Compared with the AMPS results for January to December 2011, the
Daily Dispatch has grown readership by 2.6%, the
Herald by 8%, and the
Saturday Dispatch by a very impressive 43% in 2012. The
Saturday Dispatch shows the largest percentage increase in readership of all weekly newspapers in South Africa.
Brendan Boyle, editor of the
Daily Dispatch and
Saturday Dispatch ascribes the increased eyeball appeal of both papers to “telling stories about the world our readers live in with rigour, compassion and respect.
The Dispatch and
Saturday Dispatch are community newspapers for people with wide interests and broad horizons”.
Reinforcing the quality of editorial work that is being produced to engage Eastern Cape readers, senior reporter Msindisi Fengu and photographer, Yandisa Monakali from the
Daily Dispatch were recently awarded the prestigious
Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism. The award was made for their investigation into the shocking conditions of school
hostels in the Eastern Cape. This outstanding piece of journalism stood out from entries submitted by television and online media alike.
Trevor Ormerod, general manager, Advertising Revenue and Strategic Communications for Times Media, says, “Our newspapers are renowned for their high quality of journalism and reader appeal. We are naturally very proud to offer newspapers of this calibre to our readers in the Eastern Cape.”
Boyle will soon be joining the
Sunday Times in a senior capacity, and as of Saturday, 1 June, seasoned journalist and deputy editor, since 2008, Bongani Siqoko, will assume full editorial responsibility for both papers.