By Charles Lee Mathews. Print newspaper circulation in South Africa continues to reflect a split market, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa (ABC) Q1 2025 report. Local community and complimentary newspapers have held steady or grown. However, several national and regional newspapers have ceased publication or shown steep YoY declines.
“The interest in local, national or global news has never been higher. However, how that news is consumed has shifted to digital platforms, and print news is no longer in demand,” says Martin MacGregor, CEO of Connect, part of the Up&Up Group. “The bigger question is the economics behind the print publications left and how they continue to be funded with minimal advertising support,” he adds.
Total circulation of daily newspapers fell 14,6% year-on-year from 307,926 to 262,962 copies. This decline follows the discontinuation of several titles, including Daily Sun, Beeld, and Volksblad. Many national daily and weekend newspapers have shut down as newsrooms continue to shrink. Historically, national dailies relied on regional titles for local coverage, which depended on community papers. As publishers divested from these layers, the national products lost relevance and breadth of coverage.
Why the fall?
Academic studies and media reports have highlighted the phenomenon of news fatigue, with the Reuters Institute noting that over 38% of audiences globally often or sometimes avoid the news. South Africans are tuning out, inundated with political scandals, economic woes, and social instability.
Local newspapers offer a tonic: “news you can use” rather than doomscrolling despair. That means birthdays, regional business news, service delivery updates, local crime stats, human interest, and church notices. These are the kind of stories that connect people to their place and their community rather than exacerbate their anxieties.
👉 READ: Why the local newspaper still drives sales (June 2025)
Local lessons for hard news titles
- Hyperlocal wins: Tailor editions regionally and push granular community content.
- Practicality matters: Readers want tangible value, not just opinion and analysis.
- Community connection: Invest in trust and local presence.
- Diversify distribution: Blend print, social and WhatsApp-first approaches.
“With the release of the latest ABC figures, we continue to see a decline in traditional news titles and an increase in community papers. My question is: is this because local content is more relevant and resonates with individual communities on a granular level, and that’s what they’re after? Or is it because the paper is free? With the rise of townhouse complexes and urbanisation, there is a natural increase in print distribution and circulation, which appeals to advertisers. I don’t believe this is a ‘print’ issue, it’s a news issue,” says Owen Williams, co-owner and director at Intimedia
“We’ve also seen online news publishers struggle to increase subscriptions through payment gateways, etc. I believe consumers have access to a plethora of free news platforms and channels online that are quick and easy to access, and that’s what they read. The content’s validity and the sources’ reliability are questionable, but that’s another discussion,” he adds.
“As a media strategist, it’s not really about whether it’s free or not; it’s about whether it’s being read. We are in the attention economy, and data from Lumen’s Eye Tracking research shows that community papers are indeed being read. Advertisers follow platforms or media channels that offer substantial reach and deliver high levels of consumer attention to drive mental availability. Each week, retailers and big brands continue to invest in community papers — and for good reason,” Williams says.
The top five daily newspapers by circulation in Q1 2025 were:
- Die Burger – 29,173
- The Citizen (Daily) – 20,940
- The Star – 19,730
- Sowetan – 19,094
- Isolezwe – 18,930
Weekly newspapers declined 18.5 % YoY from 129,845 to 105,850 copies. Five key performers in this category include:
- Soccer Laduma – 24,813
- Ilanga – 21,010
- SON Weekly – 17,541
- The Post – 15,272
- Daily Maverick – 11,268
Weekend newspapers saw the steepest decline, down 38.7% YoY from 363,307 to 222,659. Several weekend titles have closed or resigned from the ABC. The top five performers were:
- Sunday Times – 58,486
- Isolezwe ngeSonto – 19,056
- Sunday Tribune – 14,010
- Weekend Vision – 12,882
- Sunday World – 12,721
In contrast, local newspapers grew slightly from 163,097 to 169,299, a 3.8% increase YoY. The leading five titles were:
- Witbank News – 21,156
- Observer Middelburg – 18,888
- Lowvelder – 18,822
- African Reporter – 12,276
- Kokstad Advertiser – 11,008
Free newspapers remain the largest category by volume, with a total distribution of 4,442,597 copies in Q1 2025. The category declined from 533,6216 or 16.7% YoY. The top five performers were:
- PE Express – 120,197
- Soweto Urban News – 109,100
- Plainsman – 85,235
- City Vision – 85,000
- Vukani – 76,009
Custom magazines: Branded, purposeful content wins
While legacy consumer magazines struggle, custom magazines produced for loyalty clubs, retailers, and brands continue to gain. Club Magazine and Jet Club alone account for nearly 570,000 combined copies. Their success lies in combining free or bundled delivery with content that drives lifestyle aspirations and purchases.
These titles know their audience, serve them practical content (recipes, parenting, shopping tips), and often come with rewards or exclusive offers. They aren’t asking readers to pay for generic lifestyle coverage; they’re offering innovative, brand-aligned experiences in print.
Custom magazines, typically free, loyalty, or brand-distributed, maintained a strong readership. The category saw a healthy 13.7 % YoY growth from 1,492,774 to 1,698,356.
The top five titles in custom magazines were:
- Club Magazine – 286,394
- Jet Club – 282,091
- SportsClub – 116,760
- My Kitchen – 112,885
- Man – 85,571
“The integrity of the data remains paramount and is strongly governed by the board. We will constantly look at proposals to reflect the titles’ true read circulation correctly. As an example, our Airport copies are measured closely and have a significant readership given the amount of times a day we need to replenish copies to satisfy demand. It is all part of ensuring we get our papers into the hands of a captive audience,” says Andy Gill, president of the ABC,
“We will not introduce rules that allow a ‘more favourable’ figure than is real in a market context. If you analyse the data more closely, you will see that the brands that have not discontinued or failed to submit (i.e., on a like-for-like basis) have grown in daily and weekend circulation relative to the prior quarter. In the case of dailies, it is up year on year,” Gill adds.
When asked how ABC will deal with cross-platform metrics, in a more digital or programmatic future, Gill answered: “We are actively engaging with key players in other industry bodies to ensure we can together reflect the total reach of our brands across all platforms. We believe this is crucial in the face of the dominance of international players in the SA advertising market. We support efforts to engage local advertisers to advertise with local publishers to ensure the sustainability and success of South African media excellence.”
According to the ABC data, print remains viable in formats that are either free, hyperlocal, or integrated with brand utility. This indicates that while traditional newspaper business models are in decline, alternative print models continue to find sustainable audiences.
Charles Lee Mathews is a senior editor to MarkLives MEDIA and a senior writer to MarkLives.com, as well as co-founder of The Writers, a writing consultancy.
