Online – a necessary evil![](https://biz-file.com/b/0911/35002.jpg?1) Whether Rupert Murdoch's threat to pull content from News Corp off Google and put up a pay wall on all content from the company's publications is idle or not, it has brought to the fore, yet again, the question of whether newsprint will survive the rise of the digital age. There's a definite growing fear that print publications will slowly phase out as decreasing revenues make them unsustainable. It's a huge conundrum that companies are facing and whatever has to be done needs to be done soon. In this day and age, you really don't exist if you don't have a presence online - it is a necessary evil. The trick is how companies turn that evil - that churns out free content - into a money-making entity. Most consumers no longer share any loyalty to certain publications as Google throws up various websites every time you search for a story. In Africa, a large portion of the population will barely recognise newspapers as a prime source of news as many leapfrog the print era and go straight to digital. There's a new era dawning for news content on the web - Rupert Murdoch knows it, and so do a host of other media companies including Naspers, which announced last week that it will continue to focus on growing its internet operations, which I think, is a wise decision at this point in time. Sindy Peters, content manager
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Marketing & Media
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41139.jpg) C Squared, the UK-based company behind The Festival of Media, M&M magazine and the Nation Branding series of events, has launched Cream “The Innovation Exchange” - a new intelligence service designed for global advertisers, agencies and media vendors. Read more >>Advertising
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41150.jpg) AMSTERDAM: The Eurobest Festival 2009, the European awards in advertising creativity, concluded on Friday night, 27 November 2009, with the awards ceremony held at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. Read more >>Cinema
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41141.jpg) JOHANNESBURG: Nu Metro will open the first all-digital cinema complex in Africa, according to content executive for Nu Metro Cinemas, Mark Harris, this week in the Emporium at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa. The six screen multiplex, owned and operated by Nu Metro Cinemas, is part of the redevelopment at the entertainment venue. Read more >>Eventing
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41137.jpg) The Celebrating Africa Festival takes place at Gallagher Estate in Johannesburg from 13 - 17 July 2010 - immediately after the closing ceremony of the World Cup. The event plans to host members of the public, the corporate world, SMMEs and thought-leaders. Read more >>Media
Koos Bekker, CEO on media group Naspers (NPN), said Thursday, 27 November 2009, that the group will continue to focus on growing its internet operations. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41145.jpg) At least 88 journalists have been killed so far this year and hundreds of media employees have been arrested and jailed, most often following sham trials or without formal charges being brought against them. This is according to the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) half-year review of press freedom worldwide. Read more >>Mobile
[Gregory Gondwe] Malawi's third mobile phone service provider, G-Mobile, has entered a pact with Alliance Media, Malawi's largest airport and outdoor media company to install billboards across the country, in the run up to its launch. Read more >>Online Media
[Duncan McLeod] Rupert Murdoch, the leader of News Corp, is on a mission to get people to pay for his company's journalism. He's even threatening to pull News Corp content off Google and to do an exclusive deal with Microsoft instead. Has he lost the plot? If he actually does it — and I doubt he will — it will be an audacious move. But it's also one that is likely to fall flat on its face. Read more >> Retail
![](https://biz-file.com/c/0911/41172.jpg) JOHANNESBURG: Standard Bank has been granted a banking licence in Angola. It plans to start operating as a full-service bank in Angola by mid-2010. The banking licence was granted by the Angolan Council of Ministers at the weekend. Standard Bank has been waiting for a banking licence since May 2008. Read more >>The pan-African Imara financial services group on Friday, 27 November 2009, hailed the signing of the South Africa-Zimbabwe investment protection agreement as a major breakthrough with the potential to drive strong economic growth and sustain the revival triggered earlier this year by dollarisation of the Zimbabwe economy. Read more >>"There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two." - Bertolt Brecht
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