The Mail & Guardian has achieved a phenomenal growth in readership. Our readership has jumped to a total of 120 000 powerful readers every week.
The latest All Media Product Survey (Amps) has found the M&G now enjoys the highest number of readers compared with other niche titles like Business Day and The Sunday Independent.
Earlier this year, the Audit Bureau of Circulation confirmed the M&G’s increase in sales by 10% made it South Africa’s fastest- growing newspaper title. “This proves our readers want a strong, investigative, intelligent newspaper that pulls no punches. It is clear that South African readers, black and white, are not looking for sycophantic journalism that refuses to challenge,” says editor Phillip van Niekerk.
The highlight of the survey is that 55% of M&G readers are black, coloured and Indian, and 42 000 are professionals.
The M&G has the highest number of black professional readers at 12_000. This compares favourably with Business Day (9 000), Financial Mail (8 000) and The Sunday Independent (4 000), which – as the figures in brackets show – have significantly fewer black professional readers.
“When one looks at other similar quality publications, the M&G performs exceptionally well. Its black readers [including coloureds and Indians], who form a healthy 55% of readers, indicate a product that has universal acceptance in South Africa,” says Harry Herber, MD of The MediaShop. Paul Haupt, MD of the South African Advertising Research Foundation, which measures Amps, said weekly newspapers had performed well in the latest survey.
Newspapers appear in general to have lifted the decline in readership, with all categories showing nominal to good increases. Amps measures readership and not circulation.