Thousands of unsold copies of the New Age newspaper were returned to its offices daily, according to a former employee who spoke to the M&G. The ex-employee also alleged that on the instructions of the owners, the Gupta family, the returns were sent to India to be recycled. "They didn't want it done in South Africa in case it got out," said the source, who left the paper in 2011.
New Age's chief executive, Nazeem Howa, dismissed the allegation as "malicious", but refused to divulge details of the paper's returns or sales figures.
The M&G had asked the newspaper to reveal its single- copy sales for the past six months; what percentage of its claimedA survey of advertising space in the paper in December 2012 and January 2013 conducted by the M&G indicates that advertising bought by parastatals comprised roughly 48% of the total. Advertising purchased by other governmental departments, municipalities and state entities comprised 28%, and the Gupta family's companies, such as Sahara Computers and JIC Mining Services, bought about 10%.
via mg.co.za
The New Age is a catastrophic embarressment to the journalism community. Their reporting on BEE matters is patently incorrect and definitely regards business as the antagonist. If you use this as a metaphor for the balance of the editorial then it's not vaguely surprising that the private sector is shying away from advertising in the paper. Now that there is a spat between this respectable publication and Helen the New Age is certainly gaining a lot more exposure. I see that Helen is going to ask the MasterCorruptA MC(P) to "request that he appoint a judicial commission of inquiry, headed by a retired judge, to investigate the funding of The New Age".
Good luck Helen, I am sure you rue the day that you ever had anything to do with this paper.