The Sowetan

The Sowetan is an English-language South African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as a liberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregated township of Soweto, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province.

The Sowetan
The Sowetan Logo
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Arena Holdings
Founded2 February 1981
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersJohannesburg
Websitewww.sowetanlive.co.za

It is one of the largest national newspapers in South Africa. Regarded as having a left-leaning editorial tone, it carried a readership of almost 2 million and a circulation of 124,000 in 2006.[1]

The newspaper is the property of a South African media company Arena Holdings (formerly Tiso Blackstar Group, Avusa, and Times Media Group). Before that, it belonged to Dr. Nthato Motlana (1925–30 November 2008), a prominent South African businessman, physician and anti-apartheid activist, who took a leading role in the formation of the New African Investments Limited (NAIL), which purchased The Sowetan following the apartheid.[2]

History

The Sowetan started in 1981 as a replacement of the Post Transvaal newspaper, which itself consisted of editorial staff that migrated from another newspaper, The World. At the time, there was a total strike at the Post (for better increases). The strike lasted so long that the Post, which was financially independent from the Argus printing and publishing, nearly went bankrupt, resulting in the property and printing presses being sold to Caxtons. Caxtons then got the contract to print the Post and another building was found in Industria.

Two days before publishing the Post, the government decided to ban it again. The Post had more newspaper names registered, and after some deliberation, it was decided to go with The Sowetan. This was a weekly, Saturday and Sunday paper. The latter was later closed as it was never financially viable. The Sowetan never was a free sheet as it was never published before this date. The name was registered at the time with the intention to publish at a rather huge cost. It was one of more titles registered as a backup at the time.

Sales in the beginning were slow because people wrongly assumed that The Sowetan had only news from Soweto. It was in fact a countrywide newspaper from the beginning and was distributed in the Transvaal, Natal, Orange Free State, with copies also going to Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Due to the poor sales and high costs, the Port Elizabeth and Cape Town distribution was stopped after a few years. It took nearly two years before it was accepted and sales started soaring. Percy Qoboza was the editor at the time but was soon replaced by Joe Latakgomo. Latagomo started as a sports editor in 1967. Later Latakgomo left and joined The Star, after receiving death threats, and was replaced by Aggrey Klaaste, who was editor from 1988 to 2002.

Distribution areas
Distribution[3]
2008 2013
Eastern Cape Y
Free State Y Y
Gauteng Y Y
Kwa-Zulu Natal Y Y
Limpopo Y Y
Mpumalanga Y Y
North West Y Y
Northern Cape Y Y
Western Cape Y Y

Distribution figures
Circulation[4]
Net Sales
Jan – Mar 2015 99 244[5]
Jan – Mar 2014 99 403[5]
Oct – Dec 2012 100 349
Jul – Sep 2012 101 155
Apr – Jun 2012 98 156
Jan – Mar 2012 98 128

Readership figures
Estimated Readership[6][7]
AIR
January – December 2012 1 646 000
July 2011 – June 2012 1 651 000

See also

References
  1. "Sowetan introduces jobs online".
  2. Colin Sparks, "South African Media in Transition", Journal of African Media Studies, vol. 2, number 2, 2009, p. 201
  3. "The Sowetan Website". Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  4. Audit Bureau of Circulations (S.A)
  5. "ABC Analysis Q1 2015: The biggest-circulating newspapers in South Africa". 8 May 2015.
  6. SAARF AMPS (Previous Presentations)
  7. SAARF AMPS (Industry Presentations)
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