ANTON HARBER: Some gains, but much lost in switch to digital news
I had cause this week to look back at an old SA newspaper from the 1970s, when newspapers were at their financial peak. I was struck by the wide range of news that was covered routinely by a standard newsroom.
Certainly, our newspapers of that period had their prejudices and blind spots. I don’t want to idealise them, as they reflected the racial politics of the time. But they had reporters in all levels of the courts, the city council, provincial legislatures as well as the national. They had dedicated reporters for crime, education, labour, health and other important areas. They had correspondents all over the place, and in at least three cities in the northern hemisphere. They gave a lot more space than newspapers do now to international, entertainment, sport and business news. They had a page of readers’ letters...
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