Self-regulation, regulation or oversight? - 25 Jul 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Will the News of the World scandal have any relevance for South Africa's media? Will there be any impact on our media landscape? Media and marketing analyst Chris Moerdyk, Mail & Guardian editor Nic Dawes writing in the Guardian and M&G news editor Drew Forrester continue the debate, with Moerdyk now proposing that self-regulation (and the new Press Freedom Commission) won't work now and suggesting that an independent media oversight structure may. In the meantime, on Saturday, 23 July 2011, Julius Malema failed to obtain an interdict in the South Gauteng High Court against City Press publishing details yesterday of his family trust fund. read more (1 Comment) Celebrating Mandela Day - 18 Jul 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Launch of Press Freedom Commission in SA - 11 Jul 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] On Thursday, 7 July 2011, SANEF and PMSA launched the Press Freedom Commission in Johannesburg. That same afternoon, the closure of Rupert Murdoch's 168-year-old British Sunday tabloid News of the World, was also announced, supposedly thanks to the ever-increasing ramifications of the phone-hacking scandal and advertisers pulling ads. read more Reruns at the SABC - 4 Jul 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] I think we all know the plot by now: ousted acting SABC CEOs threatening to sue (and yet another payout on the horizon), boardroom skullduggery, cries of political interference (this time at a ministerial level), SABC board members resigning in protest... Can't they find a new script, as this one is getting rather, rather old? How about a sex scandal? Oh wait, we're not really talking about a TV series but the running of our national broadcaster... read more And indeed South Africa did roar! - 27 Jun 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Last week Tuesday night, 21 June 2011, Net#work BBDO became the first South African ad agency to have scooped three Cannes Lion Grands Prix in the space of just five years, when it won the Grand Prix Radio Lion for its 'Mercedes-Benz - Safety Features Love, Bud, Toby' radio campaign. Only two years ago, in 2009, the agency bagged its first - and SA's first-ever - Grand Prix Radio Lion for its 'Virgin Atlantic Airline Dancer, Dog and Ferret' campaign. read more Time to roar at Cannes Lions - 20 Jun 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] The ad awards season life cycle continues, with the 2011 D&AD awards evening having taken place last week Thursday night, 16 June 2011, in London; the announcement of the 2011 Pencil Rankings from The One Club and D&AD; and the 2011 Cannes Lions Advertising Festival which kicked off in Cannes, France, yesterday, Sunday 19 June - with some ash cloud interference... The first set of Cannes Lions shortlists are now out, so let's see how well South Africa does tonight. Or not. read more Manyi and a centralised government ad budget - 13 Jun 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Once again, the media is up in arms: government spokesman Jimmy Manyi last week revealed Cabinet's plans to centralise the R1 billion government ad budget under the GCIS, which he also heads up - and that media which "assist government in getting its message across" and which "told the truth about service delivery" will be favoured. SANEF's prompt response? That this "incredible plan... read more (4 Comments) Fight against Secrecy Bill continues - 6 Jun 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] The good news is that the ANC has agreed to extend the deadline for finalisation of the controversial Protection of Information Bill (Secrecy Bill). The bad news is that there is no guarantee that Parliament itself will agree to the request, according to committee chairperson Cecil Burgess, reports Business Live. read more Biz feels the love - 30 May 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Activity on Bizcommunity.com has soared on the back of last week's redesign and with the range of features, including self-promotional tools, now available to you, our readers. The revamp was announced directly to our +145 000-strong combined subscriber base and then more publicly via our various newsletters and portals (there's more than just Marketing & Media | South Africa, you know). read more Biz gets a makeover - 23 May 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] After months of behind-the-scenes activity, we're thrilled to unveil a revamped Bizcommunity.com, featuring a host of new features including an expanded set of self-promotional tools and more ways to share news and information. Read all the details here and please do share your feedback with us. Tragically, on Friday morning the awful news reached South Africa that SA freelance photographer Anton Hammerl, whom the Libyan government had been saying was alive and well, had in reality been killed on 5 April 2011. read more Elections driving you potty? - 16 May 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] So the media has been having pun with any and every kind of reference to toilets... And potholes - don't forget the potholes. read more Indaba time again – Tourism Indaba - 9 May 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] In case you haven't noticed, the annual Tourism Indaba has been happening down in Durbs "by die see" and Issa Sikiti da Silva has been Bizcommunity's man on the ground. Considering it's just a few days before local elections, why shouldn't politics be dragged into the discourse as well? The DA mayoral candidate for Cape Town Patricia de Lille released a statement on Friday, 6 May 2011, entitled "Tourism Indaba: DA to bid to move Indaba to Cape Town". read more Today is World Press Freedom Day - 3 May 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] Today, Tuesday, 3 May 2011, is World Press Freedom Day, marking the 20th anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991 in Windhoek, Namibia. Above is the 2011 Map of Press Freedom, a graphic representation of country ratings produced by Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organisation that has monitored press freedom worldwide since 1980. read more A picture too far - 18 Apr 2011[Rod Baker] The tragic death of Andries Tatane during a protest in Ficksburg last week has rightly ignited anger and condemnation across South Africa, but the fact that some media have published the image of Tatane dying has also been condemned by Media Monitoring Africa for one. So, while much anger has, naturally, been directed at the police, with a campaign on Facebook attracting a large number of comments, there are many who feel that while the media's role is to report the news to the public, there are times when it has to tread a great deal more carefully. On a different front, now that we have become another BRIC in the Wall, Angelo Coppola has some comments on the weakest link. read more Saluting the brave - 11 Apr 2011[Simone Puterman (@SimoneBiz)] We can but only salute the bravery of young up-and-coming researcher journalist Michelle Solomon, who has publically chosen to take on Avusa and the Sunday Times over a matter of a not-so-small report "said to detail the systemic gatekeeping and policy failures of the Sunday Times newsroom", compiled in December 2008 by an independent panel, after the Sunday newspaper was "forced to make some embarrassing high-profile story retractions in 2007 and 2008." Solomon, in a column published on The Daily Maverick and republished here on Bizcommunity.com with permission, details the whole process and rationale for having served Avusa with a Promotion of Access to Information Act application in order to gain access to the report. (Another brave Maverick journalist is Mandy de Waal: have you read her column yet on Fear and loathing at Beeld?) In the meantime, the Mail & Guardian last week released its editorial code of ethics and has asked its readers to hold it to it. On the advertising side, the Vodacom/Cell C (and other guerrilla marketers) red vs black 'war' is heating up, and in between 'stuff the branding, improve your service first!' cries of frustration, promises to provide much entertainment to those who aren't experiencing a major sense-of-humour failure, thanks to network issues. It was also industry legend John Farquhar's 83rd birthday yesterday, and Bizcommunity joins in on wishing him a happy birthday. read more |
