Media Update May 2009

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May 2009

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T h e r e c e n t Franschhoek Literary Festival (FLF) saw ticket sales up by approximately 50%, and about 3 000 visitors.

There were 42 events and 56 writers, poets and chairpersons. Over 3 400 tickets were sold, with approximately 1 000 more tickets sold than last year.

In three short years the FLF has grown into a respected celebration of books and writers with an international reputation.

A f r i c a n Fa s h i o n International, organiser of the Johannesburg; Cape Town; and Durban Fashion Weeks,has announced ARISE Africa Fashion Week, a showcase of the continent’s leading fashion designers at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, from 12 to 20 June 2009. ARISE Africa Fashion Week is a five-year sponsorship agreement with ARISE Magazine, the acclaimed magazine of African style and culture. ARISE launched in February 2009 and is produced in the United Kingdom and distributed internationally. Nduka Obaigbena, group chairman and editor-in-chief of ARISE, said: “ARISE recently presented the African Fashion Collective at New York Fashion Week. The partnership with African Fashion International (AFI) is a continued celebration of African achievement and an extension of our commitment to recognise and showcase the very best of African creative talent. I firmly believe that ARISE Africa Fashion Week will attract an international audience and markets beyond the global African Diaspora. The world’s eyes will be firmly focused on Joburg”. ARISE is published by THISDAY, Nigeria’s premier Newspaper of record.

Mediatech Africa 2009, South Africa’s all-inclusive broadcast; AV; media; film; and entertainment exhibition is building momentum for a well-timed event in 2009, as the country prepares for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Mediatech Africa will showcase new technologies and services from industry leaders in television and broadcast; sound and audio; lighting and staging; animation and film; system integration and communications; and for the first time in 2009, musical instruments and computer music and production tools, and every related field.

Ziwaphi has recently launched its own website.

Ziwaphi is a generalinterest, biweekly, tabloid-sized newspaper with an estimated 40 000 readers per month. It was started with funding from the Media Development and Diversity Agency. It specialises in local and regional news coverage, but also offers a comprehensive package of provincial and national news. Along with news, lifestyle, sports and commentary, the newspaper also features a full compliment of display and classified advertising. It is published by Uxhumano Communications.

The Annual, now being published for a third year, and due out in November, will have a dedicated section on branding. The Sunday Times’ Top Brands Survey, undertaken by TNS Surveys, will be included as the foundation of this new section as part of a partnership with the newspaper. Over the past few years, this survey has become the country’s recognised benchmark in measuring top brands and their success. The Annual will carry the Survey in full and focus on some of its brand success stories.

Winning hearts and minds and transforming cynicism into wonderment, scores of South Africa’s finest musicians join forces with foreign guests in a resounding celebration of the human spirit at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown from 2 to 11 July - ten days tingling with the magic of live music. The tribe of performers ranges from the young and new to icons of jazz, contemporary and classical music. Rock sensation, Jesse Clegg and Young Artist Award-winning baritone, Jacques Imbrailo, are listed alongside Afro-diva, Busi Mhlongo, the hot pop-indie quartet The Parlotones and The Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, to name a few. The Eastern Cape Indigenous Orchestra presents a concert of timeless themes performed on traditional instruments, taking audiences back to the source of inspiration for many contemporary composers. The Fringe musical programme ranges from rock to pop, through tributes to gems from the classical repertoire. In addition, playing and singing is actively encouraged at the Village Green Craft precincts, and on the streets of Grahamstown.

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The World Association of Newspapers protested to the leaders of five countries on World Press Freedom Day, against the jailings and widespread attacks on journalists in their countries.

In letters to the presidents of Afghanistan; Iran; Cuba; and Eritrea, the Paris-based WAN called for the release of journalists in prison.

Representatives of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and PPF Group have launched the International Multimedia News Lab in Prague. The training and educational centre, combined, with the editorial house, is called FUTUROOM - newsroom of the future. WAN is PPF’s founding partner in this project. FUTUROOM is part of a larger PPF Media project in the area of hyperlocal news, both print and online, which is soon to be launched in the Czech Republic.

The World Editors Forum has appointed journalism teacher and consultant, JeanP i e r r e T a i l l e u r, a s i t s representative to help develop the Prague-based International Multimedia News Lab, a new initiative of PPF Media.

Reuters h a s launched a new online community, created to inform companies about the business of ‘green’ and the importance of sustainability. Increasingly, environmentallyconscious consumers are demanding green products and services, and companies are seeking resources to help them rise to meet that need. Find it at reuters.com/greenbusiness . Reuters has also Lreuters.com/greenbusiness launched a small business blog at Lblogs.reuters.com/small-business/ blogs.reuters.com/small-business/ , to address timely issues and events affecting small businesses.

Creamer Media has become the first A f r i c a n organisation to ink a deal with global media group Thomson Reuters for the provision of video content within Reuters Insider, a new business information video platform, which is currently in pre-beta testing phase and which is to be launched later this year. As publisher of Engineering News and Mining Weekly, as well as the online versions of both publications, Creamer Media has, in recent years, also developed significant video products, which have grabbed the attention of Thomson Reuters. “We produce and broadcast a range of video products which provide insight and depth for players within the engineering and mining fraternities, as well as users within the trading and commodities sectors,” explains Creamer Media CEO Kenneth Creamer. “Thomson Reuters is in the process of structuring a dedicated video section within its multimedia terminals...”

CNN International journalist and presenter, Richard Quest, moderated the Global Media Face-Off (GMFO) at Africa’s top travel trade show, Indaba, held in Durban. The GMFO, which took place on Sunday, 10 May, is one of South African Tourism’s flagship annual media events and presents an opportunity for the organisation to engage with local and international media on issues affecting tourism in South Africa.

An analysis of the AMPS 2008 statistics to indicate which publications, radio and TV stations have the widest reach in the different LSM groups makes for interesting reading. The newsletter gives the top five in the LSM 8 to 10 titles for daily and weekly newspapers, weekly, fortnightly and monthly magazines, as well as radio and TV stations.

As the official broadcaster o f t h e 2 0 0 9 Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the SABC endeavours to broadcast the Confederations Cup exclusively on SABC radio stations and live on SABC1. Furthermore, for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the SABC will broadcast 64 matches and provide unilateral coverage to other broadcasters via the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). SABC Sport will also produce two daily currentaffairs magazine programmes: Good Morning and Good Evening Mzansi, during the Confederations Cup. Listeners will be able to catch the live coverage of the games on Radio 2000, the official 2010 SABC radio station.

Telkom has managed to avert the winding up of Telkom Media by selling its 75% interest in and claims against Telkom Media to Shenzhen Media South Africa for a nominal amount. “In a final attempt to prevent the winding-up of Telkom Media, Telkom launched an accelerated sale process for Telkom Media shareholder’s equity and loan accounts,” said Naas Fourie, Telkom’s Chief of Strategy. The accelerated process resulted in a share sale agreement being signed with Shenzhen on the evening of 29 April, in terms of which Telkom disposed of its shareholding and loan account in Telkom Media on a “voetstoots” basis. The transaction closed on 4 May 2009. Fourie added: “There were no conditions precedent included in the Share Sale Agreement which enabled the quick conclusion of the deal. Shenzhen agreed to procure Telkom Media and to change its name within 30 days of closing.” Regarding the future plans of Telkom Media, Fourie stated that “decisions relating to Telkom Media’s future operations will now be in the hands of Shenzhen as the new majority shareholder.”

Shenzhen Media SA plans to have Telkom Media up and running in the African broadcasting space by the end of this year. Telkom Media is considered to be the strongest pay-TV applicant to compete against MultiChoice’s DStv. Shenzhen will make an announcement about Telkom Media’s future soon, and plans to call a shareholder meeting to deal with investor-related issues.

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A youth newspaper called Upstart is helping young people in Grahamstown to have bigger dreams. Upstart was launched a year ago by Shireen Badat, and the past five editions have been so popular that 300 learners from local schools are now involved in the project.

