Newcomer to South Africa’s newspaper world, The New Age, is 10 months old this week, and to celebrate, it has launched a sports supplement in today’s paper. Edited by Phathisani Moyo, the 16-page New Age Sports Age will not focus on one particular sports code, and will also have a journalist focused on women’s sports.
“We differ because we’re going to look at a variety of sports codes,” Moyo says. “Not just soccer, or just rugby, or cricket but also swimming, athletics, boxing, motorsport…the whole package. We’ve got the reporters who know their stuff.”
Neil Tovey has already signed on as a columnist, and Kaiser Chiefs’ captain, Jimmy Tau, will start writing a column from next week. And sports reporter, Linda Moreotsene, has been poached from the Sowetan to make sure women’s sport gets the nod too.
“We have profiled the Banyana Banyana captain in the first issue. This team has qualified for the Olympic Games,” says Moyo. “Our female sports reporter has a specific brief to look at women’s sport.”
The tabloid sized supplement will carry sports news, previews, logs, posters of sports stars and even “sports babes”.
So what about rugby, the game on everyone’s minds right now? What is Moyo’s take on the Springbok versus Australia clash on Sunday?
“Eish,” says Moyo. “All those injuries to Bok players. It’s not looking good. Australia have dominated us in the last few games we’ve played against them. On the other hand, we have experience…but they have youth…” Hedging his bets then?
The cover of the first issue of The New Age Sports Age is striking, with a clean look and bold typefaces. It features a Bok player – Jaques Fouries – and a Bafana player – Thulani Serero – and of course, an inset of Hashim Amla representing the Proteas.
Moyo laughs. “That’s because we’re giving all the sports equal treatment!” In line with The New Age’s professed mantra of ‘one country, one paper’?
