The eastern times is under the new co-ownership of Betsie van der Merwe (previous group editor of Citi Newsroom and editor of the Eastern News) and Adrian Henwood (entrepreneur).
According to van der Merwe, the eastern times will be the voice for the community.
“The newspaper will be run by the same dedicated and experienced team who developed the Eastern News into one of the top ten community newspapers in the country. The journalists and advertising consultants are familiar with the needs of the eastern suburbs of Pretoria,” she says.
Van der Merwe says readers, community leaders and advertisers can expect the same high standard of journalism, service delivery, layout and print quality they have been used to over the years. The newspaper will however have a new masthead and image.
“The eastern times promises to look out for their advertisers and provide a platform to introduce and advertise their products and services to their target market as well as provide community news that is relevant, insightful and newsworthy,” says van der Merwe.
According to van der Merwe, the eastern times will feature reader's competitions as well as in-depth journalism that underwrites the South African Press Code.
The first bilingual eastern times will appear on 10 February 2009. Twenty thousand copies will be distributed to the eastern suburbs of Pretoria by residential delivery and selective stand distribution for those not receiving the paper at home.
