While we were watching the OscarsThis morning, while watching the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, I logged onto Twitter and noticed a stark contrast in my Twitterfeed. One the one hand, plenty were excited about the Oscars, tweeting the winners as soon as they were announced. On the other hand there were tweets regarding the current situations in Libya, Iraq, Egypt etc. While people were standing on a stage becoming emotional about winning an award for acting, people clearly living in completely different worlds were emotional about death and freedom. It was at this point that the true message behind the satirical madness of the movie Team America: World Police hit home. (I suggest Kuli Roberts use the film as a reference point for defining satire.) I'm not rich-and-famous-bashing here; it was just amazingly scary how vastly our realities differ at any one point in time - and what a sad moment that can sometimes be for the idealistic: in an ideal world, we'd all have been watching the Oscars. Ciao, Sindy Peters, Africa editor
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Today's top stories
Special focus on media freedom
NEW YORK: Cameroon's government is obstructing journalists from reporting on issues of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Friday, 25 February 2011. Security forces detained a journalist without charge for six days after he interviewed a jailed former official. They also seized footage from reporters covering the brutal repression of a banned opposition march on Wednesday. Read more >>Marketing
Experiential communications agency, the VWV Group, was recently appointed to produce the launch of a new mobile telecommunications network into Africa. Bharti Airtel commissioned VWV to launch the brand into 16 African countries, through events that ran simultaneously. Read more >>Digital
[Thabiso Mochiko] Waste is a growing challenge in SA and Africa and needs to be addressed by the public and private sector. MTN has partnered with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) to manage the safe disposal and recycling of electronic goods such as cellphones. Read more >> TUNIS: The African Development Group (AfDB) has officially launched its iPad application of its Data Portal. The implementation of this application aims to improve data disclosure, not only within the bank, but also to external audiences, especially in Africa, where statistics systems are often unable to respond to queries on data and face shortages of resources and results. Read more >>[Gregory Gondwe] Airtel Malawi has given the Malawi National Assembly's 193 legislators internet dongles worth a sum of MK965,000. National Assembly speaker Henry Chimunthu Banda announced in the national assembly on Thursday, 24 February 2011, that the mobile company has donated the gadgets which will help them be efficient. Read more >> Media
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The European Union (EU), Save the Children, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) , South Africa's Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and Zambia's Media Network on Child's Rights and Development (MNCRD) last week jointly launched a daring project, 'Children and Media: Championing Best Practice', which aims to work with 570 children and 500 journalists to ensure children's rights are respected in the media, and a more representative and ethical journalism is practised in both countries. Read more >> [Chantelle Benjamin] South African multimedia company Naspers said on Friday (25 February 2011) it would concentrate on emerging-market media, ending speculation it planned to increase its holdings in internet companies such as Facebook and Groupon in the near future. Read more >> Mobile
[Carole Kimutai] Kenya's software developers active in developing mobile money applications are going to have a chance to showcase their products at this year's AITEC Banking and Mobile Money Conference in the Young Innovators Mobile Applications Hub, sponsored by Google. The event will be held 2-3 March 2011. The Hub is being organised by AITEC in partnership with iHub and the Kenya ICT Board. Read more >> Production
The 14th Time of the Writer international writers festival will be held from 14-19 March 2011, hosting 21 prominent writers from a dozen different countries in Durban, South Africa for a week of literary dialogue and exchange of ideas. Read more >>Retail
[Stafford Thomas] "Shoprite has taken advantage of the strong rand to invest in a lot of real estate in Africa by opening 16 additional stores in Nigeria this year and planning three new stores in Ghana," says Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson. Read more >> NEW YORK, US/MONTREAL, CANADA: The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) of the United States has announced the release of its new Digital Marketing in the US and Canada report, which compares trends in usage, familiarity, and sentiments regarding digital marketing channels in the US and Canada. Read more >>NEW YORK, US: media control GfK International, a leader in international media and entertainment tracking servicing the global entertainment industry, has announced the release of its 2010 Year End Home Video Retail Sales Report. Read more >> More International news...
[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Think dropped suspension, loud exhaust, dark windows, flashy (and often cheap) wide rims, drivers wearing back-to-front caps and virtually lying down behind the steering wheel as they cruise past to the tune of very loud, boom-boom music and what make and model car immediately springs to mind? Why, the old Honda Ballade, of course! Read more >> More Motoring news...
JOHANNESBURG, SA: Hilton Sandton has announced the completion of a two-month renovation to the four suites and 53 rooms on the first floor. The first floor refurbishment is part of an upgrade programme at the hotel with floors two and three completed in 2010. Read more >> More Travel news...
[Jordan Scott] Imagine every creative thing you've ever seen or thought of and put it all into one very big room. Bam - you have this year's Design Indaba Expo. Not only is it all so very innovative, but also the majority of the artists have begun to "go green" and are trying to create art whilst still helping the environment. Read more >> Irish band The Script will be performing in South Africa for the first time when they play at the Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg, on 24 June and Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town, on 26 June, 2011. Read more >> More BizLounge news...
SOUTH AFRICA - Carat wins Coca-Cola account in Southern and East Africa - more info
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