I find myself as one involved in both aspects of these trades – one ‘keeps the lights on’ and one ‘sheds light on the truth’.
Or as my young boys would have a chuckle to: One is a ‘Story Teller’ and the other is a ‘Wire Puller’.
Yes – I was teased mercilessly in primary school as a ‘draad trekker’!
But, to the comparison.
Both journalists and electricians have to have certain qualifications, follow specific guidelines and adhere to certain ethical considerations. Both are subject to oversight and have to belong to specific organisations in order to protect the public at large.
Both have certain responsibilities to uphold.
I have watched over many years the proliferation of DIY electricians – much the same as DIY journalists. It seems that anyone with a tester and a set of tools feels qualified enough to be an electrician.
In the same vein we have social media influencers and various other persons who have a computer, keyboard and a Facebook account who style themselves as ‘social media journalists’.
Thankfully the electrical trade has not had to contend with rapidly disappearing monetisation as advertisers flee to online ad platforms like Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords).
What has happened in the electrical trade over many years is that we have seen the rise of the ‘bakkie brigade’ (think of them like ‘social media influencers’). There has been a distinct move away from the few large electrical contracting businesses to many small ones operating in a hyper local environment.
Long established Electrical Contractors have since moved into high value areas on the industry that demand additional education and qualification. A case in point is around a specialised boutique company such as BA Systems which has sent staff to Australia and Germany to do courses on Building Management and Automation.
Other areas for savvy electricians are Solar, prepaid metering and the like.
We see a similar trend with journalists – complicated by the fact that the medium in which they worked (print) becoming obsolete. Moving online has worked for very few and a bloodbath for the numbers of journalists employed by one publication. Nervous journalists have also ‘jumped ship’ and gone to the ‘dark side’ into the Public Relations world.
Yes, it is a tough time for the “old guard” of South African media. Over the last decade (2016–2026), we’ve witnessed what many in the industry call a “print bloodbath.” The shift has been driven by a perfect storm of declining ad spend, high distribution costs, and a massive migration of readers to free digital platforms.
The “Digital-First” Transitions That Survived:
| Newspaper Title | Print Closed | Reason for Closure | Readership (at Close) | Current Online Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Sun | Dec 2024 | Circulation collapse; pivot to digital-only for working-class market. | ~14,000 (Down from 270k+) | Thriving on SNL24; 3M+ active monthly users. |
| Beeld | Sept 2024 | Media24 restructuring; moving Afrikaans readers to paywall. | ~20,000 | Netwerk24; shares content with other Afrikaans titles. |
| City Press | Dec 2024 | Decline in Sunday print habits and high overheads. | ~12,000 (Down from 118k+) | News24; functions as premium investigative section. |
| Rapport | Dec 2024 | Strategic withdrawal by Media24 to protect digital margins. | ~55,000 (Down from 175k+) | Netwerk24; maintained as digital Sunday flagship. |
| The Times | Nov 2017 | Unprofitability as a daily free-to-subscribers model. | ~137,000 (Mixed) | TimesLIVE; now 2nd largest news site in SA. |
| Volksblad | 2020 | COVID-19 accelerated the decline of regional dailies. | ~13,000 | Netwerk24; serves Free State digitally. |
The “Total Shutdowns”
The New Age (rebranded as Afro Voice):
- Closed: June 2018
- Reason: Closely linked to the Gupta family and “state capture” era. Once government advertising (its primary revenue stream) was pulled following the political shift in 2017/2018, the model collapsed.
- Comparison: At its peak, it claimed a circulation of 100,000+ (though audited figures were often disputed). It has no current online presence.
Vrye Weekblad (The 2019 Relaunch):
- Closed: March 2025.
- Reason: After relaunching as a digital-only title in 2019, it struggled to convert “widely read” free content into enough paid subscriptions to cover costs once subsidies ended.
- Comparison: Transitioned from a legendary anti-apartheid print past to a digital archive. It currently exists only as a digital archive.
Weekend Post & Daily Dispatch Weekend:
- Closed: 2024.
- Reason: Arena Holdings consolidated regional operations. The weekend editions were no longer viable against the massive Sunday Times dominance and rising digital consumption.
- Comparison: Readership folded into the daily Daily Dispatch and Herald digital platforms (DispatchLIVE and HeraldLIVE).
3. Iconic Local Closures
- Midland News & Graaff-Reinet Advertiser: Closed in 2024/2025 after 140 years of publication. The reason was a total collapse of local business advertising, which previously sustained these small-town stalwarts.
Summary of Reasons for Decline
- The “Platform” Effect: Advertising money that used to stay in South Africa now flows largely to Google and Meta.
- Print Inflation: The cost of paper and ink rose by as much as 45% in some years, while cover prices couldn’t keep up.
- The COVID-19 Impact: Many “die-hard” print readers switched to digital during lockdown and simply never went back to buying a physical paper.
- Load Shedding: While it sounds odd, printing presses and distribution chains were heavily disrupted by the power crisis, making timely deliveries expensive and difficult.
- Fun Fact: Even though the Daily Sun’s print circulation plummeted by nearly 90%, it still reaches millions online. The “audience” is bigger than ever; it’s just the monetization of that audience that remains the industry’s biggest headache.
Nelson Mandela Bay is a Stronghold:
While many of the big national “legacy” newspapers are closing their print editions, the Eastern Cape—and specifically the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro—is actually a bit of a stronghold for community print media.
In your target areas of Gqeberha and Kariega, the local “Express” model is still very much alive and well. These papers have survived because they focus on the “small news” that big national sites ignore: school rugby scores, municipal water updates, and local business openings.
Here is the status of the community papers in NMB as of early 2026:
1. PE Express (Gqeberha)
This is the “big dog” of local media in the Bay. While national dailies like Beeld or Daily Sun folded their print versions, PE Express remains a staple.
- Status: Very Active in Print.
- Reach: They still claim a weekly distribution of roughly 120,000 free copies, delivered door-to-door in Gqeberha.
- The Survival Factor: Because it is free to the reader and funded entirely by local advertising (Walmer builders, Newton Park doctors, etc.), it bypasses the “paywall fatigue” that killed other papers.
- Online Readership: Their digital presence (peexpress.co.za) and social media following are massive, but interestingly, the physical paper is still highly valued for the local grocery inserts.
2. UD Express (Kariega / Uitenhage)
The “UD” stands for Uitenhage/Despatch, and this paper remains the primary voice for the industrial hub.
- Status: Active in Print & E-Edition.
- Reach: Targeted heavily toward Kariega and Despatch residents.
- Online Presence: They have successfully transitioned to a “Hybrid” model. If you miss the physical copy, locals heavily use the E-Edition (Flipbook) on their website.
- Why it survives: Kariega is a tight-knit community. The UD Express is where you see your neighbor’s kid in the paper for a sports award, which is high-value “social currency” that keeps the paper on kitchen tables.
3. The Herald (Gqeberha – Daily)
While not a “community” weekly, it is the regional daily.
- Status: Active (Daily).
- Print vs. Online: Their print circulation has dipped (now hovering around 10,000–12,000 copies daily), but their online “Audience” (combined web and print) is estimated at over 400,000 monthly users.
- Comparison: You can reach 10,000 people through their morning paper, or 400,000 through their HeraldLIVE site.
Comparison: Print at Close vs. Online Now
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