The News Posters of South Africa
By Neil Henry
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Like all democracies, new South Africa depends on a free press to inform the public and maintain a vigilant eye on the workings of government. In this cause the nation boasts several weekly newspapers and a host of dailies appealing to various sectors of South Africa's diverse population of 42.8 million, from the populist Sowetan and Citizen, and highbrow Independent and Mail and Guradian, to the Afrikaans-language Beeld.
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A few of the posters hanging in the UC Berkeley Journalism School newsroom. Photo by Mimi Chakarova. |
This lively array of press voices is reflected nearly everywhere in Johannesburg and other cities in the form of news posters like these, literally thousands of them, proclaiming the news of the day. The poster tradition is rooted in the tabloid newspaper culture of Fleet Street in London — indeed, it was transplanted to South Africa during the days of Empire — but conveys a distinctly African flavor.
The posters are changed daily and set in city-owned racks which adorn lampposts, telephone standards and signposts throughout the nation. Marketing representatives at South Africa's dailies say a "grabber" story or headline which well commands the attention of commuters can boost circulation by as much as 10 percent.
One thing is sure: the posters are never dull, and in many ways embody the finest tradition and highest aims of a free press. In a society still struggling to emerge from the oppressive years of apartheid and press censorship, such posters seem to offer one small measure of the nation's promise of free expression and a just future.