The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis,

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

n news, local arts, music and popular culture.

History

The publication began as the ''Weekly Mail'', an alternative newspaper by a group of

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s in 1985 after the closure of two leading liberal newspapers, '' The Rand Daily Mail'' and ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

''. The ''Weekly Mail'' criticised the government and its

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

policies, which led to the banning of the paper in 1988 by then State President

P. W. Botha Pieter Willem Botha, ( , ; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006) was a South African politician who served as the last Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and as the first executive State President of South Africa from 1984 until ...

. The paper was renamed the ''Weekly Mail & Guardian'' from 30 July 1993. The paper almost folded in the early 1990s after a failed attempt to reinvent itself as a daily newspaper. The

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...

(GMG), the publisher of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', became the majority shareholder of the print edition in 1995, and the name was changed to ''Mail & Guardian''. In 2002, 87.5% of the company was sold to the Newtrust Company Botswana Limited, which was owned by Trevor Ncube, a

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

an publisher and entrepreneur. Ncube took over as the CEO of the company. In 2006 MD Africa became the ''Mail & Guardian'' national distributor. The change resulted in good circulation growth, despite difficult market conditions. In 2013 the newspaper achieved a record period with 51,551 copies circulated. MDA distributed a number of publications including

Noseweek ''Noseweek'' is a monthly South Africa, South African tabloid published by Chaucer Publications that appeared in print from June 1993 to mid-2021. It is best known for regular legal action against it, including a failed bid at interdiction by banki ...

and Destiny magazine. In 2017,

Media Development Investment Fund Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), formerly Media Development Loan Fund, is a New York-registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and mission-driven investment fund that provides low-cost financing to independent news and information bus ...

, a New York–based not-for-profit investment fund, announced that it had acquired a majority stake in the ''Mail & Guardian''. The restructured ownership saw the CEO, Hoosain Karjieker, acquire a minority stake in the business as part of a

Black Economic Empowerment Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a policy of the South African government which aims to facilitate broader participation in the economy by black people. A form of affirmative action, it is intended especially to redress the inequalities cr ...

(BEE) transaction. Staff continue to own a 10% share of the company. The former majority shareholder, Trevor Ncube, disposed of his equity interest. The newspaper's headquarters are in Johannesburg. The editor-in-chief is Ron Derby and the CEO is Hoosain Karjieker. The ''Mail & Guardian'' is considered a

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large newspaper circulation, circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and i ...

for South Africa.

The ''Mail & Guardian Online''

In 1994, the ''Mail & Guardian Online'' was launched in conjunction with

Media24 Media24 is a South Africa, South African mass media company with interests in digital media and services, newspapers, magazines, ecommerce, publishing, television, logistics, and distribution. Established in 2000, and owned by Naspers, the com ...

(a subsidiary of the

Naspers Naspers Limited (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town. The company has interests in online retail, publishing, real estate, and ventu ...

group), becoming the first internet news publication in Africa. It has grown into its own daily news operation with a number of writers, multimedia producers, sub-editors and more. It is run out of the ''Mail & Guardian'' offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg. The site focuses on local, international and African hard news, sport and business. The website began its life as the ''Electronic Mail & Guardian'', which was initially an e-mail subscription service that allowed readers living outside South Africa to receive ''Mail & Guardian'' newspaper stories before they reached newspaper subscribers. Soon after, the service expanded into a searchable online archive, published in partnership with Sangonet, the country's oldest internet service provider. A website was added, which in turn progressed from producing a weekly mirror of the printed newspaper to generating its own daily news. The ''Mail & Guardian Online'' was jointly owned by internet service provider MWEB and publishing company M&G Media until M&G Media purchased 100% of the operation in 2008. It has interactive news photo galleries, discussion forums and special reports on subjects such as

, HIV and South African President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

. It is known for hard-hitting political reporting, investigations as well as strong beat reporting, particularly in education, labour, environment and health.

Awards

* 2012:

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

African Journalism award (2012) * 2012:

Standard Bank Standard Bank (officially Standard Bank Group Limited) is the largest bank in Africa, as well as the continent's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is located in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The ...

Sikuvile Journalism Award * 2011: Vodacom Journalist of the Year * 2011: Bookmark awards * 2010: Bookmark awards * 2008:

Webby Awards The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

Honoree for News in Photos and Political Blog * 2005: Webby Awards Honoree for Web Best Practices * 2001: Forbes.com voted the ''Mail & Guardian Online'' one of the world's top 175 websites * 1996: Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Journalism * 1995: International Press Directory – Best International Newspaper

Notable staff and contributors

* David Beresford (1993) * Matthew Buckland * Eusebius McKaiser * Verashni Pillay (2009-2017) * Barry Streek (political journalist 2001)

Distribution figures

References

External links

Mail & Guardian Online

SAARF Website

Voices of Africa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mail and Guardian 1985 establishments in South Africa Newspapers established in 1985 South African news websites Weekly newspapers published in South Africa Organisations associated with apartheid Mass media in Johannesburg Online newspapers published in South Africa