Community press gets a new dress

MBOMBELA – We do not wear the same clothes and shoes every day. With each season we adapt to the current fashion styles and it makes us feel like a million bucks!

As you hold your beloved Lowvelder in your hands, she dons a completely new jacket. Modern, fresh and keeping with the times.

A new season has arrived for one of the oldest, most accoladed newspapers in South Africa.

In the publishing world, newspapers have been under pressure for the past few years and doomsday prophets have often preached that print was dead.

We have heard these rumours since the early 2000s and yet, here we still are. The digital revolution has had an impact on newspapers, but community newspapers worldwide still seem to flourish.

Why? Because nowhere else can you read about things happening in your own backyard.

When you page through the paper, you will either see yourself or someone you know gracing the pages.

How often do you see someone excitingly share on Facebook that their (or their children’s) photo has been published in the newspaper?

When we asked our readers last Friday whether they had ever been in the newspaper and why, and how it made them feel, we were blown away with the response.

Readers proudly shared newspaper clippings which they had kept for decades.

Yet if you pose the same question about social media, like Facebook or Instagram, most users would not be able to tell you what their last post was.

The value of print and being featured in it can no longer be disputed.

National group editor of Caxton Local Newspapers, Irma Green, has for the past four years attended every World Association of Newspapers (WAN) conference and confirms that community newspapers are still thriving.

At the most recent WAN held in Scotland in June, the following insight was shared, “One medium does not kill another. Film did not kill theatre, just as television did not kill radio.

“In fact, when new mediums emerge, there is a period of adjustment in which the genres of the old are created in the new.”

In the World Press Trends report, the following statement was made, “Digital innovation, digital revenue, new digital products: many news organisations are focused on their digital businesses.

“But few are planning to drop their paper editions, and in some countries, newspapers are thriving: print is not going anywhere for the time being. So the challenge now is how it can adapt to make it work with the digital offering.”

Green said this is exactly what their mission was in the redesign of Lowvelder.

“Our national creative director, Mirelle Jacobs, has done a remarkable task by creating a look and feel which ties in with the new editorial vision.

“We now understand more than ever that the voice of our community is vital to cultivate and create a balanced society.

“People love interacting on Facebook because we all have opinions and something to say. We learned from it and incorporated our reader’s views into our stories.”

The Podium is a new column created especially for the community to air their views. So often readers say “I want to write a piece on…” and this column provides the opportunity to do so. And in the rest of the publication you will find more jewels.

Worldwide, readers are looking for insights and visual storytelling, as long articles do not appeal to readers anymore. Time is limited, but there is still a hunger for information.

Interesting features and infographics will in future be part of the editorial and layout strategy of the publication. Even the way adverts are designed has evolved dramatically. The teams have gone through rigorous training to stimulate the creative juices.

The front page, with its moveable masthead, will hopefully from now on have the X-factor of surprise. The dedicated team at Lowvelder are excited about the dawn of this new era.

Local community newspapers are still extremely relevant

Buks Esterhuizen, GM Caxton Local Media Printing and Newspapers Sales writes:

Every week your local community newspaper arrives at your favourite outlet, offering you news and advertising content, which is specific to your community.

I believe local newspapers are still going strong because of the editorial relevance, which creates high readerships.

The local community newspapers give you an insight to what is happening around you.

These newspapers are still the place where you read about news in your immediate community. Other platforms do not necessarily offer you the news the same way you read it in your local newspaper.

The high readership which local newspapers reach, creates attractive advertising options for the business community at large. These newspapers have become the reference point of researching shopping purchases. This is a behaviour – not media.

Retailers and brands rely on the success at individual store level, and our readers are your customers. People like to preplan, as they have become price-conscious. Around 89 per cent of shoppers plan ahead of the time.

With local newspapers’ effective reach and high readerships, it comes as no surprise why local newspapers are the backbone of many of SA’s most successful retailers.

The last few quarters, Lowvelder has shown an increase in circulation, which is a good indicator that local print is alive, and will be around for a long time to come.