machine that was used to publish the paper can still be seen in the Photography Museum in Port Louis. Initiated by the Chinese in 1932, today the newspaper is one of the most common ways of disseminating information in Mauritius. They cover a wide range of stories from politics, crimes, sports, editorials, international events to fashion, games’ corner etc.

A wide variety of newspapers can be found on the island ranging from daily to weekly ones; the papers are usually very cheap (less than 30p), printed on cheap paper (while some papers offer coloured images with the main topics in black and white, others offer only black and white publications) and covering all major news on the go. Newspapers are easily accessible from libraries, supermarkets, shops and now with the revolution in the ICT sector, very easily accessible online too.

One of the leading newspapers in Mauritius is L’Express (http://www.lexpress.mu/). Under the direction of La Sentinelle Ltd group, the paper opened its doors in 1963 and has since become a major driver of the news propagation means on the island. It is available everyday and is greatly appreciated by the Mauritian community. The paper is written in French with few articles in English and contains about 40 pages with news from the daily gossip to international events; additional items such as children’s corner that contain kids stuff only and Panorama, a magazine concerned mainly with cooking and shopping are obtained freely once a month.

Le Mauricien (The Mauritian, http://www.lemauricien.com/) is just as commonly read as L’Express. First published in 1908, Le Mauricien is also a daily paper written in French that reveals all the hot daily news both locally and internationally. Published in the afternoon, it is quite common to see people in the city buying these papers off vendors along the main streets from their cars during their journeys back home. Also part of Le Mauricien is the Weekend newspaper that is published every Sunday. This paper is quite thick with more than 80 pages into which all the juicy daily news have been condensed into one thick volume to the greatest pleasure of the Mauritian community where they can leisurely enjoy it at home. Two common magazines associated with Le Mauricien are the Turf magazine that reveals everything about horse races once the race season starts and the Scope magazine that is concerned with everyday life stuff (weekly).

On a broader picture, information about Mauritius can be obtained easily from the internet or from the respective newspapers’ site mentioned above. Regional papers/magazines such as All Africa (http://allafrica.com/mauritius/), Afrol news (http://www.afrol.com/countries/mauritius) and even international magazines like Travellers’ Guide etc also talk about Mauritius but more with an aim of branding Mauritius as a beautiful touristic destination rather than about the daily gossip!