WHY PEOPLE SHOULD BUY THE NEWSPAPER Today, the Weekend Post lead story involves the shocking abuse of traffic vehicles by Port Elizabeth traffic cops. Over nine days, the papers reporters literally followed traffic cops around in their official, marked cars. The result is a story which shows just how low we have sunk as a city. While very few tickets were seen being issued, the cops were photographed at shopping malls, fast-food outlets, chatting to friends. Oh and speeding and doing illegal U-turns, among numerous other things which are not part of their job description. I urge those living in the circulation area of the Post to support the paper by buying it, reading the story and taking some form of ownership of the situation. It is vigilance by the public - and the newspaper represents the public in such matters - which can hopefully halt the state of decline in our city and indeed our country. Newspapers are under threat. They need the support of the people on whose behalf they work: the public. Every day the Weekend Post and Herald have reporters and photographers on duty covering local issues of relevance to all of us. Too often the news is bleak - such as todays story. But can people afford not to know about these things, relying only on online snippets from national news websites, the radio and TV for what they know? That is a recipe for disaster in the long term. The PE papers are packed with other news which you will get nowhere else. But they need the support of the reading public. Today, for instance, you can read about the DA congress in J-Bay and about the ANCs plans for the upcoming municipal by-elections. The scandal in Cradock involving a 51-year-old man and a girl of 13 is also covered in depth. I could go on and on. If you feel you dont have time to read everything, theres no shame in that. The beauty of a newspaper is you can cherry-pick what to read, or maybe come back to it a bit later when you have a few minutes. Even reading just the headlines will give you a sense of what is happening out there in your city, province, nation and indeed the world. The Herald and Weekend Post have access to the Daily Telegraphs stories from around the world. Arguably one of the worlds greatest newspapers, the Telegraphs copy is amongst the best you are going to find anywhere. So when the Weekend Post leads its World News page with an in-depth story on the Plight of Syrias refugees by a Telegraph reporter, you know youre getting an objective, analytical and beautifully written piece of journalism. It is a shocking story. Try to read it. Or read business editor Cindy Prellers finance page lead about fracking, as the state moves ahead with legislation to enable the highly polluting exploration and exploitation of shale gas in the Karoo. I could go on. For just R7.50, the price of a chocolate bar - and far better for you - you can get a wealth of information and, indeed, plenty of entertainment news, not to mention all the sport. You can also help keep alive press freedom, enabling local newspapers to employ a large enough body of hard-working reporters in the field to speak truth to power. You may think I am making this appeal solely because I work as a journalist on the Herald and it is in my interests to promote the paper. But my passion for newspapers goes right back to when I was a teenager and was inspired by the anti-apartheid crusade conducted by the Daily Dispatch in East London under Donald Woods. I continue to believe that a newspaper is the best, most direct, method of engaging citizens in those key issues which make a democracy work. It is our duty, as citizens, to take advantage of the knowledge which newspapers provide, to ensure we become active participants in that democracy, instead of sitting idly by hoping things will miraculously come right by themselves. Thanks, Kin
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:11:12 +0000