Sixty years in the making : the history of Eikestadnuus ( 1950 – 2009 )

Community papers perform a unique role by informing, educating and rallying their demarcated piece of society,as well as reflecting the opinion of such communities and shaping them. In this respect Eikestadnuus (in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province, South Africa) is no different to any other weekly newspaper. Yet, it has its own story. A belated birth, maturity after 30 years (when it came under new ownership) and now, with 60 years behind it, it is still going from strength to strength. Eikestadnuus, as the news organ of a university town, and with different cultures, has to cater for a broad spectrum of readers. It had to adapt to opposing political systems, interpreting the nature of democracy differently as well and shifting ethical and practical priorities to the dictates of 14 editors to date. In this paper the above is discussed and Eikestadnuus is measured against the universal blueprint of a fully functional community newspaper.


GMJ -AE 2010 Vol 4 (1)
the journalistic profession to the town where the then already mighty, although only national, Naspers was founded.It was here that a Department of Journalism would eventually be established with the aid of Naspers.Journalism students would serve internships and gain experience at Eikestadnuus (Moolman & Gerber, 1986: 1).
The paper was welcomed with fanfare and high expectations -messages from local luminaries such as the mayor Louis Hofmeyr, rector of the University of Stellenbosch, Bobby Wilcocks and AJM Fourie, chairman of the Stellenbosch Chamber of Commerce, were splashed over the front page (Boodskappe van, 1950: 1).Significantly almost a third of this page was allocated to an advertisement for Rembrandt, a leader of commerce and future owner of the paper (Elke sigaret, 1950: 1).At the same time the general public was awarded space in the paper, as would be expected from a community paper, like a certain Mrs. Nolte who was congratulated for her first place at the Rosebank Show where she achieved full marks for a knitted bedspread (Persoonlik, 1950: 2).
In the first edition the editor, Basie Botha, stated that this paper aspired to fulfil a need no other publication could and to maintain standards that would be worthy of Stellenbosch, "Eikestad" (Town of Oaks), as this town is widely known, and from which the paper subsequently took its name.The paper would be bilingual and non-political, and appeal to readers to consider it their paper, to identify with it, irrespective of which of the two "volksdele" white nation: with the understanding of Afrikaner or English descendants) they belonged to.(Uiteindelik ons, 1950: 4).In other words the two white language groups seem to have been the only market the paper catered for.This editorial policy would gradually change, with people from other racial groups becoming staff members and regularly featuring in articles and photographs (as an example the story "Bejaardes staan ure tou", 2000: 2).In being bilingual the Eikestadnuus continued with a tradition started on 16 August 1800, when the first newspaper on South African soil, The Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser was published (Potgieter, Ed., 1973: 187).

Getting down to grips: finding an own identity
Eikestadnuus initially consisted of eight pages, with the editorial in both English and Afrikaans, but from the second issue editorials appeared in Afrikaans or English alternatively (Stellenbosch vir, The rains came, 1950: 4).

Language
The language issue was raised in the letters column four years after inception of the paper, when an English speaker complained (ironically in Afrikaans) about the excess of Afrikaans articles (Ontaard ons?, 1954: 5), while this was guaranteed not to occur in the first issue of Eikestadnuus.The response from the editor was that Stellenbosch is "traditionally Afrikaans," that 80 percent of the inhabitants spoke Afrikaans, which meant that Afrikaans was spoken twice as much as English, and he could not be held responsible for the fact that English speakers could not read Afrikaans, while Afrikaans-speaking readers could understand English.Moreover, he reasoned, articles and letters are published in the language in which they had been written (Eikestadnuus tradisioneel, 1954: 5).Afrikaans readers seem not to have been worried about English per se, but did complain about the use of slang words in Afrikaans pieces (Schoonees, 1952: 4).doi: 10.5789/4-1-13

News focus
Contents consist mainly of reports on community and cultural affairs, and as a university town educational and sports news featured prominently right from the start.Reports on infrastructure, sanitation and health issues were balanced with personal news, like visitors to the town, appointments (mainly regarding the university) and the accomplishments of local people enjoyed precedence to news from other regions and abroad.Prominent citizens regularly made the headlines, such as rugby legend Danie Craven (920 seuns, 1973: 1), and eminent historian H.B. Thom (Die nuwe, 1954: 3), but most articles are about lesser known Stellenbosch residents, reflecting the everyday life of the town and environs.

Columns/opinion
Early columns were "Wat die papegaai sê," a personalised account of localised gossip (1950: 3; 1953: 5), "Profetiese woorde," which were theological essays and "Oom Japie vertel," a series of historical narratives by one of the senior citizens of Stellenbosch (1950: 3).Column writing, however, never really featured prominently in Eikestadnuus, for few columns were published and lasted long, although correspondents eventually were used regularly (Retief, 2009: 1).Religious and gender issues surfaced early on, as an article on a survey conducted by a theological student reveals -apparently women were more conservative and religious than men (Vroue konserwatiewer, 1951: 2).The matter of fact way in which these findings were revealed was indicative of a time when feminism and sexism were practically unknown.

