Scope (magazine)

Last updated

Scope
Raquel Welch on cover of Scope magazine.jpg
Raquel Welch headlining 12 January 1973 issue
EditorJack Shepherd Smith
Dave Mullany
CategoriesMen, Entertainment, Sport, Crime, Fashion, Travel, Politics
FrequencyWeekly
Founded1966
Final issue1996
CompanyRepublican Press
CountrySouth Africa

Scope was a South African weekly men's lifestyle magazine. The magazine was launched in the 1960s and was controversial for challenging Apartheid-era South Africa's strict censorship laws with its bikini-clad cover girls. The weekly was published in Durban by Republican Press until its final issue in 1996. At its peak, it was South Africa's best-selling English magazine, with a circulation of 250,000. [1]

History

The magazine was launched in 1966 by Winston Charles Hyman (Hint). Jack Shepherd Smith worked for Winston Charles Hyman (the owner of Republican Press at the time) and became the long-time editor.Scope magazine would achieve iconic status in South African media as a publication that petitioned for freedom of the press with its censorship-defying content. The magazine is also known for placing strategically placed black stars concealing certain body parts of the semi-nude models. The weekly also ran the Scope magazine "Girl of the Year" contest. [2]

In 1972, the censor board of South Africa banned the weekly magazine, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court. [3] This marked the seventh time in four years that the board had banned the magazine. [1] The censor board had taken exception to a photograph published in May by the magazine, that showed a black man in New York City embracing a white woman. They also took exception to a semi-nude shoot of a model in the forest and at the beach. [1] In other attempts, the board had formerly attempted to ban the magazine because of a cover article on abortion and a story on test tube babies. [1] In 1975, editor Shepherd Smith maintained that fair censorship was impossible in South Africa because of the cultural diversity of the nation "Whose particular way of life are the censors going to help to uphold?". [4] In May 1976, again the censor board issued a notice banning the magazine. [5]

The magazine also covered important crime stories. In 1984 the weekly published a telephone interview with South Africa's most-wanted bank robber Allan Heyl of the Stander Gang who was in hiding in the UK at the time. [6] The newspaper has also covered political stories and interviewed figures such as the spy Craig Williamson. [7] Stories also appeared during the South African Border War that celebrated the military training of SADF soldiers and contributed to a sense of heroism. [8] The weekly also published a series on the experiences of Horace Morgan, an ex-psychiatric patient who spent 37 years in mental institutions. Scope conducted interviews with Morgan (who had been admitted in 1937 after losing his memory) and reported the hostility of the institutions and Morgan's inability to escape the fate of a "wasted, tragic life in a cage". [9]

Several notable journalists have contributed to the magazine. In 1990, former Sunday Times writer, Jani Allan launched the self-titled Jani Allan column at Scope. [10] An article written by Allan on 5 October 1990, volume 25, number 20 in the magazine was presented to the South African parliament in 1991 in support of a legislation issue. [11] As the apartheid regime crumbled in the 1990s and the magazine faced stiff competition from newcomers, the decision was made to make the magazine more risqué. This strategy was abandoned in 1995 when publishers, Republican Press sought to rebrand the magazine as an up-market men's general interest magazine. At the time, the editor, David Mullany said "it is time for the magazine to grow up ... and to address itself not merely to schoolboys and middle-aged voyeurs, but to the as-yet untapped body of discerning South African males who are desperate for something decent to read". [12] However, the magazine suffered from heavy circulation losses and the final issue was published in 1996. In 1997, Mullany blamed religious elements in South Africa for the closure; "with the fire and brimstone shouts, the fundamentalists have made it impossible to sell our magazine". [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nadine Gordimer</span> South African writer (1923–2014)

Nadine Gordimer was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great benefit to humanity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SABC</span> State-owned public broadcaster in South Africa

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state-owned enterprises.

In Ireland, the state retains laws that allow for censorship, including specific laws covering films, advertisements, newspapers and magazines, as well as terrorism and pornography, among others. In the early years of the state, censorship was more widely enforced, particularly in areas that were perceived to be in contradiction of Catholic dogma, including abortion, sexuality and homosexuality. The church had banned many books and theories for centuries, listed in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index on Censorship</span> Campaigning publishing organisation

Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association with the UK-registered charity Index on Censorship, which are both chaired by the British television broadcaster, writer and former politician Trevor Phillips. The current CEO is Jemimah Steinfeld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Printed media in the Soviet Union</span>

Printed media in the Soviet Union, i.e., newspapers, magazines and journals, were under strict control of the CPSU and the Soviet state. The desire to disseminate propaganda was believed to had been the driving force behind the creation of the early Soviet newspapers. Newspapers were the essential means of communicating with the public, which meant that they were the most powerful way available to spread propaganda and capture the hearts of the population. Additionally, within the Soviet Union the press evolved into the messenger for the orders from the CPSU Central Committee to the party officials and activists. Due to this important role, the Soviet papers were both prestigious in the society and an effective means to control the masses; however, manipulation initially was not the only purpose of the Soviet press.

Anneline Kriel is a South African actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss South Africa 1974 and was later crowned Miss World 1974. She is the second of three South African women to hold the Miss World title after Penelope Coelen in 1958 and before Rolene Strauss in 2014. In South Africa she achieved "icon" status where she became known as a "Princess Diana" figure and also appeared in several local film and television projects such as Kill and Kill Again in 1981. She was also in a high-profile marriage (1980-1985) with the late South African hotelier, Sol Kerzner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film censorship</span> Films that are banned in a particular country

Film censorship is the censorship of motion pictures, either through the excising of certain frames or scenes, or outright banning of films in their entirety. Film censorship typically occurs as a result of political or moral objections to a film's content; controversial content subject to censorship include the depiction of graphic violence, sexual situations, or racial themes. Censorship standards vary widely by country, and can vary within an individual country over time.

