Dawn of a new era
FROM Monday, the Pretoria News will be incorporated into The Star; this will be in the form of a branded Pretoria-focused section in The Star, to be distributed in the capital and its usual areas.
Similarly, the Pretoria News Weekend will be incorporated into the Saturday Star.
In essence, what this means is that the Pretoria News and Pretoria News Weekend will no longer be available as a free-standing publication.
Our readers and advertisers will now get more, bigger and better news and advertisement, covering a vast area than before.
Our digital platform, www. pretorianews.co.za as well as all the social media platforms are unaffected by these changes.
It is common knowledge that Independent Media, like its print counterparts around the world, has had to adapt to a more digitally-focussed working environment and era.
The shift was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced us to adopt austerity measures to ensure the company’s survival as an alternative voice for the majority of South Africans.
Many media companies in South Africa have had to take bold, difficult and often unpopular decisions to adapt to the prevailing conditions.
To forge our own way forward, Independent Media called a meeting of executives and editors to discuss finding creative and sustainable solutions for the company that would minimally impact the livelihoods of its more than 1 000 employees.
The amalgamation of the Pretoria News with The Star and Pretoria News Weekend with Saturday Star was the outcome of these processes, which also affected other newspapers within the group.
It is important to mention that unlike other media houses, the process was done without any job losses.
To those who live, work, play or do business in Pretoria, the Pretoria News lives on in the digital world and as part of The Star.
The newspaper will continue to be a witness to many historical events, in the memories of the many staff who have had the privilege of calling her home, and will now continue in the pages of The Star.
There is still some life in this “old girl” yet.
Please support the Pretoria News by purchasing The Star and visiting www.pretorianews.co.za