KOMANI-KAROO Express is celebrating its fourth birthday this week.
Launched in February 2016 as Queenstown Express it is now known as the Komani-Karoo Express. Since its launch it has been growing from strength to strength in the past four years and has become an integral part of the Komani community.
At its initial launch Queenstown Express was distributed free of charge to 20 000 homes in Komani every Thursday.
In October last year the newspaper was expanded with more copies (30 000 in total) being distributed over a larger area, after its merger with sister publication Mid-Karoo Express.
According to Tasmia Ismail, EP Media General Manager, the merger was aimed at giving its advertisers a wider footprint in more copies. “Komani advertisers have the benefit of speaking to residents of the towns where Mid-Karoo Express used to be distributed, i.e. Cradock, Middelburg, Somerset East and Graaff-Reinet, while Mid-Karoo Express advertisers are now able to reach the Komani market,” said Ismail.
A total of 30 000 copies of Komani-Karoo Express are distributed door-to-door to homes as well as bulk drops at central points in the different towns where it is distributed.
“What make this publication even more unique and relevant to the communities that it serves, is that most of the editorial content is written by freelance correspondents who live in these towns and who are very much part of their local communities,” said Bettie Giliomee-Rossouw, EP Media Regional Editor.
The Komani-Karoo Express is a sister publication of five other Express titles across the Eastern Cape. These are the Port Elizabeth Express, UD Express, Kouga Express, Mthatha Express and Isolomzi Express.
“Apart from bringing relevant news to its readers, the Express newspapers are also firm favourites with advertisers who stay loyal not only because of the results they get from advertising in the paper, but also because of the fact that Express offers custom-made solutions for its varying advertising needs and budgets,” said Ismail.
“It is heart-warming to see the great support there has been for the newspaper over the past four years and that bodes well for many more years of being able to bring a free newspaper to these towns,” said Giliomee-Rossouw.
