This book looks at two specific components of the South African newspaper and printing industry, labour and capital. On the labour side, it examines the structure, policies and impact of the trade union, the South African Typographical Union (SATU), and how it shaped labour policy in the build-up to the launch of apartheid in 1948. With regard to capital, this book unpicks the development and implications of concentration and monopoly in the sector and investigates the impact of the world paper famine, a deeply influential crisis for the industry triggered by World War II. By looking behind the scenes at what was happening within the structure of the industry, a more nuanced view is possible not only of the role of the newspaper industry in the creation and consolidation of apartheid but also of how media organisations are able to exert their influence on politics and society more generally.

This research is based on unique access to the company archives of one of South Africa’s major newspaper companies, Arena Holdings (known previously as Times Media Limited), including hand-written minutes books from the Board of Directors of the Rand Daily Mail Company Limited, the Sunday Express Limited and the Sunday Times Syndicate Limited from the period 1920-50. Here, along with interviews and considerable additional research, is a significant part of the story of the South African press from the years 1920 to 1950, the critical foundation period of what was to become known as apartheid.

Adrian Hadland is professor of journalism and media studies at the University of Stirling, UK. Dr. Hadland has worked as a professional political journalist for more than 15 years covering events – including South Africa’s transition to democracy – in Africa as well as in Asia, the US and in Europe. He has published 25 books including biographies/memoirs and a number of scholarly texts on and about journalism and photojournalism including Media-State Relations in Emerging Democracies (2015) and Critical Issues in Photojournalism (2025).