In 1977 editor Donald Woods was silenced. Banning orders prevented him editing his newspaper, the Daily Dispatch, and writing his widely syndicated column. He had made his opposition to apartheid all too clear. An open critic of the National Party and a firm supporter of the Black Consciousness Movement, Woods had waged a journalistic war against the government for many years. The death of Steve Biko, the movement's founder, and the growth of personal attacks on Woods and his family finally compelled them to flee the country.