Message from the Editor of The Herald, ROCHELLE DE KOCK, marking the newspaper’s 180th Anniversary:
It was in May 2008 when I walked into Newspaper House in Baakens Street for the first time as an intern with big dreams of exposing corruption and writing stories that would make a difference.
Greeted by Ursula Atterbury, then assistant to the news editor who would later serve as my assistant, I never thought that I would one day lead this purveyor of history, this giant force within the Nelson Mandela Bay community.
Seventeen years later, as we reflect on the 180 years of The Herald, it is clear that we have been able to remain a media powerhouse because of our commitment to the principles of journalism and, more importantly, our allegiance to the people of the Eastern Cape and Garden Route as their eyes, ears and voice.
180 years of staying power in a cut throat news media industry is no small feat, but it was former statesman Nelson Mandela who best described the role of the newspaper and what it has meant for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay through the ages at a civic function on September 14 1995, to mark the 150th anniversary of The Herald.
In his speech, a mere two months from the first democratic local government elections, Mandela said that it was rare that a commercial newspaper’s anniversary should serve as a focal point of a community’s sense of togetherness.
“It’s rarer still that this should be the case in these early days of our democracy, when the old still pervades and blemishes many facets of the new.
“That this should be so with the 150th anniversary of the Eastern Province Herald represents Port Elizabeth’s confidence in the future; a confidence issuing from present attempts to make that future truly better for one city, one community and one people.”
And then Madiba went on to encapsulate the essence of role of the media, particularly in a democratic SA.
He said: “The 150th birthday of The Herald marks the close of an era and the beginning of a new one.
“In just under two months, Port Elizabeth and hundreds of other towns and villages will have democratic local government elections, a historic rupture of the past.
“The same can be said of The Herald.
“If in the past it was a light in the darkness of colonialism and apartheid, today The Herald can act as a clear mirror against which the light of our democracy should reflect, with its brightness and, at times, with its imperfections.”
And then came these words which reminded all journalists and editors in the media industry of their duty to all audiences — one that is both powerful and humbling.
He said: “The media can fulfil their responsibility to communities only if they are independent, vigorous and critical.”
We believe that this still holds true today; the work that The Herald, and all media alike, does every single day comes with a great sense of responsibility to not only be the watchdog of society, to educate and to inform, but it must also mirror the communities in which it operates and be the voice of those people.
This grand old dame, the oldest newspaper in the country, turns 180 on May 7.
A lot has changed since its early formation when then Port Elizabeth only had 3,000 residents.
We now serve hundreds of thousands of print and digital readers in the format of their choice.
From the time of its first edition on May 7 1845, by founder John Paterson, a Scottish schoolteacher, entrepreneur and politician, The Herald has captured the history of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) and Despatch, as well as the surrounding areas, like no other entity in the Bay.
Some of the highlight moments over the years that were captured on paper include the first cricket Test match played in SA at the Port Elizabeth Cricket Club grounds on March 12 1889.
This publication captured the opening of the Ford Motor Company in the city in 1924, General Motors establishing a factory in 1926, the last VW Beetle rolling off the production line in Uitenhage, and the Great Floods of 1968.
Journalists keenly covered Mandela’s release from prison and the first democratic elections. (Fun fact: Due to a shortage of ballot papers during the 1994 elections, The Herald’s printing press was called upon to print millions of ballots so that voting in the province could continue).
On March 22 1995, The Herald captured the visit of Queen Elizabeth II who visited PE, which was a massive spectacle in the city — and a few months later, Nceba Faku, the first democratically elected mayor of the city was installed.
And then the responsibility of telling the story of a new democratic SA, the successes and where things went wrong.
From the HIV/ Aids misnomers in the mid-2000s, to the corruption allegations against senior political leaders threatening the stability of government, The Herald used its pages to capture it all.
In December 2013, when Mandela passed away, this newspaper stopped the press after midnight and printed a fitting tribute to this elder statesman who carried the hopes and aspirations of all South Africans.
Other highlights over the years include the Fees Must Fall movement in 2015, a change in government in Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time which saw a coalition government installed, and then came the Gupta leaks and state capture allegations which came to the fore in 2017.
In 2018, Jacob Zuma resigned as president of SA, and that same year The Herald went digital with its new HeraldLIVE online platform.
The year, the newspaper made the decision to sell the historic Newspaper House building, moving to a new premises in the Greenacres area that fits in with its newly cultivated news organisation that is modern and keeping up with world media trends.
In 2019, the Springboks’ first black captain Siya Kolisi, who hails from Gqeberha, led his team through the streets of the city after winning the Rugby World Cup.
The Herald was there to capture it all.
In July 2021, Zuma was arrested — the first time that a president was ever arrested in SA — and this sparked unprecedented riots across the country.
The residents of Gqeberha, with the support of the taxi industry, bucked the trend and chose to protect the city instead.
Later the same year, another coalition government is installed in the Bay after the local government elections.
Fast-forward to 2024, the ANC loses an outright majority in the general elections for the first time since 1994, forcing it to work with other political parties to form a government of national unity.
The last 180 years have been a whirlwind, and the advancement of technology has had an impact on the news media industry on a global scale.
But as there continues to be assaults on media freedom, declining advertising revenues and falling circulation, we lead the social media and online conversation in this region with more than 400,000 Facebook followers, a few thousands shy of a million monthly unique browsers on our website, and 128,000 readers (readership figures).
Our readership is now 53% black and 47% coloured, white and Indian.
The Herald continues to take its role as a voice of the Bay seriously, and though the times have forced us to do things differently, we remain committed to providing a mirror to our society, reflecting its joys and pain, the good and the bad, all for the amazing people of our beautiful city.