The last issue of Sondag (Kaap) was issued on 24 May. This was followed by the launch of the Sondag Son in Cape Town, which will be comprised of a Platteland (18 000) and Stedlik (62 000) edition.

This does not affect Sondag in the rest of South Africa.

F l e d g i n g p u b l i s h e r, Ndalo Media is planning to launch a men’s business and lifestyle magazine, Destiny Man, in July and business journalist, Jabulani Sikhakhane, will spearhead the title. He says that it is “a logical step after the launch of Destiny Magazine in 2007.”

Destiny Man will offer a mix of business; fashion; and lifestyle. “There was a demand from male readers who liked what they saw in Destiny Magazine.

Destiny has been a great success and now we are extending it into the men’s market.”

National Geographic Kids magazine announced the Young Conservationists Competition, sponsored by Maropeng, the official Visitor Centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in Gauteng. It is hoped that this will inspire kids to be passionate about their environment, and in doing so, put the spotlight on how they can make a contribution and difference to the world they live in.

Horizons, British Airways’ in-flight magazine, has been redesigned, injecting new energy into the publication and introducing a more sophisticated look. The redesign has introduced shopping, food, books and business pages, aiming to provide greater entertainment to Ba’s customers. The Horizons new design has been on flights since 1 May. For more information visitLwww.touchline.co.za www.touchline.co.za.

T h e h i g h l y anticipated Fit Pregnancy workshops are back. Celebrating their fourth consecutive year, the workshops will once again be hosted in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, respectively. These fun-filled workshops will provide you with vital information that can be used and carried through birth, labour and beyond.

According to Michael Kaufmann, Marketing Director of publishing house, COSA Communications, the local insurance industry is desperately looking for new blood, with the average age of brokers in South Africa at a ripe old 54. “If we continue only to churn available qualified talent between our businesses without adding to the talent pool, there will be no fresh ideas being generated and our industry will become outdated and irrelevant.”

The second issue of INmag, launched in May, focuses on the various interesting insurance segments that aspiring insurance brokers can explore.

For the first time in its h i s t o r y, i n d u s t r y magazine, Advantage leads with a PR firm on its cover. In the latest issue, Marcus Brewster Publicity (MBP) Chairman, Marcus Brewster, and agency MD, Hein Kaiser, discuss the changing dynamics of the profession which they have helped to reinvent in South Africa. Not content with simply earning the front cover of the Advantage main book with the barker ‘Raising the Stakes on PR’, MBP also secured the cover of the accompanying PR supplement with the cover line ‘Are these the most powerful men in PR?’

Bankmed magazine, published by The Publishing Partnership for Bankmed medical scheme, is being relaunched as Bankmed Bounce, from its winter issue this month. The publication has undergone a complete redesign and is now in A5 format, consisting of 100 pages of informative articles on a range of topics that seek to empower Bankmed members to take care of their health and wellbeing. For more information, contact Jean Ramsay onLj.ramsay@telkomsa.net j.ramsay@telkomsa.net.

South Africa Alive! will be relaunched in May, after a pilot programme was undertaken in November. It is a lifestyle publication that showcases South Africa’s splendour, beauty, its diverse wildlife, culture and heritage, wines and cuisine, the great outdoors, sports, ecotourism and luxury accommodation.

South Africa Alive! is distributed exclusively to both incoming international tourists and domestic travelers at OR Tambo and Cape Town International airports, targeting incoming international tourists who will pick up their copy of South Africa Alive! on arrival.

Well-known South African celebrity, Mark Pilgrim, showed his support for mothers across South Africa on Mother’s Day. Pilgrim showcased a 14kg state-of-the-art ‘empathy belly’ sponsored by Fit Pregnancy magazine.According to Fit Pregnancy Editor, Deborah Herd, the empathy belly has been designed to give Mark a realistic understanding of the changes and demands imposed during pregnancy.

It’s something Nestlé Chocolates has suspected all along, and this has just been confirmed by the FHM Guy Awards: When a true red-blooded South African real man craves a chocolate, will he reach for some imported, fancy-pantsy praline bon-bon? Not on your life! He’ll reach for South Africa’s very own Nestlé Bar-One, voted chocolate of the year in the 2009 FHM Guy Awards.

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After five months and thousands upon t h o u s a n d s o f contestants, the voting public has chosen Sasha Lee Davids (18), the pastor’s daughter from Atlantis in the Cape, as South Africa’s new Idol! Sasha Lee is the fourth Idols winner from the Western Cape.

In a world first in the history of Idols, South Africa has two. Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the SMS voting process during the final on Sunday, 3 May, M-Net and FremantleMedia have agreed that both Sasha-Lee Davids and Jason Hartman are declared winners.

The SABC plans to compete with the best broadcasters in the world with the purchase of a state-of-the art outside broadcast vehicle. The multimillion rand vehicle, which will broadcast in high definition, has arrived just in time for the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa in July.

Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has now been extended from the Premium to the Compact Bouquet on DStv. “Expanding SET into Compact in South Africa is a key milestone in the growth of our networks business,” says Philipp Schmidt, General Manager, Africa networks, Sony Pictures Television.

There will be no more Haekomakome on SABC2 after newsreader, Duncan Senye, was fired by SABC2’s executive news producer, Sam Nakedi.

In a first for South African television v i e w e r s , B B C Entertainment (Dstv Channel 120) has dedicated June to broadcasting some of British TV’s finest programmes in a Crime & Justice season that the channel is supporting with an extensive above-the-line campaign. The channel will play a new crime drama in primetime every week starting on Monday, 1 June at 20:30; but in a break from scheduling tradition, episodes, will be played out back-to-back every night of the week. Supporting the month-long season, BBC Worldwide Channels has for the first time rolled out a fully-integrated abovethe-line and below-the-line campaign, that includes a 30 second TV spot shot in London; radio and print campaign; along with a dedicated microsite and extensive PR activities supported by cast interviews.

MultiChoice announced the launch of UK-based Islam Channel onto its DStv bouquets from 5 June 2009.

The channel offers choice news and current affairs programmes; children and women’s programmes; as well as Quaran recitals in Arabic with English subtitles; and Islamic values and doctrine. Islam Channel’s spokesperson in Africa, Dr Feroz Bham, said the channel would provide Muslim and non-Muslim viewers with inspirational; informative; and educational programmes, accessible to a larger audience, as it is broadcast in English.

Monday, 11 May marked the exciting relaunch of Miningmx.com. One of the major drivers behind the redesign has been a closer alliance to FinMedia24, the parent company and now controlling shareholder of Miningmx.

A f r i g a t o r ’s n e w e s t social media tool has b e e n l a u n c h e d .

Gatorpeeps is a microblogging platform, which Afrigator users can make use of to connect with other users in 140 characters or less. Last month’s election generated unprecedented interest among the country’s digital citizenry.

News24.com experienced a record 1 452 209 unique domestic browsers during the month.

MXit has introduced Africa’s first Mobile Book (Mbook). MXit’s 13-million subscribers will be able to download an entire book, Emily and the Battle of the Veil, on the network, for R13.50.

The Grid has launched in Tanzania, and is already showing growth in terms of registrations and usage.

In their pursuit of creative excellence in digital design, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) launched the Bookmarks, South Africa’s first independent digital awards, in 2008. The Awards’ objective for 2009 is to continue to highlight the importance of quality digital design, and in so doing, have created a new position on their board, Head of Creative, the sole focus of which is to nurture digital creative excellence by establishing a best practise benchmark. This inaugural position is filled by Ben Wagner, CEO of Stonewall.

BLUFF magazine’s new one-stop poker portal has hit the online domain, bringing its world-class poker content to players and enthusiasts in an i n f o r m a t i v e s h o w c a s e a t Lwww.bluffmagazine.co.za www.bluffmagazine.co.za. Featuring forums, updates and the country’s top poker player blogs, the new BLUFF website is the online spot for anyone interested in poker, looking for an authoritative source of the how, when, where and what of the local poker scene.

