The ''Daily Dispatch'' is a South African newspaper published in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

in the province of

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. The weekend edition is titled ''Daily Dispatch Weekend Edition''. Founded in 1872 as the ''East London Dispatch and Shipping and Mercantile Gazette'', the ''Daily Dispatch'' is the Eastern Cape's best-selling daily with a circulation of about 26,147 copies as of the first quarter in 2015. The online offering is known as DispatchLIVE. The newspaper, published in English, is well known for its hard-hitting investigative reporting and also covers Eastern Cape news, sports, politics, business, jobs, and community events. It has consistently been South Africa's best-performing daily newspaper, in terms of circulation growth, for the last several years. The newspaper is internationally known for its editor from 1965 to 1977, Donald Woods. Woods became a friend of

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko Order for Meritorious Service, OMSG (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalism, African nationalist and ...

, leader of the

Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Af ...

, and provided support to Biko through his editorials. After Biko's death in

police custody Police custody may refer to: * Arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken in ...

, Woods went into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

to expose the truth surrounding Biko's death in his book '' Biko''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the editor, and major shareholder, was Bernard Steer, father of noted journalist

George Steer Memorial to George Steer in 230px George Lowther Steer (22 November 1909 – 25 December 1944) was a South African-born British journalist, author and war correspondent who reported on wars preceding the Second World War, especially the Secon ...

History

The History of the Daily Dispatch by Glyn Williams

Distribution areas

Distribution figures

Readership figures

Location

The newspaper's physical address is:
35 Caxton Street, East London, South Africa, 5201

References

External links

* /www.dispatchlive.co.za/ Daily Dispatch Website(DispatchLIVE) * /www.saarf.co.za SAARF Website
Daily News Mass media in East London, South Africa Newspapers established in 1872 1872 establishments in the Cape Colony {{SouthAfrica-newspaper-stub