How credible is the news on social networks? - 13 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] During this past week, the credibility of news reported on social media networks is what caught my eye. It has become way to easy for news, with or without confirmed facts, to be spread to the rest of the world by a simple click of a button. read more The good news and the sad news - 6 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] Like in any industry, there's always the good news and then there's the bad news. Well in this case, some sad news Firstly, the sad news is that the acting executive director of the Media Council of Malawi, George 'Sly' Dambula, passed away on Thursday, after succumbing to Malaria and lung infection. read more Sowing the seeds of the mobile community - 30 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] With the growth of mobile users on the continent, users in Morocco continued their upward push through 2011, with the number of users rising to 36.55 million. YoungAfricaLive, the mobile community that entertains and educates young people on topics of love, sexual health, gender and relationships affecting the youth has now also launched in Kenya and is available through the SafaricomLIVE! portal. read more New year, new beginnings... - 23 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] We're heading to the end of January 2012 already and almost everybody should be back at work by now. With a new year, comes new beginnings. read more The hashtag generation - 16 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] I recently got very annoyed reading my news feed on my Facebook page when I saw a number of people using hashtags in their status updates, it wasn't just one or two people but it was more than I expected to see. It may say something about the Facebook friends I have or the people I know, but let me tell you that is not the case. read more Happy 2012! - 9 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] 2012 has arrived! It feels like just yesterday I was writing my last editorial column of the year wishing you a safe and wonderful festive season. I do trust that you had just that! So it's back to the grind as many of us return to our respective workplaces in drips and drabs. read more Bring on 2012! - 12 Dec 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] It is with great pleasure that I bring you the last newsletter for 2011. What a year it has been! In August I was appointed to bring you industry related news from across Africa and I can say it's been a fairly smooth couple of months in the driver's seat. Highlights of the year included the celebration of 10 years since our very first newsletter was sent out in 2001. read more The year of the mobile - 5 Dec 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] As the end of yet another year draws to a close, the African continent isn't showing any sign of slowing down, especially in the mobile sector. This past week, telecommunications services provider, Airtel Limited celebrated a milestone when it acquired its 50 millionth mobile customer in Africa. Global telecommunications operator, France Telecom-Orange signed a deal with the African Press Organisation who will distribute press releases, issued by the Orange group, to all its operating countries in Africa. YoungAfricaLive, a mobile community that focusses on issues of the youth launched in Tanzania. Michael de Souza, vice president of media at BuzzCity, shares his wishes for the mobile industry in 2012. The minister of information and communication technology in Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda officially launched the local edition of YouTube, (www.youtube.co.ug). read more Cheers to 2011, well almost... - 28 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Can you believe its almost 2012? The year has just about come to an end and with that we have several more daily newsletters still to be delivered to you. In Malawi, journalists were threatened at a 'press rally' following the return of the president from a trip to Hong Kong. read more Media freedom - still a battle - 21 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Media freedom in many parts of Africa is still under threat. In Liberia, a criminal court judge has warned proprietors of three local media houses, after it was recently shutdown by government for allegedly broadcasting hate messages and misinformation, not to repeat such acts. read more AfricaCom 2011 has come and gone - 14 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] AfricaCom 2011, the communications conference and exhibition which took place last week, 9-10 November 2011, with a record number of attendees, has come and gone. Furthermore, Spinlet, a music download service, launched their technology which allows music lovers to digitally ditribute music on a mobile platform; Informa Telecoms & Media, organisers of the event, also revealed that South Africa is more ready than Kenya and Egypt to embrace mobile government services; the winners of AfricaCom Awards 2011 were also announced. read more AfricaCom takes place this week - 7 Nov 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] AfricaCom, reportedly the largest communications conference and exhibition on the continent with the gathering of over 5 000 telecoms decision-makers and key players, takes place this week. Starting on Wednesday 9 November until Thursday 10 November 2011 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa, the event focuses on issues concerning the future of digital in Africa. As part of the conference, the 4th AfricaCom Awards, which acknowledges the growth and importance of the telecoms and digital sectors across the African continent, will take place at a gala dinner on the Wednesday evening. read more Progress in Africa - 31 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] On Friday 28 October 2011, the two-day Tech4Africa conference came to an end. The conference, which focuses on mobile, web and emerging technologies and with the goal of bringing a global perspective to the African context and finding African solutions for African problems, revealed that cloud computing could just be the best solution for emerging businesses on the continent. Ummeli (the Nguni word for mediator), a mobile career opportunity platform that helps jobseekers share job and unemployment opportunities was launched last week by Gustav Praekelt of the Praekelt Foundation. Also launching last week, was the 3G service in Central Africa by Airtel and the government of the Republic of Congo. read more Media and the government - 24 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] Last week, South Africa celebrated Media Freedom Day on Wednesday, 19 October 2011. Critics have asked why, the South African Presidency, during the festivities, called for fairness, objectivity and open-mindedness in the coverage of government and especially of the head of state, when a statement in support of press freedom could have been made instead. In Malawi, following the arrest of a journalist for snapping images of the president's residence, the government has now identified two witnesses, who will testify against the journalist. In Mauritius, authorities have imprisoned a journalist for contempt of the Supreme Court for allegedly "publicly scandalising the Supreme Court". In Nigeria, the CEO of Airtel has called on the federal government to issue a National Policy on Communications that incorporates government's commitment since the development of broadband in the country. Newly elected president of Zambia, Michael Sata, has issued Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi, a television broadcasting licence after the Malawian government turned down the TV broadcasting license to run Joy-TV. In other news, following the recent global disruption of the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS), Research In Motion has offered its customers premium apps available for download at BlackBerry Application World until 31 December 2011. Tech4Africa, the continent's only web and emerging technology conference starts this week. read more The battle for media freedom - 17 Oct 2011[Evan-Lee Courie] In Malawi, media continue to suffer police persecution, after three journalists were summoned, with one even receiving death threats. The merger between the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi has been stopped by the government after several flaws were found. The Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) have warned two local radio stations for broadcasting programmes in which one insults President Bingu wa Mutharika, and the other for broadcasting programmes that could spark religious strife in the country. The High Court of Malawi has ordered the government to stop using equipment of the Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (CIRMS) Project to access phone records of subscribers. read more |
