Suid-Afrika: Die Afrikaner en sy Pers (South Africa: The Afrikaner and its Press)

Abstract

The relationship which exists between readers and a newspaper can be described as a “circular causality”: the newspaper expresses the ideas of its readers, sometimes polishing them, articulating them, but the first input is always made by the reader, while the newspaper completes the circle. This implies that newspaper owners could determine the course of a given newspaper, but if that direction was not vital and in tune with its readers, the newspaper would no longer be read by them. And a newspaper with a diminishing readership is a dying newspaper. In this article the political and cultural bond between the newspaper and its readers is highlighted, with particular regard to the inestimable contribution of the newspaper in the shaping of public opinion. Another aspect, namely the survival of newspapers, coupled with the survival of the language in which the newspaper is published, is speculated on. Obviously economic considerations also play a a role in this regard. Two matters make the future of the Afrikaans newspapers in particular very uncertain: the rising costs and the Government's growing monopoly with regard to the electronic media. The author pleads for a reasonable chance to compete, and for inclusion of the press groups in the electronic age.