Alternative media in South Africa

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South Africa has a long history of alternative media. During the eighties there was a host of community and grassroots newspapers that supplied content that ran counter to the prevailing attitudes of the times. In addition, a thriving small press and underground press carried voices that would not have been heard in the mainstream, corporate media. Pirate radio projects operated by Caset were the forerunners of the country's community radio and small pamphlets and samizdat were included in the mix.

The advocacy journalism of early activist titles were in stark contrast to the complacency of the country's large media houses.While many of the counterculture titles associated with the apartheid struggle no longer exist, there has been a resurgence of alternative media and the small press after a period of decline, notable for the fact that large corporates absorbed many of the so-called "struggle" journalists and mopped-up small publishing houses. These media projects involve multi-media as well as electronic journalism. Only time can tell whether or not, today's alternative media will regain some of the glory of the past.