Cape Argus

The Cape Argus is a daily newspaper co-founded in 1857 by Saul Solomon and published by Sekunjalo in Cape Town, South Africa. It is commonly referred to as The Argus.

The Cape Argus
The Cape Argus front page of 21 July 2009
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatCompact
Owner(s)Independent News and Media SA
EditorGasant Abarder[1]
Founded1857
HeadquartersNewspaper House, Cape Town, South Africa
Sister newspapersCape Times
Websitewww.capeargus.co.za

Although not the first English-language newspaper in South Africa, the Cape Argus was the first locally to use the telegraph for news gathering.

As of 2012, the Argus had a daily readership of 294 000, according to the South African Advertising Research Foundation's All Media Products Survey (Amps) Newspaper Readership and Trends. Its circulation for the first quarter of 2013 was 33 247.[2][3]

Jermaine Craig is the executive editor of the Cape Argus.[4] He replaced Gasant Abarder, who resigned in early 2013 to take up a post at Primedia in the Western Cape.[5]

History
Saul Solomon, liberal parliamentarian and founder of the Cape Argus

The Cape Argus was founded on 3 January 1857, by the partners Saul Solomon, journalist Richard William Murray ("Limner") and the MP Bryan Henry Darnell. However, political differences immediately surfaced between the partners. Saul Solomon was a radical supporter of multi-racial democracy, women's rights and the local "responsible government" movement; while his two partners were virulently pro-imperialist. As the Responsible Government movement grew in the Cape, the reactionary and pro-British views of Murray and Darnell became increasingly unpopular and alienated the Cape Argus readership. Saul Solomon, as MP for Cape Town, had also become the most powerful figure in the new Cape Parliament. Eventually, in 1859-62, Murray and Darnell sold their remaining shares and departed for the Transvaal.

Saul Solomon, now the sole owner of the Cape Argus from 1863, through Saul Solomon & Co., threw the newspaper entirely behind responsible government and support for non-racialism. He was immensely influential in building and shaping the company, which quickly became the leading newspaper of the Cape, overtaking the "Commercial Advertiser" of John Fairbairn.

During this time, the Argus and Solomon's printing works served as the official government printing contractor. It was responsible for the Government Gazette, but also took on the parliamentary and stationery contracts. This was principally because it was the only printing company at the time which had the resources and management to reliably fulfill these contracts. It expanded considerably to 200 employees, 8 manual presses and 10 steam-powered presses by 1878.

The Argus editor (from 1864 until 1872) Sir Thomas Ekins Fuller was replaced by Professor Roderick Noble (1872-1875) from Inverness - English & Science Professor of the South African College and previously the editor of the declining Commercial Advertiser. Professor Noble, who was also the co-editor of the well-known Cape Monthly Magazine, died suddenly in 1875, and Solomon replaced him with the radical liberal Irishman Patrick McLoughlin. While popular with the locally elected Cape government, McLoughlin angered the British authorities with his anti-imperialist views.

Francis Joseph Dormer took over as editor in 1878. At the same time, a change in the political direction of the Cape began to cause significant problems for the Argus. A British intervention in the Cape led to a new and dubiously-appointed government, under a puppet Prime Minister, Gordon Sprigg. The racist and expansionist policies of the new government (and incidents such as the Koegas atrocities) came under severe criticism from the Argus. In retaliation for the criticism, Sprigg's government cancelled all printing contracts with the Argus, awarding them instead to political allies from Grahamstown (who charged several times the price, and consistently failed to deliver the work).[6]

In later life, Solomon gradually withdrew from the daily running of the Argus. In 1880, he retired completely, after the tragic drowning of his 5-year-old daughter, which caused a collapse in his health. When his sons then mismanaged the business, Solomon took back the beleaguered company and sold it to his editor Dormer, in 1881 (though Solomon continued the actual printing work for him). Dormer then formed the Argus Printing and Publishing Company from it in 1886, when he acquired the remainder of Solomon's printing works and began printing himself. Edmund Powell (who had been sub-editor since Dormer took over in 1878) became editor in 1889 and remained so until 1907.

In December 1969, the paper was renamed The Argus, however the change was unpopular and the name was reverted to The Cape Argus. True to its roots in Saul Solomon's liberalism, the paper was a prominent voice of opposition against the dominant National Party during the Apartheid years.[7][8][9]

In August 2013, Sekunjalo purchased Independent News and Media SA from Independent News and Media. Not long after, editor Chris Whitfield took early retirement, a decision blamed on editorial interference by the new ownership.[10]

Supplements
  • Tonight (Mon–Fri)[11]
  • Workplace (Wed)[11]

Distribution areas
Distribution[11]
2008 2013
Eastern Cape Y Y
Free State
Gauteng
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
North West
Northern Cape
Western Cape Y Y

Distribution figures
Circulation[12]
Net Sales
Jan - Mar 2015 30 393[13]
Apr - Jun 2014 29 170[14]
Jan - Mar 2014 30 319[15]
Oct - Dec 2012 32 337
Jul - Sep 2012 33 006
Apr - Jun 2012 35 332
Jan - Mar 2012 40 243

Readership figures
Estimated Readership[16][17]
AIR
January – December 2012 294 000
July 2011 – June 2012 288 000
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gollark: Given this level of sheer genius.
gollark: You should become a professor at Harvard instead.
gollark: Suuuuure you did.
gollark: You should use radians.

See also

References
  1. "Senior appointments at Independent". IOL. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  2. SAARF AMPS Readership and Trends for 2012
  3. "ABC - Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa".
  4. "Argus appoints new editor". Cape Argus/IOL. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  5. "Welcome grubstreet.co.za - BlueHost.com". Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  6. P.R. Coates: Cape Colonial Parliamentary Publications, 1854-1910, with special reference to documents in the Dutch language. UNISA. 2009. p.75.
  7. "Docstoc is Closed".
  8. "Cape Argus Changes its Name"
  9. F. Wallis (2000) Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad, Human & Rousseau
  10. "Why did Chris Whitfield jump ship?". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  11. "Cape Argus Website". Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  12. "Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa". ABC. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  13. "ABC Analysis Q1 2015: The biggest-circulating newspapers in South Africa". Marklives.com.
  14. "Report 76.0 - 2nd Quarter Release". Audi Bureau of Circulations. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  15. "CAPE ARGUS average issue readers in Profile". Cape Argus. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  16. "AMPS Presentations". www.saarf.co.za. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  17. "SAARF". SAARF. Retrieved 20 June 2013.

Further reading
  • Morris, Michael, Paging through History 150 years with the Cape Argus, Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2007, ISBN 978-1-86842-277-7
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