The paper outlines the dramatic history of the New Nation newspaper. Established in 1986 under the editorship of Zwelakhe Sisulu, who has since been detained twice, once for two weeks and once for two years, New Nation has gained increasing popularity as a newspaper. Founded and supported by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and having only four journalists at its inception, New Nation at first had to rely for its news gathering on community activists who were trained as reporters in the process. As the State noted the ability of New Nation to penetrate communities both in townships and rural areas, where repression was heaviest, the paper was increasingly harassed leading not only to the detention of the editor-in-chief but also to searches of the editorial offices and interferences with the printing and distribution of the paper. In order to counteract these moves on the part of the State, the staff developed a series of ingenious devices aimed at improving the management, training the journalists, and safeguarding the distribution of the paper.
