The Mail & Guardian has experienced a steady increase in circulation in spite of the overall downward trend in the print industry.
The latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) show that single-copy sales of weekly newspapers have dropped by 24Â 894 copies, or 3.8%, in the past year.
Total circulation among weekly papers dropped by the same percentage.
But the M&G‘s single copy sales have increased by just more than 2% since last year.
The paper’s circulation has exceeded 50Â 000 copies and it is read by 383Â 000 people each week.
M&G editor-in-chief Nic Dawes said the reason for the paper’s growth was simple: “The appetite for relevant, credible news is stronger than ever and that is what we aim to deliver. I think readers can see that and they respond to it.
“What is remarkable is that these figures do not include our fast-growing digital editions on the iPad and Kindle. Growth would be even stronger if we were able to count these readers in terms of ABC rules, something that will be possible in the near future,” he said.
The M&G launched Kindle and iPad editions last year and readership on these platforms is growing rapidly. An edition is being developed for Android.
Dickon Jayes, managing director of MDA, which handles the M&G‘s circulation, said that if they were counted, the iPad and Kindle editions would add 1% of additional circulation. “They would increase our annualised rate of growth by 50%,” he said.
Media commentator Gill Moodie said: “There has been a consistent upward trajectory. It is significant because most newspapers in the country and around the world are on a consistent downward trajectory.”
The fact that the paper had stayed true to its values and core audience over the years had helped bolster readership in spite of the slow decline in the market, she said.
In 2010 the M&G spun off its investigations desk into a separate unit, the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, also known as amaBhungane.
AmaBhungane is a non-profit, public-interest initiative, funded by the M&G and outside funders. Its mandate is to produce investigative stories, mentor working journalists in investigative work through an internship programme and engage in advocacy on issues concerning press freedom.
Since last year the Eugene Saldanha Memorial Fellowship, set up by the M&G and the Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa, also allows the paper to field a journalist who specialises in reporting on poverty, inequality and human and socioeconomic rights.
Gordon Patterson, vice-president of the ABC, said the increase in the M&G‘s circulation was “remarkable”.
Patterson said there had been “smart management” of the paper’s circulation growth, with a focus on single-copy sales and strategic sampling campaigns driving new subscriptions each quarter.
He said that the newspaper’s reputation for quality journalism had shielded it from the downturn in the market.
“A good product is more insulated from economic pressure than a poor product. It becomes the last thing that you sacrifice rather than the first thing,” he said.
This competition has been closed.
To thank all our loyal readers we’re giving away five six month subscriptions to the Mail & Guardian on the platform of your choice: newspaper, Kindle or iPad to the value of R447. In addition you’ll get tickets to either the Cape Town International Jazz Festival or to see Vusi Mahlasela live in concert in Johannesburg.
Mail here to win. Entries close on March 23.