News24 has entered into a content syndication arrangement with Al Jazeera English, the 24- hour news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Qatar. As part of the deal, News24 will publish daily video news bulletins from broadcast centres in Doha, Kuala Lumpur, London and Washington uploaded onto the News24 website throughout the day.

In anticipation of the release of Terminator Salvation on 5 June, Twitter users will have the chance to join the human resistance against the machines in Sony Pictures Releasing International’s first-ever game created for the social networking platform.

The Compleat Golfer website experienced a 9 000 percent traffic increase, after a video clip went out with the weekly newsletter on 23 February.

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Soweto Internet Radio was officially launched on 25 April in Maponya, and has been on the air since 1 May. Station CEO, Zanecebo Mchunu said the aim of the station is to put Soweto and local artists on a global platform.

A rekindling of a promise made by Umhlobo Wenene FM to its audiences is what the launch of the station’s refreshed corporate identity is hoping to achieve. The refreshed brand is hoped to positively shape the audiences’ perceptions to those of a station which is progressive, daring and moving with the times.

Leading agricultural organisation, Senwes, partnered with OFM as main sponsor of the sixth annual Prestige Sports Evening. The Senwes OFM Prestige Sports Evening was presented on Wednesday, 13 May at the Rio Casino and Convention Centre in Klerksdorp.

Good Hope FM DJ, Nigel Pierce, has embarked on a campaign, the ‘Nigel Pierce Goes Brazilian Nuts’ campaign, trying to ‘convince’ the Brazilian football team to visit Cape Town during their visit to South Africa when they will participate in the Confederations Cup. 94.7 Highveld Stereo presenter, Jeremy Mansfield, has been diagnosed with nonlifethreatening Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He will be starting a six-month course of chemotherapy with immediate effect.

Metro FM was graced by the presence of Jerome Valke, FIFA Secretary General, and Delia Fischer, FIFA Media Officer, at the Metro FM studio where they were interviewed by Robert Marawa on his sport show, “Discovery Sports Centre”. “Talk Show with Sakina Kamwendo” also hosted politicians from AZAPO; PAC; APC; UDM; and various political analysts recently.

The long-awaited Motheo radio station is finally broadcasting. Motheo FM broadcasts from its operation centre in Mangaung Unity Development Centre in Bloemfontein. It offers the latest local news, and information and news bulletins are broadcast in English; Setswana; Sesotho; Isixhosa; and Afrikaans.

Late last year, East Coast Radio announced its plans to open a radio station and become more involved in the greater Richards Bay area. Towards the end of 2007, the station applied to ICASA for an amendment of the East Coast Radio broadcasting license. Earlier this week, East Coast Radio was notified by Mike Siluma, Kagiso Media Regulatory Head, that the license application for the Richards Bay Transmitter Split has been declined by ICASA.

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Entries for the SAB Sports Journalist Awards, for work produced between 1 January 2008 and 30 April 2009, closed on 15 May. For more information about the Awards, go to www.sabsportsjourno.co.za.

Lwww.sabsportsjourno.co.za

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Business Day won the McCall Award, and its supplement magazine, Wanted, won the AdVantage Best Magazine Supplement of the Year for 2008.

WINE Deputy Editor, Joanne Gibson, has scooped the inaugural South African Wine Writer’s A w a r d a t t h i s ye a r ’s Franschhoek Literary Festival.

Her win was a unanimous decision by the judges, who commented on "the extremely high standard of entries received". Joanne"s winning article, published in the April 2008 issue of WINE, explored the story of the 1966 GS (George Spies) Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that is deemed to be a Cape legend, even today, having recently been awarded a 95/100 score by American wine critic James Molesworth. Joanne"s said she was thrilled at receiving the award, adding that "it was an amazing story to tell". She received a cash prize of R25 000 and artwork crafted by Pippa Skotnes as an award "certificate" at a function at the Solms-Delta wine here to read Gibson’s prizestate on 16 May. ClickLhere winning feature.

The ATKV annually awards prizes to those who during that year have added outstanding value to the Afrikaans media industry. SABC2 won six ATKV Awards this year.

Four of the woman360 titles walked away with AdVantage ADmag Awards. The Awardwinning titles were SARIE; FEMINA; FAIRLADY; and PSYCHOLOGIES magazines. The AdVantage Admag Awards are a prestigious industry accolade for consumer magazines in South Africa. The Awards are presented by leading experts in advertising, marketing and publishing, and they recognise the editorial skill of steering a magazine brand to publishing success.

New Media Publishing’s (NMP) Editorial Director was honoured as Editor of the Year while NMP titles won six awards at this year’s AdVantage ADmag Awards.

The deadline for entries for the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards was 28 May. From its inception, these awards have proved to be a success among the journalistic fraternity with past winners declaring that recognition in winning a Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award was: “worth so much more than the cash prize.’”

Uniquely positioned in the marketplace, Newsclip provides a 360-degree monitoring solution, with integrated research facilities: digital trend based media analysis; publishing; mobile marketing; consulting and training departments. Newsclip also contributes to skills development owing to its quarterly seminars, held in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, and focus on relevant industry related topics. Newsclip understands that its extensive client base has very different requirements, and has thus developed a range of products and services to meet each client’s individual needs.

One such product is mypressoffice.co.za. Newsclip identified a demand for an online space where companies could load important information to get their press releases noticed. mypressoffice was created to assist companies with creating and disseminating press releases and related content easily onto the internet. Mypressoffice can be viewed as an aggregator providing a central point for journalists to source information. Life is thus made easier as targeted information is easier to find. mypressoffice.co.za, you not only have access WithLmypressoffice.co.za to all the latest news, events and happenings, but also to contact details for all the relevant communication and public relations professionals.

The portal provides access to up-to-date news content available from a single source, saving you time and money on the previously tedious search process. To register; all you need to do is fill in your name and email address, and choose a personal password. By selecting your relevant engagements, you can quickly find all the information you are looking for.

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Net Prophet succeeds in the Silicon Cape Net Prophet is a new initiative created to inspire creativity and the flow of ideas among entrepreneurs and stakeholders that operate in the internet-tech space in Africa and South Africa. This marks the first conference that Net Prophet is hosting, bringing key industry professionals together under one roof in Cape Town to discuss the future of digital communications. Attendance was so good that it was delayed by 15 minutes while organisers set up two more rows of seats to accommodate the 400 people who turned out. Editor, Daniel Munslow, attended.

Why the digital going is good in bad times First in the line-up of speakers was Arthur Goldstuck, head of World Wide Worx, who noted that the new is usually only seemingly new. He asked why the current recession should only be treated as ‘background noise’, and sees an era of over 100 opportunities becoming available because of the changing climate. New media is a field that is seeing development in the current economic downturn.

Goldstuck highlighted numerous opportunities that can be leveraged at the moment: There is a huge digital media knowledge gap in South Africa, and conferences like this aid in bridging that gap. It is also crucial to manage the speed of technology; of contact; of networking; of transacting; and of the amount of information that is out there to be shared.

Integrating web and mobile into your marketing mix Internet and mobile is huge in South Africa, says Dave Duarte of Huddlemind Labs, at the Net Prophet conference in Cape Town. Besides the many benefits of online media, not least of which are measurability and direct ROI from immediate communication, digital marketing has one major pitfall – people think about it in the same way they think of traditional media marketing. In the last hundred years, there have been eight major media developments – print; recordings; cinema; radio; television; internet; web 2.0; and mobile. Over the years, there has been massive convergence across these platforms, marking a fundamental shift in communication strategies. Now, in an era of convergence, you can watch episodes on demand, via PVR; online; on cellphones; and so on. In industrial economies, you want to be everywhere (prevalence), while in the attention economies, you need to be relevant – it’s not about eyeballs, but about engagement with pertinent consumers. Digital marketing requires regular optimisation and consistent effort – the most successful campaigns are those that are involved!

