Caxton has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend the publication of the majority of its Gauteng newspapers for the remaining two weeks of the government mandated lockdown. All online properties will however continue undisrupted.
Certain areas of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo will continue to print.
“We had to make the very difficult call at the end of last week after extensive deliberation by the board of directors,” explains Gill Randall, CEO of SPARK Media. “As a company, Caxton has been acutely aware of the vital role played by local newspapers during these uncertain times, and have tried everything in our power to ‘keep the lights’ on for as many of our communities as possible.
I would like to thank our advertisers and media owner partners for their support thus far, and encourage you to continue supporting our many titles that still plan to publish until the end of April.”
Managing Director of Caxton Local Newspapers, Jaco Koekemoer adds: “While printing may have stopped, the group’s 72 digital platforms are still focusing on covering hyper-local and national news.”
He added that it was clear from the statistics that readers rely on its platforms as a source of accurate information, “We have seen unprecedented growth in traffic on our digital platforms, with over 10 million visitors and more than 20 million page views in March.”
A detailed list of papers that will and will not be available over the next two weeks can be found here:
SPARK Media
Established in 2015, SPARK Media, a division of CTP Ltd, are experts in retail and location-based marketing solutions. The company owns and represents an arsenal of print products that deliver locally relevant, effective audiences for advertising clients. SPARK Media are Strategic Partners in Audience Research and Knowledge and offer ‘Insights that Ignite’.
