DEEPENING MEDIA DENSITY: WHAT SOUTH AFRICAN FREEDOM SHOWS US.

Post-apartheid South Africa highlights the potential for a society to increase its media outlets and its media consumption patterns. Politics, economics, social factors and technology are a major factor in this process. The country's broadcast media density has radically improved, largely through non-commercial mechanisms. Print has been more constrained. News websites are holding out, but are weak and being brought back into their parent media platforms. Current economic pressures are likely to force southern African media operations into greater synergies in search of survival. But the overall picture is one of major increases in media density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]