When was the last time you read a complete newspaper online? Start to finish. One sitting.

I bet you don’t remember, because you probably just scan headlines, click links, get distracted, and feel perpetually behind.

Some argue websites weren't designed to be read. They were designed to keep you clicking and scrolling away.

The Continent rejected that logic. They built a weekly newspaper for WhatsApp.

They have 33,000 subscribers. Not a million. And yet it’s one of the most widely read newspapers on the continent, reaching around 150,000 people weekly through sharing alone.

Five and a half years in, are they proof that the metrics obsession driving digital journalism is measuring the wrong thing?

I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with co-founder Sipho Kings - our first innovator for 2026.

Who: Sipho Kings is the co-founder of The Continent, an award-winning weekly newspaper designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. It's now the continent's most widely distributed newspaper, reaching approximately 150,000 readers weekly.

The Story: When COVID hit in April 2020, misinformation was spreading on WhatsApp while newsrooms were shrinking. The Continent stepped into that space with a solution: a tightly edited PDF newspaper that treats African audiences as central, not incidental. The goal wasn't just to publish news, but to offer a complete, curated product that people could read once a week and feel informed.

The Innovation: The Continent rejected the prevailing logic of digital journalism - endless content, algorithmic distribution, inflated metrics. Instead, they write 270-word stories, keep the PDF light (around 12MB to minimize data costs), and focus on one curated package per week designed to be read start to finish and shared person to person. They measure success not by clicks, but by actual readership.

Why It Matters: Most subscribers discovered The Continent through another person, not an algorithm. In a media environment where platform referrals can disappear overnight, that distinction matters. Five and a half years on, they've proven you don't need more platforms, more output, or bigger numbers to have impact. Sometimes you just need one consistent product.

GO DEEP.👇🏾

When The Continent launched in April 2020, South Africa had entered a hard COVID lockdown. Newsrooms were shrinking, budgets were tightening, and misinformation was spreading, especially on WhatsApp.

Sipho Kings, one of The Continent’s founders, recalls the urgency of that moment clearly.

Two gaps worth fixing

The first gap was perspective. “Publications that talk about Africa at scale are often based on the outside,” Kings tells me. “They’re always talking about us through their own lenses.” The Continent set out to treat African audiences as central, not incidental, like many Western newsrooms do.

The second gap was format. “Most websites are terrible,” he says bluntly- especially at curation and storytelling. Audiences are constantly being pushed from link to link in the name of personalisation. A single article might be strong, but the “whole product” is missing, leaving readers feeling more disoriented than informed, he says.

That's where newspapers made sense again. Not the nostalgia of print, but what newspapers always did well, including discipline, structure, and shared experience. "It's the sense of one thing, and you're all reading the same thing," Kings says. "You can read that one product once a week and feel like you know... enough."

The idea of “enough” is more radical than it first appears. In a fast-moving news environment, audiences are trained to feel perpetually behind — scanning headlines, chasing alerts, moving from one crisis to the next.

Instead of constant updates, The Continent chose to offer a single, curated package each week, designed to be read from start to finish and easily shared. The aim is not to keep pace with the noise, but to cut through it.

Why WhatsApp?

WhatsApp was therefore the most practical way to reach people where they already are.

Kings says WhatsApp had become a crisis zone, with health rumours and dangerous falsehoods circulating among family and friends. “There was very little media there,” he recalls. The response was to step directly into that space, offering a product built for trust and circulation: a PDF newspaper designed to be read easily and shared from one person to the next.

Five and a half years on, The Continent has become a reference point for WhatsApp-first journalism.

“People want journalism,” he says. “They really do.” What many are turning away from is the way it is delivered - a frustrating online experience.

Some of The Continent’s strongest evidence comes from its audience research. Across six annual surveys, its readership profile has remained broadly consistent: around a quarter of readers are under 35. Kings says their data includes readers aged 16 to 18, many of whom actively share the paper. “There’s a real hunger for journalism,” he says, “if you can get it to people.”

How does she safeguard children in a digital environment?

Working with children in a highly visible digital environment poses risks that Kaberi doesn't minimise. Every child who comes through the newsroom is trained on online safety, privacy and digital resilience.

"You cannot remove children from the internet," she argues. "You just need to empower them to navigate the digital space – the way we added seatbelts and airbags to cars instead of stopping people from driving."

The organisation also works with technology companies to advocate for safer product features and runs programmes for parents. "If the parent is empowered, they will empower their child; if they are not, the child will be at risk."

