Issue 200 - FREE
2
November 2018
Community News. Original - accurate - first
017 631 1903 / 017 631 1845 • admin@thebulletin.co.za • 1 Kiewiet Street, Secunda (Lake Umuzi)
Road accidents continue to plague GMM. See page 2 for full story
Celebrating 200 editions! Out of a humble idea a giant was born. September 2014 saw the first steps of the Bulletin. The steps were small but determined and pointed in one direction only; to become the leading source of news in Govan Mbeki Municipality. Today, on our 200th edition celebrations we can proudly say that 25 479 followers on Facebook seem to think so as well. The journey would not have been
possible without the extraordinary support that we received from you, our readers and supporters. The Bulletin can proudly be called a community newspaper! Thank you to each and every one that supported us over the past 4 years. When the Bulletin issued its first edition it was bold steps in a saturated market. Although difficult and facing a number of challenges, the persistence paid off.
As the Bulletin continued to survive it became clear that penetrating the market would not be plain sailing. Staff were increased slightly to alleviate the workload but that also did not bring about the results needed for expansion and growth. The Bulletin’s financial situation did not improve to a point of self-sustainability and needed a desperate new approach to sales.
The pressure of running a newspaper started to show in the decisions made. By mid-2017 the Bulletin reached an alltime low in all aspects of its existence. It was crunch time. All indications were that it should close down! It was time for a rethink on how to run the Bulletin. We cut down on the printed copies from 21 000 to 11 000 to start with. Home distributions were stopped. Continued to page 6