Community newspapers outshine others Future outlook
MBOMBELA - Statistics show that when it comes to reaching consumers across South Africa, the local media segment outshines daily, weekly and weekend newspapers.
Lowveld Media’s very own Lowvelder, Lowvelder Express and Mpumalanga News are among those that shine.
The year-on-year growth in the print sector continues to be driven by local papers.
This is according to Jacqui
Hansen, head of marketing at Spark Media, Caxton Local Media’s national print sales division, who was responding to the recently released Audit Bureau of
Circulations South Africa’s (ABC) figures for the third quarter of 2022.
Caxton Local Media publishes
116 titles, with a print order of
2.9 million copies, and has 61 news websites and 67 Facebook platforms across all nine provinces of South Africa.
“Local newspapers remain the dominant force in the print media landscape, accounting for 87% of all audited newspapers in South Africa,” said Hansen.
The ABC figures show the total combined circulation of print media in South Africa increased from
5 740 383 copies in Q3 of 2021 to 6 472 474 copies in Q3 of 2022.
“As we head into the festive period, local papers continue to provide better coverage than daily, weekly and weekend newspapers,” said Chris Halstead, Spark Media’s head of sales.
“A press schedule that includes every audited daily, weekly and weekend title provides 810 542 copies countrywide. In contrast, local newspapers continue to show their resilience, currently circulating 5.6 million copies a week,” he said.