The Herald
#TheHerald180 | Changing with the times and reporting on historic moments
The Herald has been there for everything from SA’s first cricket Test to changes in government
Image: Supplied
Message from the Editor of The Herald, ROCHELLE DE KOCK, marking the newspaper’s 180th Anniversary:
It was in May 2008 when I walked into Newspaper House in Baakens Street for the first time as an intern with big dreams of exposing corruption and writing stories that would make a difference.
Greeted by Ursula Atterbury, then assistant to the news editor who would later serve as my assistant, I never thought that I would one day lead this purveyor of history, this giant force within the Nelson Mandela Bay community.
Seventeen years later, as we reflect on the 180 years of The Herald, it is clear that we have been able to remain a media powerhouse because of our commitment to the principles of journalism and, more importantly, our allegiance to the people of the Eastern Cape and Garden Route as their eyes, ears and voice.
180 years of staying power in a cut throat news media industry is no small feat, but it was former statesman Nelson Mandela who best described the role of the newspaper and what it has meant for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay through the ages at a civic function on September 14 1995, to mark the 150th anniversary of The Herald.
In his speech, a mere two months from the first democratic local government elections, Mandela said that it was rare that a commercial newspaper’s anniversary should serve as a focal point of a community’s sense of togetherness.
“It’s rarer still that this should be the case in these early days of our democracy, when the old still pervades and blemishes many facets of the new.
“That this should be so with the 150th anniversary of the Eastern Province Herald represents Port Elizabeth’s confidence in the future; a confidence issuing from present attempts to make that future truly better for one city, one community and one people.”
And then Madiba went on to encapsulate the essence of role of the media, particularly in a democratic SA.
He said: “The 150th birthday of The Herald marks the close of an era and the beginning of a new one.
“In just under two months, Port Elizabeth and hundreds of other towns and villages will have democratic local government elections, a historic rupture of the past.
“The same can be said of The Herald.
“If in the past it was a light in the darkness of colonialism and apartheid, today The Herald can act as a clear mirror against which the light of our democracy should reflect, with its brightness and, at times, with its imperfections.”
And then came these words which reminded all journalists and editors in the media industry of their duty to all audiences — one that is both powerful and humbling.
He said: “The media can fulfil their responsibility to communities only if they are independent, vigorous and critical.”
We believe that this still holds true today; the work that The Herald, and all media alike, does every single day comes with a great sense of responsibility to not only be the watchdog of society, to educate and to inform, but it must also mirror the communities in which it operates and be the voice of those people.
This grand old dame, the oldest newspaper in the country, turns 180 on May 7.
A lot has changed since its early formation when then Port Elizabeth only had 3,000 residents.
We now serve hundreds of thousands of print and digital readers in the format of their choice.
From the time of its first edition on May 7 1845, by founder John Paterson, a Scottish schoolteacher, entrepreneur and politician, The Herald has captured the history of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) and Despatch, as well as the surrounding areas, like no other entity in the Bay.
Some of the highlight moments over the years that were captured on paper include the first cricket Test match played in SA at the Port Elizabeth Cricket Club grounds on March 12 1889.
This publication captured the opening of the Ford Motor Company in the city in 1924, General Motors establishing a factory in 1926, the last VW Beetle rolling off the production line in Uitenhage, and the Great Floods of 1968.
Journalists keenly covered Mandela’s release from prison and the first democratic elections. (Fun fact: Due to a shortage of ballot papers during the 1994 elections, The Herald’s printing press was called upon to print millions of ballots so that voting in the province could continue).
On March 22 1995, The Herald captured the visit of Queen Elizabeth II who visited PE, which was a massive spectacle in the city — and a few months later, Nceba Faku, the first democratically elected mayor of the city was installed.
And then the responsibility of telling the story of a new democratic SA, the successes and where things went wrong.
From the HIV/ Aids misnomers in the mid-2000s, to the corruption allegations against senior political leaders threatening the stability of government, The Herald used its pages to capture it all.
In December 2013, when Mandela passed away, this newspaper stopped the press after midnight and printed a fitting tribute to this elder statesman who carried the hopes and aspirations of all South Africans.
Other highlights over the years include the Fees Must Fall movement in 2015, a change in government in Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time which saw a coalition government installed, and then came the Gupta leaks and state capture allegations which came to the fore in 2017.
In 2018, Jacob Zuma resigned as president of SA, and that same year The Herald went digital with its new HeraldLIVE online platform.
The year, the newspaper made the decision to sell the historic Newspaper House building, moving to a new premises in the Greenacres area that fits in with its newly cultivated news organisation that is modern and keeping up with world media trends.
In 2019, the Springboks’ first black captain Siya Kolisi, who hails from Gqeberha, led his team through the streets of the city after winning the Rugby World Cup.
The Herald was there to capture it all.
In July 2021, Zuma was arrested — the first time that a president was ever arrested in SA — and this sparked unprecedented riots across the country.
The residents of Gqeberha, with the support of the taxi industry, bucked the trend and chose to protect the city instead.
Later the same year, another coalition government is installed in the Bay after the local government elections.
Fast-forward to 2024, the ANC loses an outright majority in the general elections for the first time since 1994, forcing it to work with other political parties to form a government of national unity.
The last 180 years have been a whirlwind, and the advancement of technology has had an impact on the news media industry on a global scale.
But as there continues to be assaults on media freedom, declining advertising revenues and falling circulation, we lead the social media and online conversation in this region with more than 400,000 Facebook followers, a few thousands shy of a million monthly unique browsers on our website, and 128,000 readers (readership figures).
Our readership is now 53% black and 47% coloured, white and Indian.
The Herald continues to take its role as a voice of the Bay seriously, and though the times have forced us to do things differently, we remain committed to providing a mirror to our society, reflecting its joys and pain, the good and the bad, all for the amazing people of our beautiful city.
The Herald
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