Getting the work done: the inner workings
Initially the editor's office was conveniently near to Pro Ecclesia (printers) and Rembrandt (owners) in 89 Bird Street (Slotegraaf, 2009).In the 1960s Eikestadnuus moved to its current location, the Laetitia Building in Alexander Street (Botha, 2000: 10) adjacent to the town square, Die Braak, where the townspeople, for many generations since the period of Dutch occupation in the 17 th century, and long before the arrival of Eikestadnuus, went to buy at the market and to exchange news (Bouman, 1929: 13).
According to Tinka Botha the staff -not only the editorial staff -has always been small.When she took over in 1967 she was half the staff, with one other woman, Chrissie Snyders who was in charge of bookkeeping and advertisements (Botha, 2000: 10).Today the personnel consist of an editor, four reporters, an intern and 14 administrative staff (Retief, 2009: 1).Like Potchefstroom Herald, Eikestadnuus "exploits" the availability of a cheap source of labour: journalism students from the nearby university ( Van der Walt et al., 1992: 332).

GMJ -AE 2010 Vol 4 (1)
As far as financing is concerned, Die Landman was the original publisher-owner of Eikestadnuus for almost two decades.On 12 February 1969 Eikestadnuus Limited took over this responsibility to be succeeded by Boland Koerante on 25 May 2007 until the present (Verster, 2008: 2).In 1984 Eikestadnuus became a component of Nasionale Pers (Naspers since 1998), the dominant media company in South Africa when Naspers obtained 50 percent of the shares, as well as control over the paper.The rest of the shareholders are Rembrandt, Oude Meester, Gilbeys (now United Distillers & Vintners) and Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery (now Distell), all local companies (Van der Walt et al., 1992: 329, Naspers Archives AL17, 9/6/4, Naudé, 1984: 1).
After six decades Eikestadnuus has progressed from being a medium in which local businesses can promote their products, to a means for a major media company to broaden its sources of income.Many newspaper corporations have chosen this route to compensate for the decrease in income due to changing consumer patterns caused by the advent of television (Lubinga, 2001: 20).In the case of Naspers, being a shareholder in all sectors of the media nationally (Voornoteringsverslag, 1994: 1-3; Wikipedia.org/wiki/Naspers: 1) -including television -was the next step in securing a grip on yet another slot in the market.
It has become unpractical and uneconomical for every rural newspaper to have its own printer (Frost, 2009).This is evident when tracing the history of Eikestadnuus's printers -in June 1969 Pro Ecclesia, the original printers moved to premises in Observatory, then to Epping in January 1972, where printing was eventually taken over by Printpak from June 1973.In April 1983 Die Paarlse Drukpers was contracted to print Eikestadnuus which lowered production costs, because of the proximity of Paarl to Stellenbosch.Paarl Post Media, the modern equivalent of the old Paarl printing works is presently charged with this part of production (Verster, 2008: 5).

Advertising/revenue
Newspapers cannot survive from subscription alone, with advertisements being the main source of income.The regular weekly real estate advertising supplement demonstrates that real estate plays an important part in Stellenbosch and environs.Local businesses and agricultural produce, with the wine and spirits industry prominent, make up the remainder of the advertising focus (Van Aardt, 2009: 19).
On 3 November 1998 Eikestadnuus Limited launched Stellenbosch Gazette, a gratis newspaper (Dinsdae is Gazette-dag, 2000: 16), which competes with others such as Bolander (since 2007), published by the opposition, such as Independent Newspapers (Frost, 2009).This initiative is 'based on the confidence Eikestadnuus has in the future of Stellenbosch as a town' and because this paper will be distributed to every home within the municipal area of Stellenbosch, new markets will be opened to local advertisers, according to the editor at the time.The initial distribution figures were 13 700 copies, which are issued on Tuesdays, with Eikestadnuus traditionally going out on Fridays.The Gazette is distributed to the so-called satellite towns of Stellenbosch, such as Pniël, Kylemore and Jamestown (Dinsdae is Gazette-dag, 2000: 16).

