Putting away the advertising shotgun - 16 Mar 2009

The publication of Balancing Act's African Film and TV Yearbook 2008/2009 edition has heralded in a difficult time for advertisers in Africa as they find it more and more difficult to pin down their target markets. As of now the shotgun method in advertising goes right out the window; new innovative methods with the help of ever-advancing technologies are required to reach the channel hoppers and switchers of this generation. It is a daunting thought yet a challenge to those who aim to get it right. Aspiring African journalists however have a new form of help at hand as Media Helping Media (MHM) have launched a website for those in "particularly difficult situations" - "difficult" being an understatement for some countries on the continent where "journalist" is a curse word and "freedom of expression" is high treason. The site run by David Brewer, a journalist involved in international media development, provides basic to complex lessons for journos and journos-in-the-making. News media is important in all societies in keeping people educated and informed. Liberian Alfred Sirleaf knows this best as he's made getting the news out there a top priority. He's been donned Liberia's "blackboard blogger" on more than one occasion and expansion is on the cards for this inspired innovator. Sirleaf runs the daily news by the side of a major road in Monrovia on a giant blackboard that's even opened up to advertising. While the IMF may predict doom and gloom for Africa during the economic downturn, ingenuity such as this will surely get us by intact.