12 Mar 2012 |
Africa | Marketing & Media |
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Marketing & Media, Advertising, Branding, Cinema, CRM, CSI, Design, Digital, Direct Marketing, Education & Training, Events & Conferencing, Exhibitions, Magazines, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Newspapers, Online Media, Out Of Home, PR & Communications, Printing, Production, Promotions, Radio, Recruitment, Research, Retail, Sales, Sponsorship, Trends, TV, Youth Marketing, 2012 Design Indaba
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Media freedom - the battle continues Media freedom in some parts of Africa is still an ongoing battle. In Kenya, information and civic education minister, Patricia Kaliati is reported to have verbally assaulted journalist, Gregory Gondwe, following an article in which Gondwe reports on the annual assessment of the presidential cabinet. Kaliati is said to have accused Gondwe of having a personal vendetta against her. MISA-Malawi in response, issued an alert to media practitioners showing its concern. In the statement, MISA encouraged journalists to continue engaging in matters of journalism and media, iterating their support of innovation and enhancement of media products for the better. Since then, president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, through his state house press officer, issued a warning to media and non-governmental organisations that they risk being arrested for continuously insulting his governance style. Mutharika has accused members of the media of being offered money by the opposition to deliberately distort information, insult him and to cause panic in the country. MISA-Malawi again reacted, saying that they are disturbed by the statement. Chairman of MISA-Malawi said that the issues raised in the statement do not in any way warrant such a strong warning of arrest, but Mutharika claims that he is protected by the law of the land. However, acting regional director for MISA, Zoé Titus observes that the law is archaic and serves more to provide evidence for the need for critical reform than anything else. So just from this past week, you can see that the issue of media freedom and freedom of expression in Malawi has been a topic under the spotlight. In other news this week, Kenyans are not happy with CNN for issuing negative media reports on its country, following a grenade explosion in Nairobi over the weekend. CNN immediately broadcasted a report about the blast with a headline titled "Violence in Kenya." Many Kenyans took to Twitter to express their anger on the way their country has been portrayed. Many seem to ask the question, "When will African stories only be told by Africans?" It appears to have been a bit of a rough week in parts of the continent, but hopefully it's only a matter of time before the battle comes to an end. Have a good week! Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985Responses to this column welcomed in our online editor's column archive. Send all your Africa marketing news to africanews@bizcommunity.com and opinion pieces to contributors-africa@bizcommunity.com, also take a look at our guide "How to contribute to Bizcommunity, from op-ed pieces to news". Follow Bizcommunity on Twitter @Biz_Africa and join our Facebook page. Today's top stories
Special focus on media freedom & right to know
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Togo to investigate a report that police assaulted a photojournalist on Friday [9 March 2012] after he took photos of officers seizing a motorcycle during a protest, according to media reports and local journalists. Read more >>
[Gregory Gondwe: @Kalipochi] The regional secretariat of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has observed that the Malawi government is using archaic pieces of legislation to persecute the media and it has since asked government to stop the tendency and provide a more enabling environment for media freedom, freedom of expression and ultimately citizen empowerment. Read more >>
Digital
Vidiator, a global new media delivery solution provider, and SSTREAM, a mobile content aggregator and distributor in Africa, have signed an agreement giving SSTREAM the license to make use of Vidiator's video streaming technology in Africa. Read more >>
Media
[Gregory Gondwe: @Kalipochi] Malawian president, Bingu wa Mutharika has through his state house press officer Albert Mungomo, issued a warning to the media and non-governmental organisations that they risk being arrested for continuously insulting and vilifying his governance style. Read more >>
Mobile
Mobile commerce is most certainly climbing up the ranks and according to statistics, roughly 30% of mobile phone users now and 27 minutes per day using their devices. Read more >>
Sales
[John Boe] The handshake gesture has been used by many cultures over the years and is depicted in Greek carving dating from the 5th century BC. The handshake is traditionally used by people around the planet as a gesture of greeting, departure, offering congratulations, or finalising a business transition. In sports, a handshake after the game between opposing team members is considered good sportsmanship. Read more >>
TV
[Carole Kimutai] Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. On Saturday the scorned woman was Kenya and the culprit was the Cable News Network (CNN), the US cable news channel. On Saturday night, there was a grenade explosion at a busy bus station in Nairobi that killed six people and injured about 63 others - according to latest media reports. Following the attack in Nairobi, CNN immediately broadcast a report about the blast with a graphic headline titled "Violence in Kenya." Read more >>
[Albert Nhamoyebonde] Reports that millions of viewers of free to air satellite television will not be able to watch their favourite programmes are very disturbing. Read more >>
[trigger/isobar goes to SxSW] Uno de Waal: A key theme threading through SxSW this year is the idea that an agency (marketing, advertising, communications etc) should function in very similar ways to a start-up. This is primarily running through the start-up track led by the 500Startups crew, under guidance of Eric Ries and Dave McClure, but other talks have also peppered the packed schedule. Read more >> [trigger/isobar goes to SxSW] Karin Botta: Although SXSW is a tech conference, one of the things that resonated quite strongly with me is a talk I attended on Saturday morning, 10 March 2012, called 'Designing Experiences for Women', where the speakers discussed the stereotypes that marketers often fall into using when communicating to groups of people, specifically women. Read more >> [trigger/isobar goes to SxSW] Karin Botta: After months of planning, we're finally here. A brief intro: South by Southwest (SxSW) or 'South By', as the cool kids call it, is probably the biggest and regarded as the best digital conference in the world. Held annually in Austin, it started out as a music festival - one of the first of the summer season, and has slowly grown into a conference and events festival across film, music and 'interactive'. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/1203/96617.jpg) REDWOOD CITY, US: Clickatell, a global leader in personalised priority messaging (PPM) through all mobile devices, today announced the availability of the Clickatell Connect API to enable developers to integrate SMS text messaging seamlessly with their web or mobile applications. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/1203/96615.jpg) PARIS, FRANCE: 3D television will jump to the fore at MIPTV 2012, taking place from Sunday 1 to Wednesday 4 April in Cannes, with a dedicated 3DTV Focusprogramme on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 April. Read more >> More International...
SOUTH AFRICA Backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2012
More![](https://biz-file.com/c/1203/96694.jpg) Confrontation is looming between Cosatu and the police over threats that workers will blockade Gauteng's toll gates. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/1203/96684.jpg) Plans for new toll roads around Cape Town, in KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng are set to be shelved, City Press reported yesterday, Sunday 11 March. Read more >> [Zeenat Moorad] Foreign investment is vital for SA's economic prosperity and its lofty job creation target - and this will stop government from any further attempts to stymie Wal-Mart's 51% acquisition of local retail player Massmart (MSM). Read more >> More Government news...
[Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Knowing how to cope with vehicle emergencies or with reckless, bad and dangerous driving is becoming of vital importance in South Africa as roads get busier by the day and traffic authorities appear completely at a loss when it comes to reducing moving violations or enforcing responsible driving. Read more >> More Motoring news...
[Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel] With the burgeoning of new South African wine estates, in recent years, the job to differentiate one label from the next has become increasingly difficult. So... Read more >> More Travel news...
[Daniel Dercksen] "Birds do it, bees do it," and even lazy Capetonians can do it, and fall hopelessly in love with the enchanting must-see Coward and Cole cabaret now playing at the Kalk Bay Theatre until 24 March. Read more >> More BizLounge news...
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