Print Media SA seeks Pahad meeting

On the Mail & Guardian-branded Thought Leader platform, ThoughtFerial Haffajee, editor of the Mail & Guardian Online, has taken the controversial Ronald Suresh Roberts [who The Weekender reports is being sued for plagiarism] to task over his recent Thought Leader blog post on “The chicken-hawks of the media wars”, writing that Roberts tests her “commitment to freedom of expression”. Both posts have elicited 50+ comments.

Prof Guy Berger, head of the School of Journalism & Media Studies at Rhodes University, has weighed in on the Koni Media/Johncom takeover bid debate, writing in the Mail & Guardian Online that “that politics constitutes the driving force behind the current suitors. And this applies equally to Tokyo Sexwale, also seeking a chunk of Johncom.”

Meanwhile, also according to the Mail & Guardian Online, Groovin Nchabeleng of Koni Media professes that the deal is just a “pure business transaction” and “thinks the opposition to his company being part of the deal is based on a lack of appreciation of the direction the global media space is taking and of his entrepreneurial spirit.”

Lastly, looking at another aspect of the principle of a free press is Kass Naidoo, who analyses the media boycott on Australian cricket in her Fin24.com column.

For more:

• IOL: Pahad urged to clarify

• Thoughtleader.co.za: How dare he? [Ferial Haffajee]
  
• Thoughtleader.co.za: The chicken-hawks of the media wars [Ronald Suresh Roberts]
  
• The Weekender: Authors in plagiarism war

• Mail & Guardian Online: 'Serve the public, not the politicians'
  
• Mail & Guardian Online: Building a media empire

• News24.com: Media blackout, who's to blame?