Harness the social web for brands As mobile space continues to change, it is crucial to translate that into practical and financially-beneficial business solutions through media integration. Mike Stopforth of Cerebra addressed the audience of the Net Prophet conference in Cape Town, saying this unpredictable entity needs to be thought through carefully, as the social media space does not react or respond in the same way as other media environments. One of the failures of the web in the 1990s was that it carried a relatively high technical barrier to entry. Today, things are different, as people are able to engage with social networks; blogs; social publishing; and much more. Community is priceless – an environment where people would pay exorbitant fees for the benefit of reaching the communities of people that are using the platform.

Mobile is the remote control to the universe There are currently more than 14-million users on MXit, making it the untapped wild west of mobile communication. Speaking at the Net Prophet conference, founder and CEO of MXit, Herman Heunis, discussed the future of mobile in South Africa, based on his experiences from the phonebased messaging system. Heunis claims that the future holds much more than just free computing software – it offers intelligent communication practices. As with most developments in the online and mobile area, MXit’s philosophy is not to compete, but rather to create - very much a case of “lead the pack or get off the bus”. Specifically with regard to MXit – people can expect major developments in the mobile gaming and entertainment arena; as well as education in Africa, which will see more elaborate drives to share information and technologies with the less advantaged; and more MXit portals emerging.

Software as a Service (SaaS) A component of new media is the development aspect. Peter Flynn from White Wall Web suggests that ultimately, all software will be web-based (and this includes mobile web). He therefore looked at SaaS, or Software as a Service, as an option that minimises costs and maintenance issues. More and more people will be working remotely in the future, making mobile networking solutions a logical development in the way forward. For this to work most effectively, the internet as a platform needs to be enhanced, primarily by the provision of bandwidth and better connectivity. Because of the economic benefits of SaaS, the concept has seen a boost during the current financial downturn and the need to find cost-effective ways of setting up improved communication tools. Looking globally, South Africans can also promote their work internationally via the web, which has already proven itself as a strong advertising medium.

Opportunities for entrepreneurs on the mobile web Being an entrepreneur is about seeing something before someone else has seen it, said Hannes van Rensburg during his presentation. He noted that out of seven billion people in the world, some three billion have cellphones – more than any other communicaton medium. As a result of the growth and proliferation of mobile media, it becomes significant to start looking beyond web tactics and start focusing on mobile interfaces. The financial sector, and especially the informal financial sector, is much bigger than most people believe. These people too, have a need to do electronic banking – and the numbers are growing exponentially. What if we could use the mobile phone to change banking forever?”

Asked Van Rensburg. In searching for answers to this, Van Rensburg and his team started Fundamo, which is a mobile banking solution that caters for all Demographic markets. From an entrepreneurial perspective, Van Rensburg said Fundamo emanated from a dream – something that he and his team believed in. “There are opportunities out there in the mobile area, but you are going to have to think differently about it,” he concluded.

ClickLhere here for more information about Net Prophet.

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Drop not as bad as expected – the latest ABC report

By Leigh Andrews On Wednesday, 19 May, I attended the first quarterly Audited Bureau of Circulations (ABC) report feedback session for 2009, held in Cinema 8 of the Hyde Park movie complex. The presentation was opened with the encouraging statement that South Africa’s print media has shown an incredible degree of resilience, particularly as the current business conditions are not great, and consumer spending is down. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as the lower interest rate may well result in a rebound of print media buying, as cover prices should stay stable.

The feedback session kicked off with a presentation

by Jeremy Sampson of Interbrand Sampson, who explained how he had started his career by working for The Observer on Fleet Street in London, and how he had heard news of South Africa’s Drum magazine, which sparked his interest in our local media community. Sampson’s talk was titled: ‘Why the media needs brands – or are you a dinosaur?’ In Sampson’s opinion, most consumers don’t rely on just one title for their news updates, but rather rely on a rich mix of a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites to get their fix, with the youth particularly focusing on the visual media – television and websites. It is thus essential for media brands to keep their readers’ loyalty in this time of crosssubscriptions, where everything seems to be covered by all media. According to Sampson, in the same way that print titles can be seen as brands, so are the journalists who cover the stories and the publishers behind the titles’ success. He then explained that a brand is no longer merely a trademark, but also involves its colours, shapes, and sounds – the total brand experience. He imparted several lessons about brands, including that they are consumer-focused and consistent, yet need to evolve with their customers. Brands are also important to the economy and should be seen as a percentage of total market capitalisation. Sampson gave the example of Marlboro being more than just cigarettes, but also offering the concept of adventure, as a brand ‘being more than a brand’ and offering more than what is at face value. He added that John Quaker insisted as early as the early 1800s that brands must be seen as movable yet stable assets, which help us connect with the world. He adds that brands can also lose value, and that brand strategy should come before overall business strategy, which later leads to marketing and communications strategy, and ends in advertising. He feels that brands should market themselves just as rigorously internally as they do to their consumers. Brands are crucial, especially in the current economic climate, where they can be seen as weapons to keep readers’ loyalty. Sampson adds that media brands need to keep their consumers in mind, as they need to appeal to all of their needs in order to keep the brand current and cater to their readers’ needs – thus avoiding becoming ‘the dinosaurs’ of the industry.

Gordon Patterson of the ABC took to the podium next, and provided a quick ‘health check’ of trends in the local print media over the past quarter. He added that from now on, the first and third quarter ABC presentations will provide shorter summaries, while the second and fourth quarter presentations will give

more in-depth insights into the industry. Patterson started off by providing an overview of trends in the global news this past quarter, such as how American magazine, Woman’s Day, allowed readers to connect with the title using their cellphones to take photos of a vouchers – this showed specific advert in return forLvouchers good use of technology, which Patterson said gives both the advertisers and the publishers benefit.He added that the Boston Globe, one of America’s most well-established newspapers, now faces an uncertain future due to a decrease in advertising revenue.

In terms of local media developments, Patterson pointed out the importance of the ABC’s Print Measurement Guide (a copy of which was handed out to all attendees), which provides a trustworthy interpretation of the local media industry. Patterson also mentioned the ABC’s circulation media planning tool, which was launched by the Advertising Media Foundation at the mostLrecent recent AMASA presentation, in which the user determines which unit of circulation (single copies; PMIE; bulk sakes; subscriptions; total) is most important to them. Before providing his summary of the data from the first quarter of 2009, Patterson reminded the audience that the submission date for the second quarter’s data is 28 July.

Patterson’s report detailed the ‘health’ of each print category and subcategory, such as subscriptions; single copies; and free titles. He stated that the ABC currently has 758 members – a slight decline from the 773 members of the last quarter. This can be accounted for by the demise of 24 titles, and the addition of nine. In terms of newspapers, Patterson explained that there had been a 3.4% drop in total circulation figures for daily newspapers, while weekend newspapers had only experienced a 2% drop, and free papers had a 5.9% increase in circulation, largely due to the inclusion of new titles, such as Forest Express; Isolomzi Fever, and the Helderpos. With daily newspapers, the report revealed that Print Media in Education (PMIE) and bulk sales only accounted for 4% of the total circulation figures – and that despite the total circulation percentage drop, certain titles such as the Daily Sun still attained growth for this quarter.

Total magazine circulation has dropped, with consumer titles down 3% and an increase in back issue sales, while overall subscriptions dropped by 12%. The economy seems to have affected B2B titles the most, in terms of both total sales and requested copies. Custom titles stayed relatively static with a drop of just 1.4%; while total paid circulations dropped quite drastically.

In conclusion, Patterson stated that the local print industry has weathered the storm better than most local markets. He added that much of the drop in circulation figures was due to self-inflicted reductions, such as lowered print orders, and ended by saying that while the dire predictions made in the fourth quarterly report of 2008 had come to pass, the situation is, in reality, better than was expected. The next ABC report will be presented on 13 August. For www.abc.org.za. more information, visitLwww.abc.org.za 8

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South Africa’s newspaper journalists lauded at Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards South Africa’s top journalists were recognised for their work at the prestigious Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards hosted at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 6 May. The judging panel, led by Professor Guy Berger, head of Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, said there was no shortage of high quality work to choose from in selecting this year’s winners. “It was very clear that had the winning entries not been there, we would not have been left empty-handed.

