The shootout: City Press vs Sunday Times

If you picked up the Sunday Times recently, you'd probably need both hands to lift up the mother of all papers. Under the covers is a growing forest or two of inserts. Brands such as Edgars, CNA, CTM, Pick n Pay, Checkers, Stuttafords, Telkom and Woolworths are investing good advertising spend in Avusa's weekly.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) says 27 newspapers with a combined circulation of 2365 million compete for the Sunday market, but Sunday Times takes the print lead with copy sales of some 262 992. Moreover, it is also the only top title to show year-on-year growth.

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Then there's the matter of clout. News has become so commoditised that dominating influence means breaking headlines, owning the media agenda, and investing in quality journalism to sort the also-rans from the big guns. One of many lenses for tracking who has local influence is to determine how often a newspaper is quoted by its media peers. Recent Media Tenor research indicates the Sunday Times is the most quoted traditional medium in South Africa; this for the sixth time in a row.

The interesting departure for the usual order is that City Press moved up a notch, taking second position from Mail & Guardian, which has dropped to being the third most quoted news source in the country. Breaking big, attention-grabbing stories and investigative journalism is where value lies, and the three weeklies have the most powerful investigative teams in the country.

Continue reading the full story on www.dailymaverick.co.za.