Death By Ink!

I am sure for a lot of people, the news of the folding of one of Britain’s notorious tabloid newspaper, News Of The World, came as a great to them. Personally, I had always understood it that publications fold mostly due to financial reasons. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that such a ‘successful’ newspaper – with a weekly circulation of over 2.7 million readers – could ever stop press as a result of its bad reputation.

The untimely end of News Of The World then got me thinking of the South African media landscape. In the 70s and 80s, we had publications such as for example, Weekly Mail, South and Grassroots, all which were known as alternative press (or protest publications). These alternative newspapers opposed the views of major newspapers that mostly favoured the apartheid government at the time.

Drum Magazine 

The most notable magazines that I can recall (and which I knew) during that era were Drum and Pace. Unlike the Drum of today, which is filled with glamourous lifestyle pages of our local celebrities, yester-year Drum was a magazine that spewed revolutionary messages that drove the ambitions of black people wanting an escape from everyday-apartheid. Pace magazine walked a similar path – containing interesting feature articles and investigative stories that fanned the flames of black consciousness and pride.

I cannot help but feel envious of journalists and writers in that era because no doubt, they stayed true to their publications and their readers. They were passionate about what they were doing and were never intimidated by any threats. To them, writing about controversial issues got their blood flowing. They were never fearful to expose the truth – no matter how life-threatening the consequences.

Pace Magazine

So, when Pace folded exactly 8 years ago this month, I was extremely sad because I rated it as one of the best, quality publications we had in the country. Granted, the content and ownership might have changed over time, but to me, it will always remain the best black magazine we ever had. The difference between News Of The World and Pace is obvious – one thrived on fickle, sensational news, while the other strived to be informative and to uplift the lives of black people of this country.

So, if I could be given a choice to revive one of the two from its deathbed one day, of course I would choose Pace any day…

News of the World last edition