Far from it: other entries would have completely deserved to be given the leading place. And if these others had not been submitted, there would still have been yet another layer with legitimate claim to being the best entries.” He said that South Africa is lucky to have the cadre of professionals that it has. “Indeed, at a time when lay-offs are troubling the industry, these journalists underline the importance of the fourth estate to a true democracy.” Now in its eighth year, the theme of this year’s competition was ‘The Obvious is the Enemy’ and featured 601 entries from 37 South African newspapers.

The winners Kanina Foss and Alex Eliseev of The Star won the Hard News category with their ‘Secret boy’s weird world’, a heart-rending story about an eight-year-old boy who was kept captive by his father. “The piece was written under pressure of deadlines, with sensitivity and avoidance of easy sensationalism,” said the judges.

The runners-up were Beeld’s Amanda Roestoff and Leané du Plessis for ‘Satan sê ek moet moer’; ‘Ons was bang vir hom’; ‘Ons seun is geboelie’; ‘Baai Jacques’; and ‘Hy het sward gereeld geslyp’. *** Makhudu Sefara of City Press won the Analysis and Commentary category with his submissions ‘Better the devil we know’; ‘ANC brought this on itself’; and ‘Zuma’s poisoned chalice’. The judges said: “The winner’s work on the post-Polokwane ANC is admirable and shows enterprise and the importance of access to sources in the presentation of insightful analysis.”The Weekender’s Michael Bleby earned second place with his ‘Owning a piece of Mandela’. *** Thabo Mkhize earned first prize in the hotly contested Feature Writing category for ‘Place to BEE’ carried in the Sunday Times Lifestyle section. “Many entries revealed acute observation and real research, and the result was richly textured description and insight – taking readers on a journey of tangible discovery,” commented the panel. Runners-up were The Star’s Alex Eliseev for ‘The old man in Room 21’; Beeld’s Elise Tempelhoff for ‘Bloederigheid tussen hul tande’; and the Cape Argus’ Leila Samodien for her series, ‘My little angel Adam’. *** The top award for Investigative Journalism was presented to the Daily Dispatch trio – Chandre Prince, Ntando Makhubu and Lubabalo Ngcukana – for their ‘Killer water in the Ukhahlamba District Municipality’.

Their 34-page entry told the story of how scores of babies died in the Eastern Cape as a result of government negligence, incompetence and coverup.“It is important to praise the outstanding work of smaller newspapers and their persistence in bringing important issues to the fore and exposing cover-ups.

Their work speaks to the strength of team versus individual efforts. This is to be encouraged.”

Mail & Guardian’s Sam Sole, Stefaans Brümmer and Adriaan Basson earned second place for ‘Arms firm did give cash to ANC’. *** Rowan Philp of the Sunday Times won the category for Creative Journalism with his piece ‘Brassed off by the Brits’, while second place was awarded to Naweek Beeld’s Marida Fitzpatrick for ‘Onder 4 oë: Ben Schoeman is … ne é un Sissy’. “The leading stories were perceptive, expertly narrated and showed a masterly command of vocabulary and sentence construction.” *** Jonathan Shapiro’s ‘Rape of Justice’ and ‘Xenophobia Flag’, which appeared in both the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian, earned him a win in the Graphical Journalism category.“The judges did not necessarily endorse the sentiments of the controversial ‘Rape of Justice’ cartoon, but acknowledged it is an outstandingly powerful visual statement that had been deliberately designed to elicit enormous reaction.” The runners-up were Jaco Grobbelaar for ‘Die ANC kan nie COPE nie’ for Die Burger; and Anton Vermeulen for ‘‘n Verspilde eeu van mislukte revolusies’ in Rapport – Perspektief’. *** Prince Chauke of the Sunday Sun won the Popular Journalism category with his pieces ‘How do you cope with “Doctor” Willie?’ and ‘The Faker’. The runner-up was Brian Hayward for his ‘Sleepy town’s sordid love scandal turns bloody’ in the Weekend Post.“Some of the stories we examined are open to ethical questions, in the sense of intrusion into private lives, but a great deal were squarely on the button with media as a force for good.” *** Chris Collingridge of The Star won News Photography with ‘Kids learn lesson of hate’, while Simphiwe Nkwali of the Sunday Times was made runner-up for his ‘Pleaded in vain’. The winning entry could truly be said to be worth a thousand words as, in one frame, it said so much about the madness of xenophobia. The inclusion in the shot of children laughing mockingly at an older woman refugee from the other side of a red fence adds a poignancy and despair about the next generation,” said the judges. *** In the Feature Photographic category, The Star’s Jennifer Bruce impressed the judges with ‘Desperate, they board the 6.10 to safety’. The runner-up was Alon Skuy for ‘What the hell is going on?’ and ‘10inTEN Your hate attacks in 10 minutes’ for Jozi Weekly – The Times. “Many papers appear to be running multipicture spreads, and the photographers involved were therefore able to enter a portfolio that told a story on the same subject.” *** The new category for Sports Photography elicited captivating entries across a wide range of sporting activities and was won by Rapport’s Deaan Vivier for his ‘Dis weer die ou Bulle!’ Entry. In second place was Cornél van Heerden’s ‘’n Lemoen ‘n dag’ in Beeld. “It was noteworthy that the best range of pictures came from a wide range of sports.” *** Mail & Guardian’s Jacqueline Steeneveldt, Ricky Hunt and Sukasha Singh won the Presentation and Layout category for their ‘Mob Nation’ series, while Robin Crouch of The Witness came second for ‘90-year walk’.

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The Star wins Mondi Shanduka ‘Newspaper Journalist’ and Story of the Year The Star earned a double win in the Categories for ‘South African Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ and ‘South African Story of the Year’ in the eighth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards. Beauregard Tromp was named ‘Mondi Shanduka South African Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ for his coverage of the outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa in 2008, and was described by the judges as a person who went an extra ‘many miles’ in covering these events. “We chose this journalist for getting beyond the viewpoint of generalised observation and capturing the individuality of people caught up in the carnage,” said the Panel, headed by Professor Guy Berger of Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies. The judges described Tromp’s series as ‘highly enterprising journalism, showing commitment and sensitivity on an emotionally testing subject’. “The narration was poignant and appropriate to the content without being over-written or clichéd in any way.” The South African Newspaper Journalist of the Year Award recognises outstanding performance by a newspaper journalist for work that demonstrates exceptional endeavour and world-class quality. Antoine De Ras’ photographic account of the xenophobic violence earned him a win for ‘Mondi Shanduka South African Story of the Year’. De Ras was applauded for his compelling and vivid portrayal of the huge Impact the xenophobic attacks had on tens of thousands of people. “This was a story told in many genres of words as well as in imagery and presentation. While many South African citizens are ashamed about what happened, extensive and exemplary coverage is at least something from which we can take some solace,” said the judges. “While many journalists did amazing documentation, often with daring and dedicated exertion, Ras was able to render the crisis in extremely compelling, vivid and varied detail.” This category of the competition honours agenda-setting and original journalism which contributes to society by giving new insight into the changing character of South Africa. Both winners were presented with a Mondi Shanduka Premier Award of R15 000 cash, a trophy and a certificate.

Joe Thloloe named Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards lifetime achiever After almost 50 years in the media, veteran journalist Joe Thloloe has been awarded the Alan Kirkland Soga Lifetime Achiever accolade in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism in South Africa. The current South African Press Ombudsman was applauded for the role he has played in the industry at the eighth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards. “This year, the award was renamed after Soga, a historic editor from the late 19th Century whose credo was, ‘Gainst the wrong that needs resistance; for the good that lacks assistance’,” said chief judge, Professor Guy Berger.

“Thloloe’s life personifies this motto. He is possibly the most respected South African journalist and a professional with an unparalleled wealth of courage, compassion and commitment that dates back almost 50 years in the media.” Thloloe has worked for The World; Rand Daily Mail; Golden City Post; and Drum magazine, and is a former deputy editor of Sowetan.

