NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NUMBER: 107 OF 2015
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 12 FEBRUARY 2015
Mr GR Davis to ask Minister of Communications:
(1) With reference to her reply to question 1031 on 27 November 2014, why did her department spend R10 1999 998 on advertising in The New Age (TNA) newspaper in the 2013-14 financial year when far less was spent on newspapers with bigger readerships;
(2) Has a directive been issued for her department to spend more of its advertising budget on TNA than other newspapers; if so, (a) who issued the directive and (b) when was it issued; if not, how can the disproportionate amount spent on TNA be explained;
(3)What criteria is used to decide how much her department spend on advertising in each newspaper;
(4) Does her department make use of an independent media-buying agency to give it strategic advice on where to advertise; if not, why not; if so, what is the name of the media-buying agency? NW111E
REPLY: MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
(1) The GCIS is responsible for implementing media bulk buying for government. The sum of R10 199 998 is the aggregate expenditure of departments participating in governments media bulk buying initiative. The decision process to select and use media is not dependent on readership alone and factors such as media diversity, distribution, reader profile, multimedia platform extensions, target audience impact, editorial opportunity and cost are considered in the intra-media selection. In each instance that the The New Age was utilized, the communication opportunity in this title would have outweighed other competing print media opportunities.
(2) No directive was received to spend more money on The New Age than other newspapers. The media selection process as it relates to print media has been described in (1) above.
Why there is a disproportional spent?
Based on the selection criteria outlined in (1) above, there is no basis to support an argument for proportionality in advertising expenditure.
(3) In addition to the selection criteria outlined in (1) above, the GCIS also considers the departments communication strategy and available campaign budget.
(4) No, the department does not utilize a media buying agency as it has inhouse media buying competence.
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NUMBER: 2746 OF 2015
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 31 JULY 2015
Mr G R Davis (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:
With reference to her comments that the Government is slashing its advertising budget to mainstream newspapers (details furnished), (a) what is her department’s definition of mainstream newspapers and (b) what official publications does her department consider to be mainstream newspapers? NW3178E
REPLY: MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS
(a) Mainstream newspapers are defined as the dominant or established newspapers in the South African media landscape. This reference is widely understood and used in the collaborative publication Media Landscape 2014, Celebrating 20 Years of South Africa’s Media.
(b) Therefore the mainstream newspapers referred to are commercial newspapers that fall under the following stables: Times Media Group; Caxton, Independent News and Media SA, and Media24.
Issued by Parliament, August 6 2015
