The Tide is a Nigerian daily newspaper published by the Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, and it began printing on 1 December 1971. The initial editions were rolled out in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and the publication has since become one of the major newspapers in Nigeria, especially prominent in the South-South region.
Operated and funded by the Rivers State government, The Tide serves both as a source of news for citizens of the state and as a platform for state communication. Its coverage includes politics, current affairs, business, technology, sports, culture, and the arts. It also includes lighter content such as city-life, restaurant reviews, nightlife, top events, and more.
At its peak, the newspaper’s circulation reached up to about 800,000 copies distributed to more than 300 locations across the country. However, there have been reports that its fortunes have declined over the years, with more limited geographic distribution outside its home state.
In more recent years, The Tide has been seen by many analysts and commentators as facing challenges typical of many state-owned papers in Nigeria: financial constraints, shifts in readership, competition from private media and digital platforms, perhaps declining advertisement revenues, and infrastructural decay.
