Huisgenoot
Encyclopedia
Huisgenoot is a weekly Afrikaans-language general interest family magazine
. It has the highest circulation figures of any South Africa
n magazine and is followed by sister magazine YOU
, its English language version. A third magazine, Drum, is directed at the black market. Esmaré Weideman is the editor-in-chief of all three magazines, which have a combined circulation of almost 700 000 copies a week.
It is estimated that more than two million people read Huisgenoot weekly.
Weideman is also the editor of the magazine's brand extensions, Huisgenoot-Pols (published in English as YOU Pulse) and Huisgenoot-Tempo. Huisgenoot-Pols and YOU Pulse focus on health issues and Huisgenoot-Tempo on Afrikaans music. A popular concert, Skouspel, is held at Sun City
every year. Some of the best Afrikaans artists are heard and the most popular artists of the year are honoured with an award called Tempo. Huisgenoot launched a few sucsessful line extensions in 2010, including the popular Huisgenoot Mooi and Huisgenoot Wendiete.
The magazine is published by Media24
, a subsidiary company of Naspers
publishing group. Content includes a mix of real-life drama, glamour, fashion and consumer affairs articles as well as recipes, crossword puzzles, home projects, motoring news and sport. It has a children's section and at least one short story a week.
There were two reasons behind its founding:
While the cause of Afrikaner nationalism
dominated the content of the magazine for decades, the editors of the magazine gradually had to make concessions to popular taste. Covers featuring Afrikaner heroes and politicians were replaced by ones featuring female film stars in the 1950s and 1960s. The Dutch-sounding title De Huisgenoot was changed to the more Afrikaans-sounding Die Huisgenoot and in 1977 the name was further simplified to simply Huisgenoot.
By the late 1970s the culture and mores of the Afrikaner population had begun to diverge from earlier generations, leading to a drastic decline in the magazine's readership and finances. By 1978 the magazine was in serious trouble and a new editor, Niel Hammann, was appointed. He took Huisgenoot in a more populist and profit-driven direction and the popularity and sales of the magazine subsequently surged - from 140,000 to 500,000 magazines per week.
The popularity of Huisgenoot has continued almost unabated since then, making the magazine and its English sister publication YOU
the two most successful magazines in South Africa.
Scanning the tag of the cover star leads to web content about that person. In the magazine's teen feature for example, a tag might lead to a web page containing a downloadable recording of a new song by a popular artist. The magazine also offers occasional wallpapers and screensavers for download – available for download on a cell phone via the tags.
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
. It has the highest circulation figures of any South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n magazine and is followed by sister magazine YOU
YOU
YOU is a South African magazine which is the English version of the Afrikaans family magazine Huisgenoot. It is published in Cape Town by Media24, the print division of Naspers....
, its English language version. A third magazine, Drum, is directed at the black market. Esmaré Weideman is the editor-in-chief of all three magazines, which have a combined circulation of almost 700 000 copies a week.
It is estimated that more than two million people read Huisgenoot weekly.
Weideman is also the editor of the magazine's brand extensions, Huisgenoot-Pols (published in English as YOU Pulse) and Huisgenoot-Tempo. Huisgenoot-Pols and YOU Pulse focus on health issues and Huisgenoot-Tempo on Afrikaans music. A popular concert, Skouspel, is held at Sun City
Sun City, North West
Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.- History :...
every year. Some of the best Afrikaans artists are heard and the most popular artists of the year are honoured with an award called Tempo. Huisgenoot launched a few sucsessful line extensions in 2010, including the popular Huisgenoot Mooi and Huisgenoot Wendiete.
The magazine is published by Media24
Media24
Media24 is the print media arm of the South African media company Naspers. It controls Naspers' newspaper and magazine Southern African publishing as well as printing activities but also includes the internet activities of the 24.com collection of web portals...
, a subsidiary company of Naspers
Naspers
Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media and print media Naspers is a South Africa-based multinational media company with principal operations in electronic media (including pay-television, internet and instant-messaging subscriber...
publishing group. Content includes a mix of real-life drama, glamour, fashion and consumer affairs articles as well as recipes, crossword puzzles, home projects, motoring news and sport. It has a children's section and at least one short story a week.
History
The magazine was founded as the monthly De Huisgenoot in 1916. The first magazine cost 6d (six pennies or five cents) and consisted of 26 pages. President Paul Kruger was on the cover and the main article was a life sketch on the president. The first advertisement for that issue was by Stuttafords.There were two reasons behind its founding:
- to financially support the newspaper De Burger (The Citizen), which was the political mouthpiece of the Cape National Party; and
- provide the AfrikanerAfrikanerAfrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
population with inspiration, information and entertainment in Afrikaans.
While the cause of Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism
Afrikaner nationalism is a political ideology that was born in the late 19th century around the idea that Afrikaners in South Africa were a "chosen people"; it was also strongly influenced by anti-British sentiments that grew strong among the Afrikaners, especially because of the Boer Wars...
dominated the content of the magazine for decades, the editors of the magazine gradually had to make concessions to popular taste. Covers featuring Afrikaner heroes and politicians were replaced by ones featuring female film stars in the 1950s and 1960s. The Dutch-sounding title De Huisgenoot was changed to the more Afrikaans-sounding Die Huisgenoot and in 1977 the name was further simplified to simply Huisgenoot.
