Novus Group’s latest circulation report reveals mass closures, digital migrations, and surprising community resilience across the March 2024 to March 2025 period.
South Africa’s print media industry has experienced one of its most defining 12-month periods in recent memory, marked by closures, consolidations, and shifting audience behaviour. With legacy newspapers shutting down, weekly staples vanishing, and custom titles rising in unexpected places, the industry faces a true moment of reckoning. Novus Group’s newly released Print Media Report (March 2024–March 2025) tracks the trends and decodes them.
The data confirms the deepening contraction of traditional print. Flagship newspapers including Beeld, Rapport, City Press, and Daily Sun ceased publication following Media24’s decision to restructure and withdraw from major print operations. Weekly publications were equally affected. Soccer Laduma, for many years a staple in South African football reporting, saw a 26.10% decline, while Midland News and the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser published their final print editions after more than 140 years in operation.
“While there are isolated success stories in community papers and custom magazines, the broader trend is clear: South Africans are consuming news differently,” says Joe Hamman, Director at Novus Group. “South Africans have steadily shifted to digital platforms for their news, and brands must follow that shift with data-backed strategies.”
This shift aligns with international trends. The Reuters Institute reports a growing portion of global audiences are actively avoiding traditional news, while a 2024 Pew Research Center study found that more than half of Americans now access news via social media platforms. Locally, innovative Instagram-native brands like Cool Story Bru are reshaping how younger South Africans encounter news, blending entertainment with journalism in bite-sized, visual formats.
Still, the Novus Group Print report doesn’t only show a decline in circulation. Caxton-owned Zululand Observer titles grew by over 24%, and the TFG Club custom magazine surged past 286,000 editions, continuing a trend of growth across the TFG portfolio. Meanwhile, sustainability and eco-friendly printing, AI and automation, and print-on-demand are becoming key as South Africa embraces these global shifts.
Looking ahead, the big question is not whether print will survive but how it will evolve. Hybrid models that combine targeted print distribution with digital-first storytelling are gaining traction, particularly among niche publishers and retailers. Industry-wide, innovation will need to come not just from content but from format, distribution, and funding models. For legacy publishers, embracing sustainability, AI, and community-led relevance could be the difference between becoming obsolete and reinvention.
“There is still a role for print in South Africa, but it must evolve,” Hamman adds. “Our data shows that relevance now depends on precision: targeted distribution, custom content, and tight integration with digital. Those who adapt quickly and intelligently will lead the next chapter of South African media.”