Latest Updates: Media RSS

  • SpeakZA - Bloggers for a Free Press

    Nic 7:30 am on March 24, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ANCYL, , free speech, , Media

    Last week, shocking revelations concerning the activities of the ANC Youth League spokesperson Nyiko Floyd Shivambu came to the fore. According to a letter published in various news outlets, a complaint was laid by 19 political journalists with the Secretary General of the ANC, against Shivambu. This complaint letter detailed attempts by Shivambu to leak a dossier to certain journalists, purporting to expose the money laundering practices of Dumisani Lubisi, a journalist at the City Press. The letter also detailed the intimidation that followed when these journalists refused to publish these revelations.

    We condemn in the strongest possible terms the reprisals against journalists by Shivambu. His actions constitute a blatant attack on media freedom and a grave infringement on Constitutional rights. It is a disturbing step towards dictatorial rule in South Africa. We call on the ANC and the ANC Youth League to distance themselves from the actions of Shivambu. The media have, time and again, been a vital democratic
    safeguard by exposing the actions of individuals who have abused their positions of power for personal and political gain.

    The press have played a vital role in the liberation struggle, operating under difficult and often dangerous conditions to document some of the most crucial moments in the struggle against apartheid. It is therefore distressing to note that certain people within the ruling party are willing to maliciously target journalists by invading their privacy and threatening their colleagues in a bid to silence them in their legitimate work.

    We also note the breathtaking hubris displayed by Shivambu and the ANC Youth League President Julius Malema in their response to the letter of complaint. Shivambu and Malema clearly have no respect for the media and the rights afforded to the media by the Constitution of South Africa. Such a response serves only to reinforce the position that the motive for leaking the so-called dossier was not a legitimate concern, but a insolent effort to intimidate and bully a journalist who had exposed embarrassing information about the Youth League President.
    We urge the ANC as a whole to reaffirm its commitment to media freedom and other Constitutional rights we enjoy as a country.

    Blog Roll

    http://thoughtleader.co.za/siphohlongwane
    http://rwrant.co.za
    http://vocfm.co.za/blogs/munadia/
    http://vocfm.co.za/blogs/shafiqmorton/
    http://blogs.news24.com/needpoint
    http://capetowngirl.co.za
    http://thoughtleader.co.za/sentletsediakanyo
    http://thoughtleader.co.za/davidjsmith
    http://letterdash.com/one-eye-only
    http://boyuninterrupted.blogspot.com
    http://amandasevasti.com
    http://blog.empyrean.co.za/
    http://letterdash.com/brencro
    http://6000.co.za
    http://chrisroper.co.za
    http://pieftw.com
    http://hamishpillay.wordpress.com
    http://memoirs4kimya.blogspot.com
    http://thoughtleader.co.za/azadessa
    http://watkykjy.co.za
    http://fredhatman.co.za
    http://thelifeanddeathchronicles.blogspot.com/
    http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/common-dialogue/
    http://www.clivesimpkins.blogs.com/
    http://mashadutoit.wordpress.com
    http://nicharalambous.com
    http://sarocks.co.za
    http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/stompies/
    http://helenmoffett.book.co.za/blog/
    http://01universe.blogspot.com
    http://groundwork.worpress.com
    http://iwrotethisforyou.me
    http://fionasnyckers.book.co.za
    http://attentiontodetail.wordpress.com
    http://blogs.women24.com/editor
    http://www.missmillib.blogspot.com
    http://snowgoose.co.za
    http://dreamfoundry.co.za
    http://www.vanoodle.blogspot.com
    http://www.exmi.co.za
    http://cat-dubai.blogspot.com
    http://alistairfairweather.com
    http://www.zanedickens.com
    http://www.nickhuntdavis.com
    http://guysa.blogspot.com
    http://book.co.za
    http://baldy.co.za
    http://skinnylaminx.com
    http://blogs.african-writing.com/zukiswa
    http://www.mielie.wordpress.com
    http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/gatherer/
    http://thoughtleader.co.za/sarahbritten
    http://stii.co.za
    http://blogs.news24.com/FSB_AP
    http://twistedkoeksuster.blogspot.com
    http://whensmokegetsinyoureyes.blogspot.com/
    http://trinklebean.wordpress.com
    http://commentry.wordpress.com/
    http://matthewbuckland.com
    http://blogs.news24.com/colour-me-fran
    http://gormendizer.co.za

     

  • Nic 12:26 pm on June 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: boston globe, , , location-based, Media, ,

    Is mobile, hyper-local, location-based news content the way to save mainstream media in the USA?

    I think it might be. I have been watching closely over the past few months as newspaper after newspaper has fallen away in the US. It’s a very scary and very sad situation that American media finds itself in. Resistance to change over the past few years has positioned many papers in a dire situation where it’s a matter of shit or get off the pot. And many are shitting themselves.

    Boston Globe is a one example that I have been watching withe extreme interest. Boston.com is a great resource that has not been used effectively enough to pull Boston Globe out of financial trouble.

    The resistance to change coupled with a severe drop in advertising and circulation (with thanks to a recession and online media emerging as a force in the media industry) has left the Boston Globe almost crippled. Many people are set to lose jobs and Boston, the city, is set to lose it’s competitive media market. If Boston Globe closes down the city of Boston will be left with a single daily newspaper. This defeats the purpose of mainstream media acting as a democratic watchdog or fourth estate. With one media organisation remaining things are not looking good.

