Mass media in South Africa

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mass media in South Africa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on the
Culture of South Africa
History Timeline Years Early history Kingdom of Mapungubwe Kingdom of Mutapa Kaditshwene Dutch Cape Colony Mthethwa Paramountcy Ndwandwe Cape Colony Zulu Kingdom Orange Free State Transvaal Republic First Boer War Second Boer War Great Depression World War II Apartheid Border War Democratic South Africa
People
Languages Afrikaans English Ndebele Northern Sotho Sotho Swazi Tswana Tsonga Venda Xhosa Zulu
Cuisine
Festivals Public holidays
Religion
Art
Literature Comics Poets Writers
Music and performing arts Musicians
Media Television Cinema
Sport
Monuments World Heritage Sites
Symbols Flag Coat of arms National anthem
South Africa portal
v t e

The mass media in South Africa has a large mass media sector and is one of Africa's major media centres. While South Africa's many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population as a whole, the most commonly used language is English. However, all ten other official languages are represented to some extent or another. Afrikaans is the second most commonly used language, especially in the publishing sector.

Up until 1994, the country had a thriving Alternative press comprising community broadsheets, bilingual weeklies and even student "zines" and photocopied samizdats. After the elections, funding and support for such ventures dried up, but there has been a resurgence of interest in alternative forms of news gathering of late, particularly since the events of 11 September 2001.^{[citation needed]}