LIVING HISTORY
SA's biggest daily gets a facelift
Thomas Thale
15 March 2002
Every morning commuters on trains, buses and taxis browse through the tabloid pages of the Sowetan, South Africa's biggest-selling daily, in search of the latest soccer results or township gossip.
Soccer fans rely on it for generous coverage of the most popular sport in the country, while the rest are riveted by the crime, girly pictures and entertainment. Some 1.8 million people read it each day - but few of them come from the ranks of the black intelligentsia, for whom the Sowetan has long been a shallow publication, lacking in depth and inclined to sensationalism.
This year the Sowetan celebrated its 21st anniversary, and marked this by announcing that it was repositioning as a serious daily to appeal to the sceptical black middle class, while retaining its traditional lower-income readership.
The front page design underwent a revamp with a cleaner masthead and the "Building the Nation" slogan replaced by the hip
"Power Your Future" motto. The "new-look" Sowetan also includes a business section, motoring and travel, and coverage of a wider range of sports, such as cricket and rugby.
The World's most illustrious editor, Percy Qoboza, was imprisoned when his paper was banned in 1977. |
The Sowetan began as a non-political, weekly, free sheet, but was converted in 1981 into a conventional daily following the banning of its more outspoken sister publication, the Post. The paper's pedigree stretches back through several changes of name and ownership to the Bantu World, South Africa's first commercial black newspaper, founded in 1932 - ironically, as a voice of the black middle
classes.
Sowetan's coverage of soccer, community and social events saw its audited circulation figures reach 200 000 paid copies a day in 2000, with each copy read by an average of nine people. The paper appeals mainly to men, who constitute 67 percent of its readership in its main circulation area, greater Johannesburg. The paper also circulates in other centres, particularly KwaZulu-Natal.
According to Yusef Patel, Sowetan's advertising manager, the paper's circulation declined to 188 288 last year, leading to a decrease in its advertising revenue. It was this decline in both circulation figures and advertising revenue that prompted the revamp of the paper, said Patel.
Although Sowetan's political outlook has always been ambiguous, it has documented the hardships faced by blacks, especially those in urban areas. Said Aggrey Klaaste, Sowetan's editor-in-chief: "We had no choice but to oppose apartheid. But we were not leftist in any way.
Most of us embraced the Black Consciousness philosophy in its pristine form. We were rendered radical by default."
In the late 1980s, the most repressive period of the apartheid era, Klaaste embarked on a "Nation Building" crusade in his capacity as Sowetan editor. The idea was to recognise individuals and institutions who had contributed to their communities.
Klaaste, Sowetan editor since 1988, relentlessly advocated the concept despite hostility from leftist activists, who accused the paper of going against the tide of the anti-apartheid struggle. "How can you rebuild even before apartheid has been destroyed?" said the activists.
In the early 1990s, Klaaste's determination saw his concept receive endorsement from major corporations, who co-sponsored annual awards recognising "community builders" as well as emerging entrepreneurs. Klaaste was further vindicated when in 1994 then-president Nelson Mandela's government advocated elements of "Nation
Building".
Patel says the paper's new outlook is yielding positive results. "Sowetan has experienced a steady increase in advertising revenue since September last year," said Patel. "I wouldn't, however, attribute this to any one factor. It is a combination of factors, including our content, design, marketing promotional activities and ongoing sales efforts."
There can be little doubt that Sowetan has improved its profile in the eyes of advertisers. The big question is whether it has also become more attractive to a sophisticated black readership. The Sowetan's dilemma is that it cannot institute radical changes of format, for fear of losing the existing readership. As a result, the changes have been subtle, rather than bold - perhaps too subtle for most readers to have noticed yet.
I asked a number of Sowetan readers of my acquaintance what they thought of the "new look" paper. Most were surprised by the question. "Looks much the same
to me," was the general answer. Perhaps that answer will change over the next few months as the Sowetan gently nudges upmarket.
Source: City of Johannesburg web site
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