''Isolezwe'' is a

Zulu-language Zulu (), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in Southern Africa. It is the language of the Zulu people, with about 12 million native speakers, who primarily inhabit the province of KwaZulu-Natal of ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...

launched in 2002 by

Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...

. It is published daily in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, in the

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid and ...

format. Editor Kiki Ntuli describes their target market as "the modernising Zulu ... meone who may go back home to the rural areas to slaughter a cow to amadlozi

he ancestors He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

but is as equally comfortable taking his family out for dinner and a movie in a shopping mall".

History

In June 2004, ''Isolezwe'' launched their online edition; their fellow Independent News & Media publications described it as the first Zulu-language news website. In the five years after its founding, it performed much better than Independent's English-language South African dailies, growing from a circulation of under 30,000 to more than 95,000, according to

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulat ...

figures. Much of their circulation consists of single-copy sales rather than subscriptions. It continued its strong performance in the first quarter of 2010, with a 34% increase in circulation to 104,481, as compared to industry-wide 2.3% drop in sales. Circulation for their Sunday edition, ''

Isolezwe ngeSonto ''Isolezwe'' is a Zulu-language newspaper launched in 2002 by Independent News & Media. It is published daily in Durban, South Africa, in the tabloid format. Editor Kiki Ntuli describes their target market as "the modernising Zulu ... meone wh ...

'', also reached 71,219. Paper insiders disagreed on the reasons for the growth; editor-in-chief Mbathi credited

human-interest stories In journalism, a human-interest story is a feature story that discusses people or pets in an emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reade ...

and local news, while joint managing director Brian Porter mentioned editorial content and sports as "vital ingredients".

Language

''Isozwele'' is known for using a more urban form of Zulu, in contrast to its competitor ''Ilanga'', which describes itself as using a "purer form" of the language.

Distribution areas

Distribution figures

Readership figures

References

External links

''Isolezwe'' online edition

SAARF Website
Mass media in Durban Daily newspapers published in South Africa Publications established in 2002 Zulu-language mass media 2002 establishments in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-newspaper-stub