DFA reports that the SA print media industry has taken another hard blow following the announcement that Caxton & CTP Publishers & Printers plans to completely withdraw from magazine publishing.
The board of directors of Caxton, one of the country’s biggest publishers and printers, announced on Tuesday that it had begun a process of withdrawing from magazine publishing and associated businesses. The decision was informed by the steady and continuous reduction in the overall amount of ad-spend being allocated by advertisers to the magazine media sector as well as the negative impact of the recent Covid-19 lockdown on general economic activity. The group advised that it was in the process of consulting with its employees and that it would be keen to engage with any other parties and publishers who would be interested in taking over any of its titles. The announcement came a day after the Daily Sun announced that it had ceased all print publishing in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Last week, Associated Media Publishing announced that it would close shop permanently. Meanwhile, Mail & Guardian made a public plea in March for readers to go out and buy the weekly newspaper and subscribe for online news after the company faced financial distress due to the lockdown. The staff and journalists of the Independent Media group also received salary cuts in April due to low advertising revenue during the lockdown. Arena Holdings, which owns Sunday Times and Sowetan, told its staff last week that it would start docking 30% of their salary starting this month.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Chulumanco Mahamba at DFA
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