that they are talking also about their rights and that any limitation of media freedom is bound
to infringe individual freedoms as well. Media freedom is therefore widely misunderstood as
concerning media practitioners and media companies only – and not society at large.
SCORES:
Individual scores:
Average score:

4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
3.9
(2006 = 3.1)

OVERALL SCORE FOR SECTOR 1:

3.4

(2006 = 3.1)

Sector 2: The media landscape is characterised by diversity,
independence and sustainability.
2.1

A wide range of sources of information (print, broadcasting, internet)
is available and affordable to citizens.

ANALYSIS:
Print media:
Overall, 44.4 % of all South Africans read one or other of all newspapers, up from 40.0 in 2005
(2007 All Media Products Survey).
This means that the majority of South Africans still do not buy or read newspapers. Some
choose not to buy them, whilst for others they are unaffordable or inaccessible (a copy of
the Cape Times, for example, costs R 5.30, nearly the costs of a loaf of bread (R 7). In some
areas – such as in Gauteng and regions around city centres – a wide range of print media are
available, in other areas there is little or no choice of media.
The increase in the number of readers is partly caused by the steady growth of tabloids such
as the Daily Sun. The Sun has a readership of 4,755 million and a market share of 15,3%, up
from 2,9 % in 2003 (AMPS), and is thus well ahead of its nearest competitor The Star with
1,045 million readers per day and a market share of 3.4 %.
The mainstream print media are mostly in English or Afrikaans. This means that most people
cannot get print media in their home languages. However, publishing in isiZulu has been
revitalised in KwaZulu-Natal:
iLanga, which has been around for decades, is now published twice a week and has a Sunday
edition and a free edition on Wednesdays, and its readership has grown to 604.000 (AMPS 2007).
In 2001 the first daily isiZulu newspaper was launched: Isolezwe now has a daily readership
of 702.000 (2007).
The weekly UmAfrika had been liquidated in 2001, but was restarted in 2005 and now has
135.000 readers (2007).
Some small vernacular newspapers do exist in other areas of South Africa, but, unlike the Zulu
language papers, they are not commercially profitable. There are steps under way, though, to
So This Is Democracy? 2008

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Media Institute of Southern Africa

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