Free State community paper added to NAB stable

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Mongezi Mtati

The Our/Ons Krant community newspaper, based in Bloemfontein and distributed in the Free State, will be represented by the Newspaper Advertising Bureau (NAB) from Wednesday, 1 June 2011. It joins the three local publications the bureau already represents in the area and increases its representation to 160 titles nationally.

The newspaper was established in June 2009 and is the product of thorough market-research into what readers want from a community newspaper - good news. The publication does not ignore important happenings in the community, but presents everything in a positive angle to its readers.

It is a bilingual newspaper that is freely distributed to households in Bloemfontein and 23 other towns in the Free State countryside. According to the publication, in less than two years, its readership has grown to 120 000 readers every week based on a circulation of 40 100 newspapers to the upper LSM market.

Says Gill Randall, NAB joint MD, "We firmly believe that advertisers will testify to the excellent return in value that community newspapers bring them. With a verified free distribution increase of 165% over 14 years, community newspapers are one of the few print categories that continue to grow."