    Enter hyper-local, location-based news content fed to mobile phones produced by hyper-local citizen media producers who put content up via cellphones on to hyper-local portals.

    This is what Martin Langeveld of Nieman Journalism Lab had to say on the topic of Boston Globe:

    Langeveld’s advice is to go (almost) online-only with Boston.com, and to launch or subsidise a network of hyperlocal sites all over the area, and launch a network of local niche verticals focussed on weather, traffic, jobs, entertainment, education and more. He proposes a tiered, variable pricing model for all, with most of the content free, but paid premium access for a “small but highly-engaged group.” This income could be supplemented with transactional revenue, through selling theatre tickets, for example, or facilitating restaurant reservations.

    This model could also expose the Globe’s city-wide reach to a hyper-local market of advertisers (a longer tail than they would previously had access to). This coupled with a free/premium hybrid mode and the paper could be on its way back up.

    Regarding the print side of things it’s a simple mechanic to alleviate some immediate strain: Make the paper a weekly and include the news created over the week from the hyper-local portals and citizens media. Pull city-wide, larger advertisers in to this weekly printed publication to subsidise the cost of the print and drop the price to allow for quantity to be sold and to make the paper appear to be more accessible to the everyday person in the street.

    There is no quick-fix for papers such as the Boston Globe, that is certain. But it is imperative that these papers start to adapt or simply succumb to a swift death.

     

  • Nic 10:29 am on June 9, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: accidents, , Media

    I studied to be a journalist. I trained for difficult situations, for uncomfortable things to happen and for strange situations verging on impossible. I have wanted to be a war-correspondent since I was 10 years old. That will not happen.

    But on Sunday I was involved in a freak accident involving a plane, a bakkie and a few bloggers freebording. I ran towards the plane as did our whole group and not for one second did I think about stopping, taking photos or video and sending word to a media organisations. I could’ve, I am capable and I know how to, but I’d rather help. It’s that simple and now I am certain of that.

     

  • Zoopy features on Maggs on Media

    Nic 8:01 am on February 2, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: jeremy maggs, maggs on media, Media,

    I was recently given the opportunity to appear on Maggs on Media with Jeremy Maggs and talk with him about Zoopy.

    Here’s the piece:

     

  • Media have to pay to cover Zapiro's book launch

    Nic 11:22 am on November 17, 2008 | 17 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , events, , Media, , Zapiro

    UPDATE: Apparently there has been some sort of a mixup regarding the Zapiro book launch. It seems as though there is someone from the PR company and Charity organisations involved with Zapiro didn’t really know when the book launch was so instead she led us to believe that the launch was at her event which was a charity event and hence we were asked to pay.

    I am not 100% sure why the lady who we were in contact with didn’t simply let us know that the Zapiro book launch is happening in Cape Town on the 27th November 2008 at 18:00 for 18:30. Recreation Centre, Pollsmoor Prison, Steenberg Road, Tokai.

    My thanks go out to Richard who represents Zapiro, for getting in touch with me personally and sorting things out. Either way I think the Zapiro book launch is going to be fantastic.

    On a side not: I still maintain that media should never pay to promote events or attend functions.

    I absolutely love Zapiro’s work. I think the man is a genius and one of South Africa’s great heroes. With that said, I think he has made a shocking error with his book launch.

    It is not clear whether Zapiro is calling the shots or whether his PR agency has completely and utterly lost their minds. Either way I am a bit shocked.

    To attend Zapiro’s book launch as media is going to cost R200 per person. Crew of two = R400 for the event. I have done many weird, strange, odd, different and uncomfortable things in my time in the practice of journalism. I have NEVER paid to cover a story or promote an event.

    Zoopy was told to pay R200 per person to attend the event and were basically told that we should feel lucky because media gets a 50% discount. Really? Media get a discount, well gee-wizz-wow I am bowled over at your kindness.

    Direct quote from “events coordinator”:

    As per our discussion earlier, unfortunately we don’t allow any media to attend any of our upcoming events for free.
    Our normal price per person to attend the event is R427-50 including VAT, however we offer Media a discounted rate of R200-00 per person including VAT.
    Should you still be interested to attend the event, please contact me before the end of today and have your credit card details ready to process the payment online as we only accept payments upfront to pay the venue. Our system is set-up to only accept credit card payments when a booking is made 5 working days prior to an event.

    So in return for our R400 Zapiro’s book launch will get national exposure, a professionally produce media video and the possibility to be featured on some of the biggest news websites in the country. That sounds like a fair trade to me.

    I am sorry but I don’t care if you are a journalism intern, the editor of the biggest magazine or Jeremy bloody Clarkson, media should not have to pay to attend any launch of any book that could aid in the sales of that book.

    Absolutely ridiculous.

    The frustrating thing is that Zoopy (and I am sure many other media organisations) have covered Zapiro launches and events very successfully and for free in the past:

    If you want to read Zapiro I suggest you visit Mail&Guardian online every day and have a look at Zapiro’s free.

    Again I need to state that I think that Zapiro cartoons and all of his work is absolutely incredible, so don’t make us pay to help you spread the word.

     

Older Posts →

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
esc
cancel