Publisher Media24 has announced it plans to close seven print units and outsource most of its remaining monthly magazine.
This is a big blow to the South African publication industry that has already seen a good number of its print media fold up, owing largely to the effect of the imposition of a coronavirus lockdown.
The company on its website also said that it will begin to brief its staff about its plans going forward, which includes, the transitioning of two regional newspapers to digital-only products and reducing some monthly magazines’ frequency. The changes will affect about 510 of the 2,971 staff at the unit, which also has interests in e-commerce and book publishing.
Chief Executive Officer Ishmet Davidson in a statement said, “The pandemic has accelerated the pre-existing and long-term structural decline in print media, resulting in a devastating impact on our own already fragile print media operations with significant declines in both circulation and advertising since April.
“Even with a return to pre-COVID-19 economic levels, the impact of the pandemic on our print media operations will be unrecoverable.”
Media24’s downsizing comes after Caxton & CTP Publishers & Printers Ltd. Announced in May that it had plans to close its magazine division, which held the local rights to People magazine. In a related development, Associated Media Publishing, which had titles such as Cosmopolitan, announced its closure on April 30.
The 5 weeks imposed lockdown affected the production and sales of magazines and other print media forcing them to either publish digitally or cease operating.