The Sunday Times is South Africa's biggest Sunday newspaper. Established in 1906, it is distributed throughout South Africa and in neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, and Eswatini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jani Allan</span> South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster (1952–2023)

Jani Allan was a South African journalist, columnist, writer, broadcaster, and media personality.

Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa better known as Nat Nakasa was a South African journalist and short story writer.

The Rand Daily Mail was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The title was based in Johannesburg as a daily newspaper and best known for breaking the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979. It also exposed the truth about the death in custody of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, in 1977.

Miriam Tlali was a South African novelist. She was the first black woman in South Africa to publish an English-language novel, Muriel at Metropolitan, in 1975. She was also one of the first to write about Soweto. She also wrote Amandla in 1980 which focuses on the Soweto Uprising in 1976, as well as a collection of short stories called Soweto Stories which was published in 1989. Most of her writing was originally banned by the South African apartheid regime.

Roger Lucey is a South African musician, journalist, filmmaker, actor, and educator. In the late 1970s and early 1980s his early career as a musician was destroyed by Paul Erasmus of the Security Branch of the South African Police, because the lyrics to Lucey's protest songs were considered a threat to the Apartheid State. Although already aware of his anti-apartheid songs, the South African Government's security apparatus only swung into action to destroy Lucey's career after he performed a radical song in a programme on Voice of America radio. The criminal methods used against Lucey formed part of the testimony given by Paul Erasmus in front of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Wietie was first published in 1980 by Christopher van Wyk and Fhazel Johennesse. The magazine provided a literary platform for the prevailing philosophy of Black Consciousness. It gave voice to a new generation of South African writers who saw their work not only as a critique on oppressive systems, but – like Black Power – as a weapon of transformation.

The Press Scrutiny and Registration Division is a division under the Ministry of Information, responsible for censorship of media in Burma today. Its current director is Major Tint Swe. PSRD censors all forms of media, ranging from publications such as newspapers and magazines and other published content like books. New publishers are required to register publications with the PSRD. The PSRD's time-consuming and arbitrary process has forced nearly all privately held news publications in Burma to publish on a weekly or monthly basis. All of the daily newspapers in Burma are government-owned.

Loslyf is a South African Afrikaans-language pornographic magazine. The magazine was founded in 1995 by J.T. Publishing, a South African subsidiary of the American Hustler. It was the first Afrikaans-language pornographic publication. Launched only one year after the end of apartheid, the magazine was greatly controversial as it posed a clear opposition to the conservative Afrikaner nationalist morals that influenced the apartheid government's censorship of media

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book censorship</span> Book removed or banned from public and/or private usage

Book censorship is the act of some authority taking measures to suppress ideas and information within a book. Censorship is "the regulation of free speech and other forms of entrenched authority". Censors typically identify as either a concerned parent, community members who react to a text without reading, or local or national organizations. Books have been censored by authoritarian dictatorships to silence dissent, such as the People's Republic of China, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Books are most often censored for age appropriateness, offensive language, sexual content, amongst other reasons. Similarly, religions may issue lists of banned books, such as the historical example of the Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum and bans of such books as Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses by Ayatollah Khomeini, which do not always carry legal force. Censorship can be enacted at the national or subnational level as well, and can carry legal penalties. In many cases, the authors of these books could face harsh sentences, exile from the country, or even execution.

The bushranger ban was a ban on films about bushrangers that came into effect in parts of Australia in 1911–12. Films about bushrangers had been the most popular genre of local films ever since The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Governments were worried about the influence this would have on the population and bans against films depicting bushrangers were introduced in South Australia (1911), New South Wales and Victoria (1912).

Ivor Benson was a journalist, right-wing essayist, anti-communist and racist conspiracy theorist. From 1964 to 1966 he was a Rhodesian government official and censor. He strongly supported apartheid in South Africa. He also wrote frequently about a global Jewish/Communist conspiracy; his main book on the subject, This Worldwide Conspiracy, was supported by the right-wing London Swinton Circle and recommended by the neo-Nazi National Front (UK). Benson blamed the BBC, Wall Street banking interests, the government of the Soviet Union, and the World Council of Churches as drivers of a global conspiracy to wipe out his preferred nationalism.

The Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity is an award presented to a South African media practitioner in newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and online print media and whose reporting celebrates freedom of speech and media integrity. The award is managed and presented by the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Censor Board Censured The Age. 22 May 1972
  2. ↑ It's sex and the city – in Durban IOL. 23 November 2004
  3. ↑ South African censors overruled The Christian Science Monitor. 1 June 1972
  4. ↑ South Africans' Morals Protected By Censors The Calgary Herald. 29 October 1975
  5. ↑ South Africa bans weekly magazine Windsor Star. 9 May 1976
  6. ↑ Gangster 'hiding In Britain' Glasgow Herald. 2 June 1984
  7. ↑ Scope Magazine. 25 February 1985, p. 18
  8. ↑ Breaking Rank: Secrets, Silences and Stories of South Africa's Border War Gary Baines. Retrieved 10 September 2012
  9. ↑ Fawn Jones, Tiffany. Psychiatry, Mental Institutions, and the Mad in Apartheid South Africa, 2012. Routledge. pp. 165
  10. ↑ Scope. 30 November 1990. Volume 25, No. 24
  11. ↑ Debates of Parliament Hansard. 1991. Volume 9, Issues 19–22
  12. ↑ Broaden your Scope Mail & Guardian. 20 October 2000
  13. ↑ South Africa: Christians protest, sex industry collapsing Jesus.org. 15 January 1997
  14. ↑ The rise and demise of Scope magazine: A media-historical perspective Routledge. 3 March 2011
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.