He was also editor in chief of both SABC News and e.tv News.

M&G lauded at Mondi Awards South Africa’s top journalists were recognised for their work at the prestigious Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards hosted at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg. Mail & Guardian journalists, Sam Sole; Stefaans Brümmer; and Adriaan Basson earned second place in the Investigative Journalism category for “Arms firm did give cash to ANC”, while the top award in the section was presented to the Daily Dispatch for the article, “Killer water in the Ukhahlamba District Municipality”.

The 34-page entry told the story of how scores of babies died in the Eastern Cape as a result of government negligence, incompetence and coverup. The judging panel, led by Professor Guy Berger, head of Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, said there was no shortage of highquality work to choose from in selecting this year’s winners. “It was very clear that had the winning entries not been there, we would not have been left empty-handed. Far from it: other entries would have completely deserved to be given the leading place.

And if these others had not been submitted, there would still have been yet another layer with legitimate claim to being the best entries.” He said that South Africa is lucky to have the cadre of professionals that it has. “Indeed, at a time when layoffs are troubling the industry, these journalists underline the importance of the fourth estate to a true democracy.” Now in its eighth year, the theme of this year’s competition was “The obvious is the enemy” and featured 601 entries from 37 South African newspapers. Cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro’s ‘Rape of Justice’ and ‘Xenophobia Flag’, which appeared in both the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian, earned him a win in the Graphical Journalism category. “The judges did not necessarily endorse the sentiments of the controversial ‘Rape of Justice’ cartoon, but acknowledged it is an outstandingly powerful visual statement that had been deliberately designed to elicit enormous reaction.” Mail &Guardian’s Jacqueline Steeneveldt, Ricky Hunt and Sukasha Singh won the Presentationand Layout category for their ‘Mob Nation’ series. “Big stories call for special design, and the leading entries rose to the challenge with striking front pages and good follow-through,” the judging panel said. Commenting on the achievements of the team, M&G Editor, Nic Dawes, said: “I am particularly pleased and proud that our young team of subeditors were recognised for their exceptional work on the ‘mob nation’ edition, dealing with last year’s xenophobic attacks. The care and clarity of their layout work allowed their colleagues’ writing and photographs to speak to readers about a truly awful episode in our national life with real power. That the work of our investigative team on the arms deal was once again cited is further confirmation that their willingness to plumb the poisoned well of South African politics is a crucial contribution to the constitutional duties of the media.” The prize winners were presented with a Mondi Shanduka Premier Award of R15 000 cash, a trophy and a certificate.

One can view our Mondi Shanduka Award gallery online.

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PUBLICATIONS IN THE PIPELINE Salut!

Multiple awardwinning magazine publishers, The P u b l i s h i n g Partnership, will be launching a funky new healthy lifestyle publication, Salut!

Magazine. The JuneAugust launch issue Hits the streets on May 27 as a square shaped quarterly publication putting the entertainment back into exercise. Crammed with informative articles and arresting photographs that will make you want to get out of your comfort zone and move, including features from rollerblading to free face rock climbing. Publisher Paul Ingpen, himself an experienced multi-sport competitor and outdoor junkie, is excited to introduce content that is ideally styled to the time starved individual seeking entertainment and subtle seduction into an active lifestyle. Work-stressed South Africans can cherrypick healthy activities that deliver a sense of exploration from the abundance of breathtaking locations, multi sport events and ideal weather that South Africa has to offer.50 000 copies of the launch issue will be distributed.

NEW ON SHELF RCS Lifestyle The Publishing Partnership (TPP) is publishing a new custom magazine for the RCS group, called RCS Lifestyle.

Tenfour Media is the creative partner in this venture. RCS Lifestyle is a quarterly publication that was launched in the middle of April. The magazine is individually posted directly to 480 000 RCS clients.

This new magazine introduces positive influences into its readers’ lives with the aim of improving and harnessing their lifestyles, while positively reinforcing the benefits of RCS. “RCS Lifestyle is an exciting venture not only for RCS, but also for TPP and Tenfour Media,” says David Moseley, Editorial Director of Tenfour Media. “Our aim is to create a product that enhances our readers’ lives with practical solutions to everyday concerns. RCS Lifestyle is unique in that it’s a real magazine for real people.” With that in mind, RCS Lifestyle revolves around five key editorial pillars: home; finance; shopping; entertainment; and health. Keeping in line with the RCS vision of ‘improving your lifestyle’, the magazine takes into account the customer profile of RCS, and provides a read that is informative and entertaining, creating a product RCS clients will want to read. Each RCS loan and card holder will receive a personal copy in the post, providing advertisers with readership consistency and an incredible cost per thousand of only R165. For more information, contact Nic Morkel onLnmorkel@tppsa.co.za nmorkel@tppsa.co.za or 021 488 5926.

The Butcher The publishers of The Baker magazine announced the launch of The Butcher m a g a z i n e , a mouthpiece for the butchery, deli and meat-processing industries. The first edition of this new monthly publication was published in May 2009. There is a growing trend of b u t c h e r i e s incorporating bakeries into their operations, bakeries integrating deli counters into their outlets, and bakeries, butcheries and delis co-existing in supermarkets and retail outlets. The growing alliance and synergies that exit among these interdependent entities is now cemented in this comprehensive publication, which features two entirely autonomous sections, each with its own cover and industry specific editorial. The circulation of The Butcher includes butcheries – large, medium and small – meat producers and meat processors as well as supermarkets and retail outlets. Editorial content will each month address specific issues such as: traceability systems; safety standards and meat classification; plus many features ranging from refrigeration/chilling; spices and flavouring; equipment; packaging and scales; and training, besides others. Each edition of The Butcher will feature relevant association news; a deli-counter section; and highlight the meat-of-the-month.

Readers will also have access to other relevant issues such as hygiene; labour; point of sale; transport; and business management through the established editorial base of The Baker. For more information, call 011 447 1192.

Complete Yoga Complete Yoga is holistic living and spiritual wellbeing magazine, published three months a y e a r, i s d i s t r i b u t e d nationally and is published by Red Bird Press. The publication, which hit the shelves in April, aims to encourage the practice of yoga and raise awareness towards spiritually conscious living; to equip readers with the tools needed for living a centred and connected life; and to help with attaining strong bodies, healthy minds and peaceful spirits. The magazine’s first print run of 2 500 copies has received several sell-outs nationwide.

The print run will be upgraded significantly for the next issue, in August, and another issue will be available in December. Next year, the magazine will be available quarterly: in March, June, September and December. For more information, contact Editor Angela Wood on 011 880 3601 .

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CNN MULTICHOICE AFRICAN JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2009 Finalists in the prestigious C N N MultiChoice A f r i c a n Journalist 2009 competition have been announced

by Azubuike Ishiekwene, Chair o f t h e independent judging panel. The competition is now in its 14th year.

This year the competition received entries from 836 journalists from 38 countries throughout the continent, including French- and Portuguesespeaking Africa.

There are 25 finalists from 12 countries: •Ayodeji Adeyemi, TELL Magazine, Nigeria.

•Biaou Daniel Valérien Adje, ORTB - Parakou, Benin.

•Anas Aremeyaw Anas, The Crusading Guide, Ghana.

•Rajen Bablee, Samedi Plus, Mauritius.

•Ernesto Bartolomeu, TPA, Angola.

•Nicola De Chaud, Backyard Productions for Carte Blanche, South Africa.

•Ethar El-Katatney, Business Today, Egypt.

•Hazel Friedman, Special Assignment, SABC, South Africa.

•Halden Krog, The Times, South Africa.

•Anna-Maria Lombard, Health-e News Service for 3rd Degree. E.tv, South Africa.

•Paul McNally, Men’s Health Magazine, South Africa.

•James Moturi Mogaka, KTN, Kenya.

•Fredrick Mugira, Freelance for Mail & Guardian www.mg.co.za, Uganda. online -Lwww.mg.co.za •Sammy Muraya, Metro FM, Kenya.

•Boniface Mwangi, Expression Today, Kenya.

