Posts Tagged ‘Media’

Posted on June 24, 2008 - by Justin Hartman

A scary look at the impact of inflation

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Yesterday I happened to notice two Sunday Times newspapers lying next to each other. One was from 30 September 2007 while the other was the latest edition printed on Sunday 22 June 2008.

In the space of just nine short months the cost of the Sunday Times has increased considerably in each of the following countries.

South Africa
September 2007 = R9.95
June 2008 = R12.50
Difference = R2.55

Botswana
September 2007 = P11.40
June 2008 = P13.50
Difference = P2.10

Namibia
September 2007 = N$14.20
June 2008 = N$16.90
Difference = N$2.70

Zimbabwe
September 2007 = $45,000
June 2008 = $800,000,000
Difference = $799,955,000

I don’t know how the poor Zimbabweans must feel however with the rising cost of food, petrol and general day to day expenses it’s almost not viable to buy a paper in this country anymore.

Posted on December 10, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Disgruntled sub-editor just refuses to let go

I’ve kept relatively quiet about the recent firing of Llewellyn Kriel but I’ve just read on MyADSL that Kriel plans to appeal the findings of the disciplinary hearing and now I feel I need to take a stand on this issue.

In the article Kriel claims,

“I am passionate about freedom of expression and I was exercising my constitutional right when I posted the blog.”

He goes on to say that,

“Media in South Africa need to wake up quickly, there is an entirely new face to the media worldwide, influenced by cyberspace.”

Some other bloggers feel quite opinionated about this issue and are all claiming, directly or indirectly, that Kriel was fired because he blogged - not because he broke company policy.

While Kriel may claim he has some constitutional right to say what ever he feels I think we need to look at some of the facts.

1. Kriel is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years experience in the industry. Does this experience not bring with it some common sense when writing about critical operational information in a blog post or do the rules of the real world not apply to a blog or the cyberspace, as he puts it?

2. In order for Kriel to be an employee of the Sowetan (Avusa) he would have had to have signed a contract of employment which would have, in no uncertain terms, contained a clause preventing him from sharing the information he did in the blog post. I know my contract with Avusa prevents me from bringing the company’s name into disrepute and also prevents me from sharing operational information with competitors and/or the world.

3. Kriel chose a blog to share his disgruntled views however this doesn’t change the fact that he disregarded his contract of employment and in doing so made this a company policy issue - not a blogging issue. The Sowetan’s actions where justified and exercised to the fullest and there was nothing wrong with the final decision of giving Kriel the boot.

4. Did Kriel really disclose company information? I think so. For Kriel to even discuss an internal “Climate Survey” conducted for operational purposes is just not on. Avusa is a listed company and as such this post on company morale and the fact that there is a banning of all new appointments can and will have a direct impact on the share price of the company. I’m no stock broker but I do know that share prices are affected by perception and creating this vastly negative impression on the whole of Avusa is gross misconduct. Simple!

5. Taking this to the extreme we also need to look at the possible liability the Mail & Guardian have in this matter. Should Kriel plan to take further legal action what stops Avusa from taking direct action against the M&G for posting the offending blog post in the first place?

Thought Leader is a strictly moderated website and goes through an editorial work flow before a post or comment goes live on the platform. This means that whether M&G realise it they could become liable for every piece of content on the Thought Leader website and Avusa could argue Kriel’s post was a form of industrial sabotage by the competing newspaper.

While I honestly don’t believe the M&G did plan any form of sabotage (I know these guys personally!) I do have to question why the post ever made it onto the website in the first place. In my mind, someone should have canned it during the editorial process.

I have to just add that I’m tired of this being a new media issue - it isn’t and we all need to get a little perspective. If anything, Kriel’s ignorance to the rules of engagement online and his petty rant in a public forum have actually had an adverse effect for blogging in this country.

His actions have created this moronic impression that you are entitled to say whatever you want to and simply disregard any ethical or contractual obligations you may have because the constitution allows you this right.

As I see it, anyone who still uses the word cyberspace needs to wake up quickly - there is an entirely new dimension to what you’re allowed to do online and it’s influenced by real world rules.

Posted on October 30, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Best newspaper cover ever?

I know this is very belated but time has not been on my side however I think this cover is timeless. Originally published in The Independent on the morning of the Rugby World Cup Final this front page moved me and is the best cover I’ve ever seen yet there is barely a picture on it. If you can’t read the writing click on the image for a larger version.

If you didn’t get it (I didn’t on the first time) this is all about England. The Independent would have all of us believe this is about SA but the clever play on words ring true to what has been happening of late in the UK.

The part that really interests me is that while our politicians are all complaining about transformation in South African sport there isn’t a single country that isn’t plagued with similar issues. Bloggers, the media and even political stalwarts have all agreed that politics should be left out of sport and this cover I think, highlights just how shallow these transformation claims are in our country.

Posted on September 20, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Business 2.0: The Final Cover

This just in from TechCrunch. It’s relevant to me because of these two posts.

Posted on September 6, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Business 2.0 to close next week

When someone told me last night that Business 2.0 is closing their doors I simply couldn’t believe it. After being featured in the magazine a month ago it came as a big shock to the system but the New York Times blog has the full story. I’m just not sure how you can make such a loss with 623,000 subscribers in your database but I guess this case just shows that traditional media has to evolve - or die.

Posted on August 22, 2007 - by Justin Hartman

Newspaper survival relies on free online content

The New York Times announced an agreement yesterday to employ the services of Rapt.com across the NYTimes.com website. The deal will help The New York Times achieve and sustain profit by monitoring and managing their business performance through Rapt’s proprietary advertising yield management platform.

This marks yet another move by a big media company to secure an agreement with Rapt and they now join the ranks of the Dow Jones and Fox Interactive Media in the plight to digital revenue.

What these three super-powers all have in common is the realisation that online advertising revenue is of critical importance to their survival in a previously dominated paper-based environment. The only way to achieve this revenue is to scrap the subscription based models and offer free content across their platforms and the agreement with Rapt ensures the tools are in place to effectively serve advertisers within the marketplace.

I found Rapt’s Vice President of Marketing, Ben Crain’s comment on the agreement very reflective of the shift we’re seeing in Global Media today. Crain is quoted on Wired.com’s Epicenter as saying

“These folks are industry leaders for a reason - they have great content. But the nature of digital media is unique, given the infrastructure required. All of those things combined present a problemset that can’t be solved with Excel and good intentions. The relationship between newspapers and their market is changing from the doorstep to the browser - and with the recent news of the end of the subscription model, the industry is exploring. If giving away content for free is the best way to use that asset, so be it.”

There is little doubt that there has been a slow uptake to online advertising in South Africa, quite simply because publishers have struggled to demonstrate the value to advertisers, however big media players need to gear themselves for the reality that is looming just around the corner. It’s not quite the evolve or die mentality just yet however, ignore at your peril.