M&G Online redevelopment begins

21 Nov 2007

NEWSWATCH: Vincent Maher, strategist at the M&G Online, revealed on his blog earlier this week that the online newspaper's redevelopment process, which will be blogged step-by-step, has started. This will probably be one of the most closely watched and interactive redevelopments in South African media to date, as the transparency will include asking the reader community for advice and feedback as the process unfolds.

Johncom will officially change its name to Avusa on next week Monday, 26 November 2007, as shareholders have approved the proposal, reports the Mail & Guardian Online. It was also revealed yesterday, Tuesday 20 November, that the words “Audiovisual, Vision, Unique and Unity, and South Africa” make up the new name.

Lastly, Professor Guy Berger has had more to say on BEE, politics and media ownership in relation on Thoughtleader.co.za, writing that “[i]t's temporarily quiet on the Johncom buy-out front. No doubt, though, there's movement behind the scenes. And the issues certainly have not gone away.”

For more:

Mail & Guardian Online: Johncom becomes Avusa on shareholder approval
Media in Transition: M&G Online Developer Diary #1: Starting Up
Thoughtleader.co.za: Don't expect political BEEs to sting

Simone Puterman

About Simone Puterman

Simone Puterman (@SimoneAtLarge) is currently editor-at-large at Marklives.com and deputy chair of the Sanef online editors subcommittee. After majoring in psychology and linguistics at Rhodes University, and then completing her honours in psychology, she has been in the world of B2B publishing since 1997, with 7.5 year stints at both WriteStuff Publishing and Bizcommunity.com (March 2006-August 2013). Email her at moc.sevilkram@enomis.