A board of governors was instituted with Phillip Medalie, “Red” Webber and John Barrie serving.The first edition of the Edenvale News came out in March 1965. Red Webber wanted it named “Scandal”.It was originally distributed by the Edenvale Fire Department on a monthly basis.

Tommy Kirkland (Minphil Printers) a Rotarian, then took over publication and Bill Vincent became the first editor.

Shortly afterwards the Edenvale News was taken over by Mr Archie Kemp snr and Mr Stanley “Flash” Seaton.

In September 1968 it came out bi-monthly.

In 1969 Edenvale Printers (Ken Stewart) got the printing contract. A company was formed and shares were equally held by Edenvale Printers and the editor of that time, Mrs Alison Kustner.

During 1970 Mr Seaton took over as editor and bought out the shares of the previous editor. In 1980 Caxton took over and it became a weekly paper in July 1983.

Originally called “The Edenvale News”, it became the Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS in April 1986 when it was amalgamated with the former Eastern Express (east Johannesburg suburbs).

Readership

Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS is the newspaper of choice for both reader and advertiser.

Caxton ROOTS 2016 figures show Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS again coming out tops on readership figures in our distribution footprint. These survey results show we remain the leader in providing local content and the ideal platform for advertisers to reach their market. ROOTS (Readership Opinion Opportunities Trends Shopping) is South Africa’s largest urban, community level independent survey.

BE News readership in the free local newspaper media space is the most preferred newspaper.

Comparing Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS to all printed media consumed by people in our distribution footprint such as free local newspapers, sold daily newspapers, sold weekly newspapers and weekly magazines, Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS has 76 percent readership.

This increased from 71 percent in 2013, a remarkable achievement in an industry where digital is overtaking print.

Our readers’ shopping behaviour has also shifted slightly in comparison to 2013 ROOTS:

• People preferring to shop weekly has doubled from five percent to 10 percent.
• Bulk shopping (one bulk shopping + fill-ups) has decreased from 61 percent to 54 percent.

Overall 88 percent shoppers plan their big shopping and they use Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS to find the best deals in the community. As per our readership percentage of 76 percent, our distribution footprint shows an employment rate of 76 percent with an unemployment rate of three percent and 13 percent retirees.

Other interesting results:

• 69 percent of Bedfordview and Edenvale NEWS distribution footprints speak English, 20 percent Afrikaans and 11 percent speak Zulu.
• 70 percent shop at Greenstone Shopping Centre.
• 92 percent have one car or more per household.
• 90 percent bought take-aways in the past month.
• 80 percent access the internet weekly or more often. This is a 42 percent increase from 2013.