•John Benson Mwangi, KTN, Kenya.

•John-Allan Namu, KTN, Kenya.

•Elshadai Negash, Freelance for Fortune Newspaper, Ethiopia.

•Luís Nhachote, Zambeze, Mozambique.

•Tolu Ogunlesi, Contributing Editor for Glide Magazine, Nigeria.

•Violet Otindo, K24 Television, Kenya.

•Odette Schwegler, Backyard Productions for Carte Blanche, South Africa.

•Viviane Tiendrébéogo, Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso.

•Beauregard Tromp, The Star, South Africa.

•Alain Zongo, L’Observateur Paalga, Burkina Faso.

This year, the recipient of the Free Press Africa Award is Nicaise Kibel’bel Oka, of Les Coulisses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The winners of the competition will be announced at an Award Ceremony and Gala Evening at The International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa on Saturday, 18 July.

here For more information, click Lhere www.cnn.com/africanawards.

Lwww.cnn.com/africanawards

or

visit

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Quentin Wray has returned to Business Report, having taken over the editorship from Jabulani Sikhakhane.

Celeb Slot welcomes a fresh but not entirely new voice on Gagasi 99.5 FM’s afternoon drive show – that of the former SABC head of commercial radio stations, Bob Mabena.

RamsayMedia has announced the appointment of five directors - three full and two alternate - as part of its long-range strategic pla n n in g. Fou r o f t h e n ew appointees are family members, formalising the active involvement of the fourth generation of Ramsay heirs in the business, and the fifth is Tim Holden, group financial manager of Caxton’s community newspapers. The Caxton and CTP Group bought a 30% shareholding in RamsayMedia two years ago. The full directors are Scott Ramsay; James Eedes; and Simon Turck, the great-grandchildren of founder Samuel Ramsay. Holden and Peter Venn are the alternate directors.

Yusuf Abramjee is taking over from Patrick Hlahla as Chairman of the Pretoria-based National Press Club.

Nikiwe Bikitsha has joined the eNews Channel to co-anchor News Night with Jeremy Maggs, weeknights from 18:00 to 21:00.

Live Out Loud has appointed Chris Buchanan as its new Editor.

Getaway has appointed Lani Rheeder as National Sales Manager and Tracy-lee Behr as Events Manager.

Editor of SA Jewellery News, Gill Hyslop, has resigned from the post. Adri Swanepoel will replace Gill.

NEW ONLINE CEO of Durban estate agency, Hunters, Nash Cohen has launched a website to market residential properties listed by the agency. Cohen says this is a first and will allow users to view a property in its entirety via their website. The latest version speeds up the viewing process and has introduced a more realistic picture.

In mid-2007, an average of sixhours of video were uploaded to the YouTube website every minute.

The numbers increased to 15 hours in January this year, and it currently stands at 20 hours a minute, YouTube has said. “Let’s see if we can get to 24 hours, a full day’s worth of video uploaded every minute,” says Ryan Junee, a YouTube Product Manager.

Edgars’ new Official Event Store mobi site brings football fans closer to the action with competitions and events running up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The FIFA Confederations Cup will be the first highlight on the mobi sites.

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IN FOCUS: 28 May The future of publications in print and online

By Kerryn Le Cordeur As the costs of printed publications rise and online traffic increases, there is much discussion in the media world regarding the folding of printed publications in favour of their online counterparts.

According to a study conducted at the City University of London last month, however, this may not be the smartest thing to do. It seems to be the decision of financially-stricken companies to cease production of their printed publications in order to cut costs.

Interestingly, though, even though print costs will fall, it seems that online readership falls simultaneously, resulting in a further drop in revenue. Added to this, the costs of running a website are high and the publication would also need to a t t ra c t a d v e r t i s i n g t o i t s w e b s i t e . T h e recommendations of the study are that a publication would need its costs to exceed its income significantly for an online-only option to be viable. Other factors that influence the surprising lack of revenue that having your publication online only results in, include that the print and online media are used in different ways – with readers spending much more time reading a printed publication than its online counterpart. Also, a high percentage of print readers are already consumers of the online product, and therefore the publication becoming ‘online only’ does not serve to propel existing readers online or attract a significant, sustainable number of new users.

However, the fact remains that various experts are speculating that print newspapers will run out of readers in the next 30 years and that publications such as the New York Times could be out of print as soon as 2012, existing only on the web. If these speculations are true, what can publications do to maintain readership, even if only in an online capacity? A solution that has been discussed of late is the possibility of charging for articles online. A report published by the World Association of Newspapers states that the majority of consumers are willing to pay for online newspaper content. It also reports that newspapers have a strong and relatively loyal reader base that would be prepared to pay to continue receiving high quality journalistic reporting in an online capacity, as long as the brand identity of the publication is maintained online.

Arthur Goldstuck, of internet research and consulting company, World Wide Worx, adds that the only basis for a paid online content model is if the content is not available anywhere else, or adds great value. In South Africa, a large amount of the content seen in our newspapers comes from wire agencies that sell to a wide variety of publications, meaning that you are able to get similar content elsewhere if your preferred publication does not provide it.

Publications such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal generate most of their own copy, but only the Wall Street Journal successfully charges for its content online because it is perceived as essential reading that can’t be found anywhere else.

Goldstuck feels that what is important for publications to preserve their readership is to ensure that the needs of their existing readers are met. In this way, readers are more likely to continue their loyalty to a given publication, regardless of what medium it is published in, and this would result in the publication maintaining revenue.

However, the idea that general newspapers could charge for online content if their competitors are not, has been met with some skepticism. It is felt that if one newspaper charges for online content, consumers will simply move to another online publication that does not charge. It would therefore be necessary for all online publications to reach a transparent agreement on charging and costing.

In the South African market, the feeling is that newspapers hoping to charge for content will not be successful in their endeavours. Guy Berger, Journalism Professor at Rhodes University, says this is because South Africa does not have the same culture or number of people transacting online.

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IN FOCUS: 21 May Does Facebook make people stupid?

By Desi Tzoneva Facebook – the social networking platform – has a large fan base, judging by the growing number of its 21-million registered users. However, as the network user numbers have grown, the number of critics has also increased, with strong voices emerging with opinions on the downside of social networking. Some of these criticisms include: being ‘found’ by people you don’t want to talk to; that Facebook has become a replacement for email; that it contains ‘too much junk’; that having more relationships does not mean having better relationships; users become less available to their families and friends; that people now seem to have fewer friends; and, that it decreases productivity. Some, however, have gone as far as saying that Facebook makes its users stupid.

A study of 219 students at the Ohio State University was carried out recently, and suggested that a causal link existed between the social networking site and the academic performance of students. The study indicated (but did not prove correlation, or causation) that students who use Facebook have a lower grade point average than those students who do not use Facebook; and that students who used Facebook often reported less study hours per week than those who didn’t. This study sparked media hype with dramatised reports about the perceived correlation of becoming ‘less intelligent’ as a result of using Facebook; bloggers vehemently reaffirmed their preference for blogging, with some saying - as a way of excusing themselves, it appears - that they only signed up for Facebook in order to find friends they had lost contact with. Susan Greenfield, a NeuroScientist at Oxford University, theorised that repeated exposure to social networking sites such as Facebook actually rewires the brain, expressing a fear “that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.”

Were not controlled for their field of study, the potential was high that the study was skewed).

4. Facebook users were not grouped according to actual time spent on the social networking platform; and 5. The sample used by the researchers was too small, used too few, inexact numbers, and excluded other social networking sites in order to be more accurate.

Given these statements, I’ve been left with two main arguments of my own. Firstly, I’ve always been told that the grades one attains at school or at university are not equal to a person’s levels of intelligence.