GMJ -AE 2010 Vol 4 (1)
In 1997 Eikestadnuus went online by launching a website (stellenboschvillage.com) to complement Eikestadnuus, and, one year later, Stellenbosch Gazette, which proved to be popular, as the website is visited by readers preferring the electronic option of reading headlines, the weather or advertisements.Monthly hits totalled 100 000 within three years of conception (Website complements the Eikestadnuus package, 2000: 2).Like the Stellenbosch Gazette, this extension of the service and reach of Eikestadnuus is a strategy to contest the influence of competing newspapers as well as electronic media -a case of "if you can't beat them join them."In this way Eikestadnuus widened its income and reader base (Gerber, 2009: 1).The Gazette is distributed to 17 000 homes and it is estimated that Eikestadnuus is read by 40 000 people (Retief, 2009: 1).
At the heart of it all: the community Taking the focus of community media into account, namely serving a community, Eikestadnuus has a good record (Malan & Retief, 2000: 14;Nowers, 2000: 6;Snyman, 2000: 6).Despite all appearances community involvement across racial lines was evident since the first year of the paper's existence.On 14 July 1950 an article titled "Die lewe in Kaya Mandi" reports on the history of the "location" during a time when most white readers, and as such most readers of Eikestadnuus, probably did not want to know about the hardships of black people (1950: 1).According to the current editor, Elsabé Retief, the paper tries to be involved while maintaining independence -this balance has proven to be difficult to keep, while acceptance by the community is essential as well as credibility as a fair and honest arbitrator (Retief, 2009: 3).
The effort to promote awareness and contact between Eikestadnuus and the public is manifest throughout the existence of the paper, as seen in the article "Kom ons vat hande nog vaster" on 12 September 1986 (1986: 1) and "Putting the community's interest first" on 7 April 2000 (Malan & Retief, 2000: 14).Eventually practical involvement in education, such as the KIK-programme (Koerant in die Klaskamernewspaper in the classroom) and reporting on activities of schools from all sectors of the community has raised the popularity of Eikestadnuus among educators and learners alike (Eikestadnuus se, 2000: 7).Besides projects with schools (including sports promotions) businesses are engaged as sponsors.Recently the Trammakassi-festival was initiated to commemorate the abolition of slavery (Price, 2009: 1).
A newspaper in post-apartheid South Africa's liberal democracy, and from a social responsibility as well as development media theoretical perspective, is in a position to contribute to exemplify democratic values -teaching readers from different backgrounds and even opposing perspectives to respect one another's views and to apply greater objectivity.Due to the separation of residential areas, schools and even the workplace to some extent under apartheid, such exposure had been severely curtailed.Therefore a community newspaper has an even bigger role to play to "normalise" segregated sectors of a community.A public forum for everyone who can send in a letter to the editor is now available and this debate is ongoing and growing (Kalazana, 2000: 14).
Besides being a community paper per se, Eikestadnuus has the basic responsibilities of any newspaperto protect democracy by keeping the public informed and being a watchdog: the so-called "Fourth Estate", especially in terms of local government.Local papers play an important role in protecting the doi: 10.5789/4-1-13

GMJ -AE 2010 Vol 4 (1)
cultural and natural heritage of a community.An example of this was preventing the demolition of Lubbe Huis, now Schreuder Huis, and part of the town's museum complex (Botha, 2000: 10).
A community newspaper also has to be aware of its role as educator.Despite its comparatively limited reach, it acts "… as a window through which the rest of the world can view a society as well as a mirror through which society can examine itself" (Lubinga, 2001: 1).Having entered the medium of websites and electronic advertising, Eikestadnuus has linked Stellenbosch to the rest of the global village.
In perspective: a newspaper with a decent future has a respectable history The history of a newspaper mirrors the beliefs, perspectives and assumptions with which it views events, etc. in its time, as well as the interpretation and commentaries of how it presents all of this to its readers (Zaaiman, 1983: np).According to this norm Eikestadnuus has as good a record as any paper, judging by the general standard of "objective reporting" these past 60 years.According to Francois Groepe, executive manager of Media24 (the printing component of Napers), Eikestadnuus has established itself in several roles in the community it serves; as newsmaker, activist, peacemaker, mobliser and conversationalist.This, he claims, is not easy in a diverse community with a wide range of interests.After six decades readers have come to accept Eikestadnuus in these manifold roles, while the media profession also recognises the quality of this newspaper's efforts.Eikestadnuus has won several accolades over the years, such as the Hultzer trophy for best community paper in the country (Groepe, 2009: 2).
The paper has, from the outset, maintained the high standards set out in the first edition (Boodskappe van, 1950: 1) and managed to win several prizes over the past 60 years (Van der Walt et al., 1992: 332;Foto van, 2000d: 12).While relatively few references to racism are to be found in the almost 3000 editions so far, the newspaper has, as promised in the first edition, for the most part avoided taking a political stance.It prefers to be "event-driven rather that policy-driven" (Retief, 2009: 1).
Every person is born in a group with its own moral constraints which determine the future behaviour of such individuals (Barnard, 1941: 21).Perhaps the most difficult mission for any newspaper in a multicultural society is to help shape a common ethos.In this every newspaper and every journalist has a moral obligaton to uphold.