Media24 looks likely to close five newspapers, with 400 jobs in jeopardy

Media24 announced on Tuesday it was considering closing the print editions of five newspapers, while evolving three of them into digital-only brands. 

It said the proposed restructuring could result in at least 400 job losses. 

Media24 said the planned intervention included closing the print editions of Beeld, Rapport, City Press, Daily Sun and Soccer Laduma, as well as the digital editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap, and the digital hub SNL24. 

Another intervention is transitioning Rapport, City Press and Daily Sun into digital-only brands. Media24 also plans to sell On the Dot, the media logistics business, and the community newspaper portfolio, to Novus Holdings, subject to regulatory approvals. 

Last week, Moneyweb broke the news that a decision had been taken to close the titles. 

Die Burger and Son in the Western Cape are unaffected. 

Media24 CEO Ishmet Davidson said consumer preferences had changed. “People now read news more than ever, but most prefer to do so on their cellphones or laptops and publishers have to comply with their preferences.” 

He said print media globally had been suffering structural declines in circulation and advertising for decades. Combined with rising fixed distribution costs, this had had a devastating effect on print operations. 

“As a result, our titles in the northern region have been on life support for a while. Combined losses are projected to mount to R200m over the next three years,” Davidson said. 

As digital brands, Rapport and City Press will reside at Netwerk24 and Media24 respectively. Beeld, Volksblad and Die Burger Oos readers will be able to get their news on Netwerk24. The Daily Sun will be relaunched as a standalone and free e-news site.

Davidson said the consultation process is expected to be completed over the next three months, with September 30 earmarked as the last day of the publication of the affected newspapers.

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