Secondly, it is not important whether the study proved that Facebook use makes people stupid or not. I say this because most of Facebook’s ‘dedicated users’ are adults. Adults using Facebook are stereotypically already in the working environment, and have already passed some form of education to get to where they are. In conclusion, I think it is important to make a distinction between Facebook users, by age category, and the type of activities that users are involved in – whether working or studying. I think that students who spend too much time on Facebook could face the risk of neglecting their studies, but this does not necessarily make them ‘stupid’. I think that adults who spend too much time on Facebook are probably bored, or lonely, which is fine, because I have never heard that boredom or loneliness makes one stupid. These are my personal generalisations, and I know I don’t have a leg to stand on without the adequate research, but this is why discussions are so important – in such technologically-driven environments, we can all contribute something useful, and expand our knowledge by learning new things.

As a result of this hype, researchers in the United States decided to complete the study by determining whether a correlation actually existed between the variables of academic performance and use of Facebook. They found that there is no direct relationship between Facebook use and academic performance, adding that Facebook users were no more or less likely to get good grades than non-users.

In fact, they found evidence that Facebook use was slightly more common among individuals with higher grades. This is because Facebook use began in relatively privileged environments, starting at Harvard University, then at select colleges, which meant that those who were initially exposed to Facebook were the ones who faced some of the highest academic pressures. A summary of the Ohio State University study’s shortcomings include that: 1. Ohio State students may differ from those at Harvard, or from any other university.

2. Students used for the sample were not representative of all Ohio State students.

3. The survey only covered those students who showed up to certain professors’ classes on the days the survey was held (grades and study hours 14

IN FOCUS: 14 May What’s next: trends and making news now

By Bronwyn Raitt M e d i a U p d a t e ’s Bronwyn Raitt a t t e n d e d The Marketing Show, held on 4 and 5 May at Microsoft’s Bryanston office. The conference was centred around new trends, strategies and innovations from around the globe, with the first day of the conference focusing on global marketing trends and innovations. Tom Garrahan, the Executive Producer of The Marketing Show and CEO of AlphaQ, gave a presentation titled: What’s Next: Trends and Making News Now. He spoke about 15 new trends which are shaping the media industry as we know it.

1.New rules of behaviour People are now able to publish anything they want, such as blogs and comments on others’ published work. Although 20th Century rules such as disclosure and libel still apply, this new publishing trend is very risky, as brand repute could easily be destroyed in minutes, if found in the wrong hands.

2.Tapping social media The potential of social media as a business asset is hardly yet determined. However, smart companies are now leveraging ‘switched-on’ or younger employees to help understand and shape social media in business. There is a huge hype around social media, and although Garrahan agreed that the hype has to hold some water, he recommended caution, as Twitter, the flavour of the month, is losing 60% of its new users every day.

9.A return to value and values People are re-evaluating how and on what they spend their money.Before making a purchase decision, a consumer may ask: “What is this worth to me? Is it important?”

10.Media is the great escape Media has become a distraction from people’s hectic everyday lives.

11.Practical is powerful People are learning to themselves.

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things

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12.Looking back to learn People are looking back to past technologies for reinsurance.

13.Not without technology The future lies in mastering new technologies.

14.Embracing maturity People are going to start fighting to hold onto the remnants of their childhood.

15.Wellness messaging Health products and messages are finding favour in these health conscious times.

For more on this presentation, clickLhere here.

3.Tapping group intelligence While Google enables us to wade through passive content, interactive social media such as Twitter, will allow instant search results.

4.Transformation nation Change will be par for the course. Reinvention of new skills; new outlooks; new mentors; even new methods, will mean that there will be little to no time for test marketing.

5.Total convergence Old, familiar boundaries and categories are dissolving. Private is merging with public; home with office; online with offline; and news with entertainment. The new generation does not separate their public and private lives, and as Garrahan said, this can be seen in Facebook, where the new generation is seen to share every aspect of their lives to anyone who takes interest.

6.Local is now global We’re just a click away from anywhere or anyone in the world.

7.Arm’s length intimacy New social networking platforms mean that people are allowing more of themselves to be exposed to the world. However, online allows a kind of anonymous intimacy.

8.Stretching and moulding time Everything is able to happen so much faster now than was previously possible.

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Media

A Newsclip Media Monitoring Initiative

UPDATE

IN FOCUS: 7 May When is too much enough?

Digital exhaustion and the status overload

By Leigh Andrews Gino Cosme blogged about a topic close to my heart recently, titled “how many Social networking profiles is enough”. In it, he says: There are so many social networking sites out there. MySpace; Bebo; Facebook; Xing; Twitter; LinkedIn; Second Life; Friendster; Digg - in fact, there are thousands of social networking sites on the internet. And while each can serve its own purpose, I think too many people have spread their personal and business brands too thin, and as a result, find it too exhausting and too time consuming to manage all of their social networking profiles in a meaningful manner while at the same time living a ‘normal’ life.” He adds that while this is all good and well for business, on a personal level, “anyone who manages more than a handful of social networking profiles - and even that’s a lot for many – must have a difficult time living a life outside of their office or bedroom”.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. While being on FriendFeed helps see all your friends’ online activity in one place, I find it difficult to remember to update my Facebook update, as well as LinkedIn and Twitter (the three I do update fairly regularly), more than once a week – not because I have nothing to say, but because each of these has its own passwords and formatting styles to remember, and different ‘friends’ or associates who will read what I say. It’s also important to have your ‘brand name’ – whether for a big corporate or your personal digital interactions clearly recognisable across all forms of social media, thus increasing your searchability and personal SEO. In this light, the iLearn blog states that Facebook is looking into offering so-called ‘vanity urls’ - which MySpace and LinkedIn have offered since their origins. Simply put, your Facebook profile could now be searched for and found as something to the effect of www.facebook.com/ leigh_andrews, instead of the more difficult www.facebook.

Com/profile.php?id=525175714&ref=profile.

Much has been said about the digital landscape in the media lately, with some already bored with Web 2.0 and 3.0. I recently interviewed Dave Duarte of Huddlemind, who feels people think that social media is all about the tools, and not the actual achievements – for example, they focus on posting their photos on Facebook and making as many contacts on LinkedIn as possible, instead of on the actual achievements, such as the relationships that are formed in using these tools. He adds that your choice of the most appropriate social media tool should be determined by its community of users. In terms of digital exhaustion, and whether too much is ever enough, Duarte states that this is a huge issue.

He says, “The assumption that more is better is not necessarily true, as we are dealing with infinite resources, yet we are not infinite ourselves, in terms of time and capacity.” He adds that based on simple economics, we need to decide what we work on when or we will never accomplish anything. He adds that insights from neuroscience have proven constant multi-tasking can actually lead to neural damage.

Local social media expert, Melissa Attree, adds: “I get the feeling that many South Africans are growing tired of Facebook – aside from checking out friends’ and acquaintances’ photos – the initial value or hype is fading. I think over the next few years we’ll see a growth in niche-, industry- or interest-focused social networks.” Some are clearly in the ‘it’s already too much’ camp, whileothers feel a need for still more interconnectivity. While I love that the world is so interconnected, I cringe at the thought of being available online to all and sundry at any time, even while on holiday. After all, the whole point of being on holiday is to get away from it all. To not worry about work, about friends knowing your every thought, and about whether your emails are going through. People speak of intentionally getting rid of their cellphones so as to not be available out of office hours, as our work/life balance has been disrupted with the stress of always being available. There’s no such thing as coming home and ‘switching off’… it’s more a case of switching ON, as we ‘quickly check’ our email to make sure nothing important has come through, and scribble down notes for tomorrow’s meeting, as we’re sure to forget them overnight. But I digress. My point is that we need to take a step back, and realise when our sharing of everything on the web gets too much. There was a time when we’d wait eagerly for people to return from holiday to hear all about the trip, without leaving comments on their photos the second they are loaded onto Facebook, and when calling home while overseas would only happen in case of emergency. I’m not against social media in the slightest – in act, I think it’s a wonderful thing - I just think we should use it with more caution and take more time for ourselves as life rushes past at a frenetic pace.

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Daniel Munslow Leigh Andrews Kerryn Le Cordeur Desi Tzoneva Debbi Lyle

Media Update is published by Newsclip.

Daniel is a member of the MPASA PICA Awards Committee.

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