ANC has to go before the newspapers die

The other day I was looking at the Audit Bureau of Circulations’ reports regarding newspaper sales in the second quarter of this year – and they don’t make for good reading.

Looking at the numbers, it’s obvious that some newspaper titles are on their last legs.

The flipside of the coin is that many titles are growing their online readership exponentially, so while newspapers might one day be relegated to the history books, the gathering and distribution of news by credible, professional journalists seems to be very much alive.

Being a newspaper man – with the emphasis on paper – I must admit that I’m also making the transition from paper to screen.

In recent years, I have subscribed to a number of titles, both locally and internationally.

Being able to access the sites from my phone and many other electronic devices, means I can sit in bed and read the latest edition of many publications even as the printed version is coming off the press.

I also have access to titles which have never been available to me in print.

For me, one of the biggest benefits of subscribing to titles online is that it is exceptionally cheap.

Very often it costs only a fraction of the price of the printed versions. Although I’d hate to see newspapers disappear completely, it probably is inevitable.

Just like horses had to make way for cars, paper editions will yield for the online wave. A century and a half ago, every town had farriers, blacksmiths and public watering troughs for horses.

They have all been replaced by filling stations and tyre shops.

In my home town, there are already way more cellphone traders than newspaper street sellers.

While I wait for the inevitable, I can’t help but wonder what the last front page of the last newspaper will look like.

Will the lead story be about Covid finally being conquered, or a Soccer World Cup victory for South Africa?

Whatever it is, it will be a collector’s item.

But I wouldn’t want the last paper to report on the ANC being slain at the polls. That’s a headline that will hopefully be written much sooner.