The company says that it will start consultations with staff and the transfer of the sold businesses to its new owner this week.

The planned interventions include closing the print editions of Beeld, Rapport, City Press, Daily Sun and Soccer Laduma, as well as the digital (PDF) editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap, as well as the digital hub SNL24.

The plans also include transitioning Rapport, City Press and Daily Sun into digital-only brands. The company will additionally sell On the Dot, the media logistics business, and the community newspaper portfolio to Novus Holdings, subject to regulatory approvals.

Ishmet Davidson, CEO of Media24, says, "In South Africa, like elsewhere in the world, consumer preferences have changed. People now read more news than ever, but most prefer to do so on their cellphones or laptops, and publishers have to comply with their preferences." 

"Consequently, print media globally has been suffering structural declines in circulation and advertising for decades. Combined with rising fixed distribution costs, this has had a devastating impact on print operations. As a result, our titles in the northern region have been on life support for a while," adds Davidson.

"Combined losses are projected to mount to R200-million over the next three years. After years of cutbacks, we've reached the end of cost reductions to try to save these print operations. We've simply run out of options," Davidson says. "So we have to restructure our business now. It will also allow the remaining viable brands to move fully to digital and will strengthen our two main digital news brands News24 and Netwerk24, serving audiences and society across multiple market segments."

As digital brands, Rapport and City Press will reside at Netwerk24 and News24 respectively. Beeld, Volksblad and Die Burger Oos readers and subscribers will be able to continue accessing their news on Netwerk24, together with the nearly 100 000 subscribers who enjoy the platform's 'All in One Place' multi-content offering, says the company.

"It is this renewed focus on its two hero digital news brands that contributed to Media24’s decision to close SNL24 and sell its interests in the profitable local newspaper sector," says Davidson. "Our main objective is building and cementing a sustainable model for digital news journalism. Daily Sun (part of SNL24) represents an important segment of the middle market that we will continue to serve with the relaunch of the brand as a standalone and free e-news site."

Die Burger and Son in the Western Cape are both unaffected by these changes, according to the company, as they have a separate infrastructure that remains viable due to a more concentrated local footprint and are marginally profitable.

"In addition, Die Burger holds great historical value as the foundation upon which Naspers was built," says Davidson.

The company says that with only a small print media portfolio remaining, Media24 also decided to divest of its media logistics business On the Dot. The consultation process is expected to be completed over the next three months, with Monday, 30 September earmarked as the last day of publication for the affected newspapers.

"We anticipate that the proposed restructure could result in at least 400 job losses, with 400 more positions transferring to Novus Holdings with the sale and some roles possibly needed beyond September-end," says Davidson. "We also intend to reduce our corporate and support services and operational costs in line with the changes made in our business."

"We are fully committed to managing this highly sensitive consultation with compassion while following the processes prescribed by law and intend to keep job losses — particularly among our journalists — to a minimum. Unfortunately, we cannot share any further details until the process has been concluded," says Davidson.

The company says that in a very competitive landscape, News24 and Netwerk24 remain the digital news destinations of choice for South Africans. News24 was named by the Reuters Institute as South Africa's most trusted news brand for the sixth consecutive year.

News24 averaged 9.1 million daily unique page views for the financial year to Sunday, 31 March while Netwerk24 garnered 5.7 million page views. During the election week, they generated close on 105 million page views combined, peaking at a record-breaking 21.9 million page views for News24 and 5.8 million for Netwerk24 on a single day.

"Over the past financial year, their combined subscribers grew by 19% year over year to more than 200 000.  That's far more than the combined circulation of all our print news titles," says Davidson.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that our future is digital. But our digital news services no longer face competition from only other local publishers. Our main competitors now are Facebook, Google, Instagram and TikTok — all of which are well funded and based offshore," Davidson says.

Professor Rachel Jafta, chairperson of the Media24 board, concludes, "As the home of trusted and independent journalism, Media24 plays a crucial role in our society — especially in giving a voice to millions of our fellow citizens. And we remain as dedicated as ever to this moral obligation."

For more information, visit www.media24.com. You can also follow Media24 on LinkedIn.

*Image courtesy of LinkedIn