Punch Newspaper Nigeria is one of the topmost newspapers in Nigeria both online and offline and is also one of the oldest newspaper companies in Nigeria. Here are 10 facts about Punch Newspaper you probably never knew:
- It was founded in 1971
- It was founded by veteran accountant, Wale Aboderin and his friend, veteran journalist – Sam Amuka
- Aboderin and Amuka went their separate ways after some years of establishment
- Sam Amuka later went on to establish Vanguard Newspapers Nigeria while Wale Aboderin remained at Punch
- It has a daily circulation of about 80,000
- Its editor then – Chris Mammah was jailed for 54 days in 1990
- It was closed in 1993 and 1994 by the directive of General Sani Abacha
- It’s parent’s companies publications have included Happy Home, Sunday Punch, The Punch, and TOPLIFE.
- It was the most widely read newspaper in Nigeria in 1998 and 1999
- It had the support of Chief M.K.O Abiola and was against the Shehu Shagari regime.
The newspaper was created to have a more friendly approach to news reporting by combining political news with social events and other interests.
According to Wikipedia, the founders parted ways due to a difference in opinions on political issues. It also states that some Punch editors probably knew that a coup would happen during the Shagari regime as they infused strong anti-government reporting in their dailies.
The company has been a victim of government intimidation of the press in the past with several military governments shutting down its operations and arresting its staff at different points in time.
The company is a limited liability company, it is led by a board of directors with a Chairman and run by the management team led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.
The newspaper delivers the latest news across politics, sports, entertainment, business and many more. It features respected journalists in Nigeria as columnists and has grown to be one of the most respected newspapers in the country.
Punch has a very active website; www.punchng.com where it provides a summarized version of its physical newspaper every day. The website is monetized with direct adverts, 3rd party ad networks such as Google Adsense and sponsored posts.
It also has a large social media following with over 1.5 million likes of Facebook and over 2.4 million followers on Twitter.
Punch currently has a subscription service where users can subscribe to the e-newspaper which contains more detailed news and information than the website for $1.99 for a single issue or $29.99 for a monthly subscription.
Steve Edegbo is the team lead at Naijatechhub.com. Naijatechhub is a team of writers and researchers dedicated to providing the best up to date information on topics in Nigeria. If you need more information, kindly contact us.
Aboderin and Sam Amuka didn’t separate over political views!!! They even had to go to court.. I urge you to correct that part.