What traditional outlets misunderstand

Mtoto News has grown, she says frugally, with one second-hand chair at a time. Kaberi runs a lean operation: careful budgets, borrowed desks, and a philosophy that treats in-kind support as seriously as cash. Revenue comes from a blend of consultancy work, project funding, the odd grant, and what she calls “freebies that turn into business”- doing quality work first, earning trust, before charging fees once trust is established.

The metrics question

Then there is the question of metrics — another area where The Continent has deliberately pushed against prevailing industry instincts. In the website era, media organisations built their identities around scale: users, impressions and clicks. “We created these wild audience numbers,” he says. “Everyone claims a million users, even when most of them aren’t actually reading.”

By comparison, The Continent’s numbers are more modest, but the team argues, more meaningful. The paper has around 33,000 subscribers and estimates a weekly reach of approximately 150,000, largely through sharing. “That’s ostensibly a small number compared to a website,” Kings says, “but we know those people are actually reading it.” Most subscribers discovered the paper through another person, not an algorithm. In a media environment where platform referrals can disappear overnight, that distinction matters.

Sustainability

The organisation is currently “almost entirely philanthropically funded”, but the team is exploring additional revenue streams, including events, merchandise and advertising, which it has tested in the past. Still, Kings is frank about the wider picture. “Nobody has solved the business model,” he says. “We’re all just surviving.”

Kings says the newsroom set clear terms of engagement from the outset and has not experienced editorial interference from funders.

The paper’s commitment to remaining free is central to its identity. Data costs, Kings notes, remain “absurdly expensive” in many African countries, and this shapes both editorial and technical decisions. The PDF is kept deliberately light — typically around 12MB, to minimise the cost of access. “People need journalism,” Kings says. “It’s our job to work out how to keep it free.”

Experimenting with new formats

That culture of experimentation is now taking the organisation into new territory. Alongside its pan-African weekly, the team is piloting The Friday Paper, a national paper focused on South Africa. Kings says the motivation is to keep experimenting because formats change—and one day WhatsApp PDF newspapers may no longer be the best answer. Second, because South Africa, where the organisation is legally based, offers a strong environment for journalism and is a country the team feels invested in. Early response, he says, has been encouraging: 1,600 people signed up in the first week, largely through word-of-mouth.

If The Friday Paper succeeds, Kings hopes it becomes sustainable and enduring: “a newspaper in 10 years’ time that people turn to and trust.” Weekly is the long-term goal, but they’re keeping flexibility—piloting, adapting, and learning.

The Future

Kings still sees an opportunity at a continental level.

AI is making things worse - accelerating the collapse of trust and pushing people away from the open web. But his conclusion isn't pessimistic. People still want quality information. Journalism, when it's done well, can provide it.

The clearest lesson from The Continent? You don't always need more platforms, more output, or bigger numbers to have impact.

Sometimes you just need one product, delivered consistently, edited with care, designed to be read and shared.

Calling all Digital Media Leaders in Kenya.

Kickstart your new year by gaining a new, powerful skillset in Digital Media Leadership! This year, RNTC on Tour is back in Kenya! Apply for the scholarship programme, designed to empower emerging media leaders. Selected applicants will receive a 50% discount on course fees.

📩 Apply for your scholarship here: https://survey.zohopublic.eu/zs/zJDjfA

ℹ️ Course details: https://rntc.com/open-courses/digital-media-leadership

Applications are now open for Journalist Fellowships at the Reuters Institute.

These include the Thomson Reuters Foundation Fellowship, the Laudes Climate Fellowship and the Mona Megalli Fellowship.

The programme is open to outstanding mid-career journalists from around the world who want to spend a few months away from their newsrooms exploring the future of journalism with us. Here’s what you need to know about the programme and how to apply: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fellowships

The 2026 Media Fellowship program is looking for Uganda's next generation of media talent in form of storytellers and journalists. Journalism students, this is YOUR opportunity.

Deadline: Jan 31, 2026.

https://www.mciug.org/programs/fellowship

The 2026 One World Media Awards is open for entries

Now in its 38th year, the Awards celebrate bold, authentic storytelling that brings attention to the world’s most underreported stories and voices from the Global South — changing who gets to tell the world’s stories and how they’re told. Journalists, Filmmakers + Global Storytellers can submit their work to any one of the 13 categories.

https://oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards/find-out-more/

We work with media organisations to turn big ideas into real impact — integrating AI, navigating digital shifts, and rethinking editorial strategy for the future. Curious about what that could look like for you? Let’s connect. Send me an email.