Kasi Times to empower township communities

“With part of the team having grown up in the townships and from our additional research, we are aware of the issues and challenges faced by young people and we want to help address these issues,” Nxumalo said.

“We are working with industry leaders from various sectors in order to empower young people with information on bursaries and learnerships and provide career options - from describing what the career is about, to information on where they can study towards getting the appropriate qualification.”

30 000 copies

At least 30 000 copies will initially be printed and distributed throughout the townships of Ekurhuleni (East Rand), and at later stage made available all over Gauteng and nationally.

“We will celebrate young people by highlighting their successes in business, careers and personal lives,” she pointed out. “We will share stories about how other young people - some of them from humble beginnings - have achieved their goals. Hopefully, that will inspire and motivate the youth.

“We want to foster a culture of dreaming, working hard and achieving goals. There is a need for people, especially those who have made it in life, to be able to impart knowledge and spend time with up and coming young people.

“They need guidance, a sense of direction and reassurance that they too can be successful.”

Unchartered territory

However, research shows that the print media industry is proving to be an unchartered territory and huge mountain to climb for many black publishers, whose community titles have struggled and eventually fall apart.

Cheap and boring content, lack of marketing know-how, coupled with greed and lack of proper market research and lack of respect for advertisers, among others, have been blamed for these ephemeral media adventures.

Asked if her publishing house has done a proper feasibility study before embarking on such a daring adventure, Kasi Times MD Nxumalo replied: “Yes, we did our research through industry analysis and studies and on-the-ground interaction with our target market.

“Believe there is a growing market”

“We firmly believe that there is a growing market in the area of free community newspapers, which tend to be highly popular among advertisers seeking to penetrate new and emerging black markets.

“Similarly newspapers that diversify by being geographically specific or focus on specific segments of the market, such as school children, teenagers, youth or rural women, can expect to be rewarded by increased levels of readership.”

The publication will also consist of health and entertainment sections, spiritual and lifestyle advice, business start-up advice, managing a business, growing a business and business opportunities, she said, adding that political parties will be engaged on various issues, including crime, health and education.

Urged to get involved

The news staff will, for now, be made up mainly of freelance writers, including experts and various leaders. Furthermore, Nxumalo urged businesses, NGOs, government and community-based organisations to get involved in this project.

“Kasi Times is distinctive to other print titles. It is a magazine - in tabloid format. Its design is aesthetically pleasing, the format very appealing, and the editorial targeting a specific group - the youth of townships.

“It is current and is a fresh approach to engaging with the youth,” Nxumalo boasted.

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