How newspapers and the media have evolved over the years

The Herald

07-05-2025

Online news — already commonplace in our daily lives and taken for granted.
But in a relatively short period of our history, delivering and obtaining news was by means of other lines completely.
Telegraph, primitive handset telephone landlines, even railway lines.
And instead of instantly appearing on your smartphone screen, there was a time when a massive piece of heavy machinery had to be set in motion, so that you could get your news.
The metamorphosis of newspapers in SA in the last two centuries has been one of great change — but also, ironically, a mission of news gathering that has remained consistent in what it set out from humble beginnings to achieve: to garner public opinion and relay what was happening on the ground for the particular community it served.
The often tricky-to-negotiate road of good, accurate journalism — whether it be in 1845 or 2025 — remains a rocky one, with modern technology, distribution methods and presentation providing as many, albeit very different challenges, to those of many decades ago.
That has certainly been the case with a publication like The Herald — continuously published since 1845 — which has throughout generations remained true to those fundamental ideals.
This is what emerges when you chat to a media analyst like lecturer Dr Taryn De Vega of the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies in Makhanda.
In the early days, stretching back to the 19th century, newspaper production and the collection of information was essentially a process of 'bring and share', De Vega said.
Today, the transformation of that process has changed radically in its evolution — but not so much its key objective.
'I don't know if it [news gathering and processing] is easier or harder — but it's definitely changed,' De Vega said.
'The focus of newspapers has fundamentally shifted. The first newspapers in the country were government gazettes. So the industry in that era in the 1800s was essentially government driven.
'This, of course, evolved dramatically when public sentiment and opinion on the ground which reflected opposition to government leadership or simply a different stance made its way onto newspaper pages.
'The concept of holding truth to power was born on the pages of those forerunners.
'There was also commentary, poetry, prose and short stories. But t he newspapers as we know them today are completely different from those early newspapers.'
De Vega said the motivation therefore for early publishers was to include the government gazette into a newspaper filled with other information for the reader to consume.
' This included, for example, what was coming into the country via cargo from ships for purchase and this was a way for the government to be visible.
'But early newspapers did not represent the reality on the ground so there was a need for press freedom.
'B y 1824 we already had this opposition to the government and leaders like Lord Charles Somerset, who was governor at the time.
'People wanted papers to reflect what the reality and experiences of those on the ground were.
' While newspaper production gathered momentum in the mid-1800s, the Eastern Cape was in fact at the forefront of this early media growth.' De Vega said.
Umshumayeli Wendaba was the first African language newspaper on the African continent, first published in 1837 — founded by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society and published from Makhanda as a missionary-style paper.
That was essentially the preacher of the good news which spoke to the mission work being done.
A few more newsletters were published across the region, yet none of them remain in circulation today.
By 1845, followed the Eastern Province Herald — the newspaper which you hold in your hands today — and then subsequently other newspapers around the country appeared.
'The contributions and newspaper gathering techniques at the time were made up of country correspondents. The newspaper itself would have only one or two writers,' De Vega said.
'But it was the correspondents from all over the Eastern Cape who were able to add to those newspapers.
'It was a kind of bring and share of news items which were brought to one particular newspaper house — reviewed, edited and printed.
'They were looking for what experiences were on the ground and the reality of what was happening in the country.'
De Vega also pointed to how newspapers were physically produced from an iron and steel printing press — 'machinery which had to be moved to put it all together by hand' — compared to today's advanced printing techniques, technology and innovation — and naturally, access to online offerings of newspapers.
'One thing that has become clear in an age of modern media which is saddled with the problem of disinformation and inaccurate information being posted online, is the importance of establishing reliable media sources where such information and news items can be cross-checked,' De Vega pointed out.
'What is so interesting today is the extension of the newsroom to wherever we are — be it via a cellphone or laptop.
'And the thing is, while it is fast, I don't know if it is better. And that is the challenge.'
De Vega said there was huge pressure to produce breaking stories online as quickly as possible as opposed to assignments which required a more investigative approach and obtaining multiple sources to verify the facts.
This posed the problem of ensuring that the quality and accuracy of what was printed was what it should be.
This was in direct contrast to what she calls 'slow journalism' where a journalist had the time to undertake thorough fact-checking.
'On the flip side of the coin, breaking news stories online and having digital platforms allowed for enhanced interaction with your audience.
'Breaking news online and with the technology available, allowed for eyewitnesses to immediately come forward or to be interviewed and say: 'I was there', and then give a first-hand account, allowing the story to expand.'
De Vega said that compared to other countries, public trust in the media was still relatively high in SA — in 2023, it was sitting at 57%.
'For journalism to survive as an institution, it's going to have to adapt for younger audiences who do not want the old style of journalism that is filled with depressing news of mass deaths, rape and murders and the like.
'We're looking at a TikTok generation — that's where they're getting their news, and I'm not sure how we are going to meet them where they are.
'We must adapt. We have to figure out how we are going to reach them in a way that's accessible and interesting to them.'
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