AN OVERVIEW OF THE INDUSTRY

South Africa has undergone profound political and economic transformation over the last decade, resulting in new and strong political institutions that underpin democracy and a macro economic framework that encourages greater freedom and competition. The country has moved from racial discrimination to a non racial democracy where the rights of ordinary citizens are now protected and enshrined in a Constitution which provides a balance between the freedom of expression and the right to dignity and equality. Free speech and a free media are entrenched in the Constitution and the media operates in an environment free of oppression, persecution and the repressive legislation which sought to restrict and control the media. The democratic transition catapulted South Africa into playing a major role not only as a regional economic and political power in Africa, but also an influential player in the emerging markets. These dramatic changes are also reflected in the newspaper industry. It is an industry characterized by a new energy of growth and greater access with a diversity of voices reflective of ethnic and racially diverse people.

The history of the South African newspaper industry is a colourful one dating back to the early 1800's. The first newspaper, the Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser / Kaapsche Stads Courant en Afrikaanshce Berigter, was published in the Cape Colony in English and Dutch. It was, however, little more than a mouth piece for the government of that time and it was only in 1829 that the principle of press freedom was established in South Africa. This was after a long struggle by three tenacious settlers, Thomas Pringle, James Fairbairn and George Greig, who had endured harassment, censorship and the closure of their titles, and who finally succeeded in persuading the British Crown in 1829 to grant the right of establishing a free press in the colony. This provided a stimulus to the growth of newspapers and by 1850 there were at least 35 newspapers spreading from the Cape to Natal and the Transvaal.

A number of the titles flourishing today saw their origins in this period; the Eastern Province Herald (now The Herald) and the Natal Witness (now The Witness) were launched in 1845 and 1846 respectively and in 1857 the Cape Argus was established. The first newspaper to come out as a daily was the Cape Times which was launched in 1876 and in 1878 the Natal Mercantile Advertiser started. This was later to become The Daily News. In 1884 the first black owned and controlled newspaper, Imvo Zabantsunda, was launched. Published in Xhosa this newspaper continued publishing until the 1980's when it was closed down. Another leading daily newspaper today also has its origins in this time when a small Eastern Cape newspaper was relocated in 1887 to Johannesburg and renamed The Star.

The beginning of the 20th century saw a further flurry of newspaper launches with The Rand Daily Mail opening its doors in 1902, Ilanga Lase, a Zulu/English newspaper starting in 1903 and both The Sunday Times and The Indian Opinion launching their first editions in 1906. In 1904 and 1915 two prominent Afrikaans newspapers, Het Westen (later to become the Het Volksblad in 1915, and now known as Die Volksblad) and De Burger (now Die Burger) were started in the Cape and Orange Free State respectively. Bantu World, launched in 1932, was the predecessor of The World (1955) which was shut down by government in 1977. This was replaced by Post Transvaal in 1978 and when it appeared that the title was going to be shut down again, the Argus Group, which owned the newspaper, launched the Sowetan in 1981 as its successor. Other well known titles launched in the later half of the 1900's include Rapport (1971), Beeld (1974) and The Citizen (1976).

There were, however, a number of titles launched during this period that have not survived. Well known titles such as The Friend (1854), Die Vaderland (1917), The Sunday Express (1934), Die Transvaler (1937), The Indian Opinion and The Rand Daily Mail to name a few were all closed down for various reasons. The demise of The Rand Daily Mail in 1985 led to the creation of Business Day which niched itself as a newspaper for the business world.

In particular, the latter half of the 1900's was characterized by increasing state interference and censorships restrictions on the media. By the 1980's there were over 100 statutes which limited the press. While there were newspapers which supported the status quo there were a number of newspapers and journalists who challenged the apartheid government and the repressive regime. Many journalists, in particular black journalists, were harassed by the state and detained and newspapers suffered censorship, the threat of closure and in some cases were banned. The 1980's saw the emergence of the alternative press. Newspapers such as The Weekly Mail, Grassroots, Vrye Weekblad and South were all known for their fierce opposition to the apartheid government. This was the rationale for the existence for many of these titles and with the emergence of a democratic state in 1994 few titles within the alternative press actually survived. The one exception to this is The Weekly Mail which has grown and established itself in the new democracy as the Mail and Guardian.

The ten years since democracy have seen major transformation in the ownership, control and composition of the mainstream newspaper industry. Prior to 1994 the industry was divided into two distinct groups; the English press and the Afrikaans press. The former was largely controlled by two companies, the Argus Groups and Times Media Limited (TML), while the latter was controlled by Nasionale Pers and Perskor. This has changed dramatically. A key change occurred in 1995 when foreign owned Independent News and Media bought the controlling share in the Argus group (which owned titles such as The Star, Cape Times, The Argus and Daily News). A further change occurred in 1996 when Johnnic Communications acquired total control of TML (the owners of The Sunday Times and 50% of Business Day and Financial Mail) making it the biggest black owned and empowered media company. Another change in 1998 saw Caxton buy the controlling share in Perskor (owner of The Citizen) and consolidate its focus on community newspapers and free sheets. These and other changes have shifted the newspaper industry from a completely white-owned industry to a more representative spread of black and white ownership and of foreign and local interests.

