Final ever edition of Beeld newspaper published

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Last week saw the final ever edition published of Afrikaans newspaper Beeld,bringing to an end a 50-year journey.

The weekly newspaper was first launched on 16 September 1974.

Beeld was published six days a week in the Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West provinces.

As reported by The South African website, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) numbers painted a clear picture that newspapers – and to a slightly lesser extent magazines – are dying a rapid death in South Africa.

Read all those shocking numbers HERE

Newspaper	2014 Q1	2024 Q1	% decrease
Soccer Laduma	317 013	41 698	86.8%
Daily Sun	283 216	11 889	95.8%
Rapport	177 016	56 410	68.1%
City Press	118 676	12 093	89.8%
Beeld	62 766	19 369	69.1%
Overall	958 687	141 459	85.2%

Circulation figures as per ABC via BizCommunity and Mark Lives

The decision to end the publishing of Beeld newspaper was part of a decision taken by Media24 to cease production of a number of newspapers and digital websites in its portfolio this month.

In June of this year, Media24 announced a major massive restructuring that, at the time, was reported to mean 400 job losses due to years of declining advertising and circulation.

The initial plan included the retrenchment of 66 journalists who create, process and package content for Beeld, Rapport, City Press and Daily Sun.�

However, Media24 later announced that it would no longer retrench those 66 editorial staff members. �

The final publication dates for the very last print editions of Rapport, Beeld, City Press, Daily Sun, as well as the PDF editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap on Netwerk24, and for SNL24, will be 31 December 2024 – or earlier.

Green light

Meanwhile, the Competition Commission has approved Media24’s sale of its Soccer Laduma and KickOfftitles to printing group Novus Holdings.

Media24 will also proceed with shutting its SNL24 digital hub.

SNL24 currently comprises five formerly standalone websites in Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Drum, Daily Sun and TRUELOVE.

It remains to be seen how much success – if any – Novus Holdings has with resurrecting print versions of Soccer Laduma and KickOff and whether they have long-term plans to create online versions, presumably renamed, thereof.

In the interim, be sure to bookmark The South African’s soccer pages for the very best coverage of the local scene.

In addition, Media24’s distributions business, On the Dot, and its country-wide community newspaper portfolio have also been given the green light to be offloaded.