A REMARKABLE year for the press, one is tempted to say. Year 2003 which has drawn to a close indeed came up with a magnificent harvest of titles in various fields. It seems quite strange when we think that only a few years ago, the demise of the printed word was announced, when audiovisual media invaded the world.

In the age of the radio, the television and the Internet, the press, a late medieval instrument still remains the prime channel of communication in the modern world. Yet, if newspapers and books are faring well enough in Mauritius, academic journals and official reports are in a dire strait.

Printing has indeed been one of the most influential inventions in history. Starting in 15th century Germany, printing crossed the frontiers of Renaissance Europe, permitting the dissemination of knowledge. Coupled with this, the art of calligraphy, the process of paper making and the setting up of libraries also evolved. Then, printing followed traders, colonizers and missionaries. The Jesuits introduced it in Portuguese Goa in 1556. In 1768, at the instigation of Pierre Poivre, Ile de France became one of the earliest colonies to have the printing press, even before South Africa or Pondicherry. Any commemoration is an opportunity to take stock of and to gauge past and present achievements. The press has travelled very far, having gone through good and bad times; starting in the colonial era, printing celebrated 230 years of existence in Mauritius in 2003. Actually, the earliest imprint was a poem, and the first government publication was a set of legislation for the colony which appeared before the first newspaper was printed on 13 January 1773. In the same year the first book, a French and Malagasy Vocabulary was also published. Since that time, the art of printing in the island never looked back. It contributed to the development of an intellectual class, and in turn, the intellectual class helped the development of printing and publication. After Poivre, his spirit survived. Cultured French officials like governors Souillac and D?Entrecasteaux contributed to its development and the record of printing during the French period was remarkable. In 1803, Sidner ou les dangers de l?imagination, the first novel was printed.

In modern times, in many European countries printing became a pillar in nation building as it helped to establish national languages and indigenous literature. In colonies like India, the press played an important role in the fight for independence. Today India ranks as the world?s third largest producer of books in English after the United States and the United Kingdom.

In British Mauritius, printing was an important instrument of administrative control. A profusion of documents and reports was produced yearly by each department. The colonial annual reports contained a mass of important information. The early British administration censored the private press for some time but it was freed again through the instigation of Adrien d?Epinay. Thus started in 1832, the daily Le Cernéen, which was soon followed by other papers.

The intellectual ferment continued to grow during the 19th and 20th centuries. Literary works, books and serials flourished in learned societies of the time. A keen interest in history, botany and literature developed. Apart from the French press, an Indian press started to operate. In 1868 the first Tamil text appeared in the Mercantile Advertiser and in 1909 Manilall Doctor launched the Hindustani to fight the cause of the Indians. The improvement of the socioeconomic life of the lower classes of the people was slow but through the development of roads and the coming of railways, printed works gradually started to reach nooks and crannies of the island. By the mid 20th century, with the gradual spread of literacy in European and Asian languages, information through the press gradually reached different classes of the population long before electricity and the radio.

Post- independent Mauritius brought more changes. For instance, free education in 1976 improved literacy and increased the number of newspaper readers. However, if newspapers are read by the mass, the few journals that started to appear after 1968 are still confined to a small elite. If newspapers are mainly event oriented, journals are meant to investigate important social issues in depth. Because of the dearth of regular journals and magazines especially in the Social Sciences, writers have to express their views in dailies. Yet, there are many press articles which could have been published in learned journals, (if these appeared regularly). There is a need for regular journals, like, for instance the Economic and Political Weekly (India) which will help to air the views of academics on a regular basis.

One of the main reasons for such a forum to be re-invented in Mauritius, is that in spite of its relative maturity, newspapers and the couple of irregular journals are still uneasy to handle certain subjects that affect Mauritian life, thus making the questioning or challenging of accepted values practically impossible. A certain number of subjects are considered as taboo: religion, casteism, language, interethnic relations, etc. Writers can rarely publish anything on these issues in the press, or rather the press is often reluctant to publish such articles.

What is the future of the press? In spite of the mushrooming of various radio channels, the press plays an important role in our local life but it cannot rest on its laurels, it has to maintain quality papers, those not resorting to sensationalism and superficial entertainment to bolster their circulation. The press disseminates information, it may permit also more cross-cultural interchange to take place. The influence of the press in Mauritius is significant but the ability of Mauritian readers to form their own judgment on different issues is also to be reckoned with.

However, there is a lack of interest of the general public and a reluctance of the authorities to support local journals. It is true that some Mauritian publications hardly find a place on the shelves of local libraries. As far as quality is concerned, it is wrong to compare local journals with century-old models of Europe. There is still some way to go before quality journals appear regularly and reach a larger Mauritian audience.

Such attitudes are largely responsible for the sudden death of journals like PROSI (1968?2002) published under the aegis of the sugar industry. It is always a pity to watch the birth and death of serials within only one or two decades. Yet, it is heartening to find the old Essor (1916?1957) has been given a new lease of life and other publications have appeared like Revi Kiltir Kréol, and the Mauritiana is likely to appear.

Journals are necessary for articles of opinion and they form a unique forum for any discipline. Journals would be more handy, more easily accessible for reference and further investigation. There are also practical reasons as they can be properly stored and preserved for future use.

This is not the case for ?serious articles? published in the dailies. Very often they are lost as they cannot be properly collected and preserved.

Surveys have shown the poor reading habit of Mauritians, young and old. This habit should develop early in schools. The present Literacy Programme should help children to avoid reading the trash and turn their attention to publications that stimulate the mind, keep in touch with life and broaden their outlook. Schools need also to encourage sprouting writing talents. Students at different stages can be encouraged to produce materials for school-college magazines. Government and other bodies could continue the annual production of reports which would bring more transparency in their affairs. Also, there is a need to reinvent the administration of libraries throughout Mauritius, from school, to village and district council libraries. Individuals in many rural areas are desperately out of touch with the local publications. Authorities could make Mauritian publications easily available to the public throughout the island. Indeed, child and adult education can still depend on the print for years to come.

The Mauritian printing experience is only 230 years old. It is a remarkable experience but it has to develop further. On the other hand, more thoughts could be given to the uneven social penetration of literacy in Mauritius, and reconsider issues like book reading habits, distribution of costly new books and cheap reprints of old ones. ?The principal factors governing publishing activities in a country are its literacy rate, the size and nature of its educated population, and its educational policies and programmes? (L. Bhattacharya, 1988). A nation without journals, periodicals and official reports may be happy, but can hardly be advanced.