There has also been transformation in the profile of the editors of the major newspapers in the country. The Human Rights Commission into racism in 1998 looked at both representivity within the newsrooms and the manner is which news was reported. This inquiry lead to a vigorous debate and contributed towards the changes that have subsequently taken place. By the end of 2003 the majority of the editors of the country's dailies and weekly newspapers were black South Africans. However gender remains an untransformed area with only two women as editors of a mainstream newspaper.

In a further initiative to transform the media landscape and to encourage diversity, particularly at a grass roots level, the newspaper industry has entered into a unique initiative with the South African Government. Due to the legacy from the past many small independently owned newspapers have battled to survive because the barriers to entry are so high. To address these problems and facilitate the growth of these micro newspapers a development agency, the Media Development and Diversity Agency, has been established. This is a partnership between the government and the media industry. The newspaper companies have played a crucial role in both the establishment and the funding of this agency and the long term objective of this initiative is to grow a vibrant media within this grassroots sector.

In line with global trends the newspaper industry in South Africa is buoyant and the past five years in particular have seen new products developed and launched. The declining circulation and readership figures evident in the late 1990's have been reversed and titles are either holding their own or showing increases, and in some instances, these increases have been dramatic. According to the latest data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations for South Africa (ABC) the total circulation figures for the period April to June 2006 for the daily newspapers were 1 819 442; weeklies 757 938; and weekend newspapers 2 084 936. Daily newspapers have shown an increase of 10.9%; weeklies 12.6%; and weekend newspapers 2.6% from the April to June 2005 quarter.

In the main, the top end of the newspaper market is stable showing slight increases in circulation and readership. Daily titles such as The Star, Beeld, Business Day, The Witness and Daily Dispatch and weekly titles like Mail and Guardian, Saturday Star, Volksblad, to name a few, are either steady or growing circulation slightly each year. The same applies for this segment of the Sunday market with titles like The Sunday Times, Rapport and The Sunday Independent showing the same trend. The top end of market is well catered for and poses difficulties for any new entrants. Two such entrants, ThisDay and Die WÍreld, were launched in October 2003 and May 2005 respectively but were not able to sustain themselves and closed their doors before publishing for a full year.

There have however been dramatic changes in the entry-level to middle segment of the market with the launch of a number of new titles which have attracted new readers and expanded the newspaper reading market. In contrast to the traditional broadsheet, these titles have followed the tabloid format which has proved to be successful. The growth in this sector has been exceptional which began with the launch of Sunday Sun in 2001, Isolezwe and Daily Sun in 2002. These titles were followed by Son (2003) and Daily Voice (2005). Since its inception four years ago the Daily Sun has grown its readership to 3,7 million readers making it the biggest and best read daily. Other titles such as Ilanga, Sunday World and the Sowetan are also focusing on this market and are showing increased circulation and readership figures. The continuing rise of circulation figures for newspapers in this segment indicates that there is a substantial demand for newspapers from the emerging middle class and as this demand increases so new products will be developed.

This trend is further reflected in the increase in the number of community newspapers, both `paid for' and `free sheets', which are also showing strong circulation and readership increases. According to the ABC circulation figures community newspaper 'free sheets' have shown an increase of 34,9% since 2001 as have `paid for' community newspapers which have grown by 35,4%. The latest ABC figures reveals that the total circulation for paid for community newspapers for the period April to June 2006 was 433 224 showing a 5.6% increased from the previous year; with free distribution newspapers showing a 31.0% increase with 4 569 202 copies distributed on a weekly basis. The growth of community titles reflects the growing need of readers to access information that is localized and relevant to their immediate surroundings. There are over 500 community/grassroot based newspapers in South Africa of which 225 are owned by the major publishing houses; approximately 40 are funded by the state, with the remaining independently owned grassroot titles. A number of these community newspapers have been in existence for more than 100 years.

The stabilization of the new democracy has seen the South African economy grow and it is now in the strongest position it has been for a number of decades. South Africans have successfully managed the transition from a divided country under Apartheid to a country with well established democratic principles. Literacy levels have increased by 30% over the past decade and more South Africans are reading newspapers. Although facing competition from other media, the newspaper industry remains upbeat and continues to reinvent itself, responding to the changes taking place in the country and reflecting the interests of readers. Contrary to predications that newspapers will lose their relevance as the Internet and other media products grow, newspapers in South Africa show that they are resilient, that they remain a crucial source of news and information and have stood the test of time. The "Power of Newspapers" is alive and well!