Day 6 - Thursday in 'texas.

Amanzimtoti on Thursdays. 
Two notable events happen in small town 'texas on a Thursday. One; the local rag "The South Coast Sun" is delivered to your door - mostly - and two; the night market takes place.


Since I am aware that previous (and by this I mean clever enough to get out but you may be back - remember turd on your shoe?) inhabitants of 'texas are reading this blog, and might be feeling homesick, lets examine these two important weekly occasions. If you're not from 'Toti, there are 2 publications that just about everyone reads every week, and one of them is the Sun.


For as long as I can remember The Sun has been out on a Thursday. In fairness I never really paid much attention to it and it was only when I started advertising in it some years ago that I really started studying it...and here is my abbreviated thesis (do you think they could sue me or would writing this blog count as freedom of expression? oh and another thought, are mates likely to be penalised by association, if so I may not have any after this? this is crazy South Africa after all - anything can happen!)
So the Sun comes out every Thursday - why is it, do you think, that they only put Fridays date on their masthead? I can understand that on rare occasion the printing / editing / distribution gets cocked up...but honestly I can't remember the last time this happened. It just always comes out on a Thursday.
About a year ago or so a new newspaper opened, The Fever. And they published... on a Wednesday! My my, did that piss the loyal staffers off at the Sun because every time they published their paper their stories were out of date before the paper hit the streets. The Sun went from having the monopoly in local weekly newspapers - not a great crown to have I think - to having to share the spoils. The Fever's ad rates were about half of the Suns - the Suns response? "Be loyal to us because we been here the longest and we've been ripping you off the longest" - ok the last bit is mine not theirs!
The Sun is forever patting itself on the back for being this all good community paper - what they don't blab about is their unwritten policy of not reporting on news worthy events if you're not a paying advertiser. Their sole purpose of being in business is advertising revenue. Is that a crime? No, it probably isn't. And they may not be unique. But on the basis of them being a NEWSpaper, perhaps if the balance between ads, good news and bad news was corrected a little in favour of good news there might be a different attitude in 'texas. Just a thought. 
Some notable story headers from todays paper: "Manhole mystery", "Comfort quilts to warm Japanese quake victims" (this when abject poverty is a stones throw away - and its going into summer in Japan?) and my favourite for today "Should the CBD be resurrected" (no, actually, you should knock it down and build low cost holiday housing for government ministers).
Anyway, very quickly about the Suns competitor, The Fever. Here was a business opportunity completely squandered by a typical large corporate who completely missed the culture and needs of a small town. Sorry for you.


And then there is the night market which takes place at Lords. Ah, I hear you say, Lords, such good memories. If you don't know, Lords is a pub restaurant at the local sports fields. In true South African fashion the entrepreneur who started Lords  - now sadly passed on - started this Thursday tradition - which I may add went on to completely screw up the eating out market in 'texas on Thursdays from then on. In short, to a lot of people its the center of their weekly social calendar, turning up late afternoon to get their wooden bench seat, spending what money they have on booze and pretty average food and shopping for trinkets and junk in an overgrown marquee. Not my idea of fun - which I am sure you can work out by my choice of words - but in fairness and I say this with envy, bang on the mark for understanding the local market and capitalizing from it. Respect to you Bruce!
Still missing 'Toti? Let me know your thoughts? 


For today thats it. I look forward to tomorrow. Time for family.