By the late 1970s the culture and mores of the Afrikaner population had begun to diverge from earlier generations, leading to a drastic decline in the magazine's readership and finances. By 1978 the magazine was in serious trouble and a new editor, Niel Hammann, was appointed. He took Huisgenoot in a more populist and profit-driven direction and the popularity and sales of the magazine subsequently surged - from 140,000 to 500,000 magazines per week.
The popularity of Huisgenoot has continued almost unabated since then, making the magazine and its English sister publication YOU
YOU
YOU is a South African magazine which is the English version of the Afrikaans family magazine Huisgenoot. It is published in Cape Town by Media24, the print division of Naspers....
the two most successful magazines in South Africa.
Milestones
This entire section sourced from- In the first issues, page numbers overflowed from one issue to the next and only started with one again in May 1917.
- The words of a proposed new Afrikaans national anthem appeared in the issue of March 1919 – the magazine mentioned that it was not clear who wrote the song, Uit die Blou van Onse Hemel, and requested the author to contact the magazine. Today we know it was Cornelis Jacobus LangenhovenCornelis Jacobus LangenhovenCornelis Jacobus Langenhoven , wrote under the pen name C.J. Langenhoven and was better known as Sagmoedige Neelsie or Kerneels. He had a formidable role in South Africa's Afrikaans literature and cultural history, and was one of the young language's foremost promoters...
. - The first female on the cover was H.S.J Joubert, who died on 8 September 1916.
- The women's pages in the magazine were also heavily criticised. Readers described women being dressed in modern outfits as looking like devils – “nes duiwels gelijk”. The editor had an easy solution: “Neither of us has seen a devil before, and we request that readers who has had this experience before please give us their input.”
- In April 1918 the magazine announces that Afrikaans is now one of the country’s official languages.
- The first poster is published in February 1922, a black and white copy of a oil painting by Jacobus Hendrik PierneefJacobus Hendrik PierneefJacobus Hendrik Pierneef Pretoria, was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters...
. - Huisgenoot became a weekly magazine in November 1923, until then it was a monthly.
- On 11 December 1923 the magazine boasted a print run of 30 000. Today Huisgenoot sells more than 300 000 copies weekly.
- Colour was used for the first time in the issue of 2 January 1931 – black, blue and red.
- In the magazine of 2 September 1927 the editor wrote that it is not a political magazine.
- In the issue of 29 May 1936 televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
was mentioned for the first time. This was still 40 years before the SABC launched television in South Africa. - In the late thirties T.O. Honiball started producing illustrations on a regular basis for the magazine.
- In July 1948, a new competition was announced – readers were invited to write in to tell how they felt about getting married to English speaking South Africans.
- Adoons, the popular comic about baboons by T.O. Honiball, appeared for the first time in the issue of 2 July 1948.
- Four full colour pages appeared for the first time in the issue of 27 November 1953.
- Social issues about ladies entertaining men in their rooms on a regular basis were included in the issue of 14 May 1954. A series of articles about failing marriages followed this article.
- In 1957, a competition was launched to find South Africa's youngest grandmother. The winner was Mrs G.P. Kruger of Prieska. She became a grandmother at the age of 31 years and 7 months.
- A Calorie chart appeared for the first time on 17 January 1958 with an eating plan a weak later. The heading of the first article was: “Vir Poppiedik en Potjierol – ‘n kaloriekaart na die oordaad van die vakansiedae”.
- In the issue of 18 September 1959 a competition was launched where a BorgwardBorgwardBorgward was a German automobile manufacturer founded by Carl F. W. Borgward . The company was based in Bremen...
motor car worth £919 was the first prize and the second prize was a radio worth £90. - In 1966 an article on Betsie Verwoerd, wife of the then Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, who did a masters degree on the history of Huisgenoot, appeared. It was hand-written and consisted of 53 000 words.
- The major competition in the sixties was the word building competition, the first prize was a car, second prize an organ and third prize a fridge.
- The first Miss Teen competition was launched in the issue of 5 May 1972. Hart pioneer, Christiaan BarnardChristiaan BarnardChristiaan Neethling Barnard was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first successful human-to-human heart transplant.- Early life :...
, crowned the winner. The competition became a regular feature in Huisgenoot. - In the issue of 27 August 1987 an English sister title, named YOUYOUYOU is a South African magazine which is the English version of the Afrikaans family magazine Huisgenoot. It is published in Cape Town by Media24, the print division of Naspers....
, was anounced.
Digital platforms
Huisgenoot has increased its digital platform and have a variety of solid digital platforms including an i-pad edition, e-magazine on Zinio, a website, mobi site, i-phone application, Facebook fan page, Twitter page, You Tube channel and Mixit.Interactive content
In 2010, Huisgenoot and sister magazines YOU and DRUM, started using new technology developments. An interactive tool, utilising Microsoft Tag technology, enables readers to watch videos or download wallpaper simply by scanning a picture of a barcode-like tag printed in the magazine. There are various tags at the bottom of pages throughout the magazine.Scanning the tag of the cover star leads to web content about that person. In the magazine's teen feature for example, a tag might lead to a web page containing a downloadable recording of a new song by a popular artist. The magazine also offers occasional wallpapers and screensavers for download – available for download on a cell phone via the tags.