The media - get involved![](https://biz-file.com/b/1008/53115.jpg?1) The 31st Durban International Film Festival drew to a close yesterday with the award winners in the annual competition being announced. Congratulations to those involved in producing The White Meadows (Iran) which won the top award of Best Feature Film. While I've never attended the festival, its reputation precedes it with countries including Japan, the US, India and Sweden participating in the event. It's quite a learning experience for budding filmmakers on the African continent and a great place to find inspiration and direction from those experienced in the field. The Cape Town International Book Fair was held over the weekend in South Africa which ends today. It's another successful event that showcases the latest and highly regarded offerings on the book market. There's plenty of great literature on offer but some interesting discussions as well. During a trade session on African publishing it was noted that the African book industry is alive and well, but challenges remain. International Literacy Day is coming up early next month and WAN-IFRA has announced its free offer of a 12-part serial story to newspapers worldwide to encourage reading. The materials are available on the Celebrating Literacy website. In South Africa, a country that has been deemed a media practitioner's paradise, a storm has brewed over the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal and the Protection of Information Bill that could see media freedom in the country join the down-trodden in large parts of Africa. Hopefully the interest of South Africa's citizens wins out in the end and our right to information remains intact. Long live the free press! Cheers, Sindy Peters, Africa editor
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2010 FIFA World Cup
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54534.jpg) South African communicators recently shared their key lessons learned around communication challenges during the 2010 FIFA World Cup at an event organised by the African chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). The session was hosted in partnership with the IABC Brazil network ahead of the next World Cup, scheduled to be held in the South American country in 2014. Read more >>Advertising
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54431.jpg) The Loerie Awards has announce the Integrated Campaign and Ubuntu Award judging panels for the 2010 awards. The Loeries judging will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa between 17-25 August 2010 at Vega, the Brand Communication School. Read more >>Branding
[Dumisani Ndlela] A property firm largely invested in hospitality and tourism has expressed concern over the country's political process which it said undermined efforts to mitigate the negative perception around brand Zimbabwe. Read more >> Cinema
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1008/54698.jpg) The winner of the Best Feature Film at the 31st Durban International Film Festival is The White Meadows (Iran). Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, the film was lauded by the International Jury as a "timeless and poetic narrative." The festival ran from 22 July to 1 August 2010 in South Africa. Read more >>CSI
Technology group Intel Corporation and the MTN Group have on Friday (30 July 2010) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate in a project to accelerate the deployment and penetration of broadband access in Africa and the Middle East. Read more >>Digital
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54604.jpg) The eRev programme from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) aims to help in the creation of new digital media revenues by bringing together a group of digital media professionals who aim to develop strong products and new revenue streams from emerging media platforms. Read more >>Seedcamp, a European micro-seed fund that invests in early stage startup companies, has selected 11 South African technology startups to possibly attend the Seedcamp Week programme held in September in London, UK, where they will be in line for a potential €50 000 investment. Read more >> [Rob Dickens] We recently featured an article about the massively popular Old Spice social media campaign. In the article I sung the praises of this campaign like a 10-year-old, braces-sporting teenage girl commenting on the latest Justin Bieber music video. I was a fawning fanboy of the Wieden + Kennedy executed campaign. In the article I stated that I would "do a swan dive into a hot tub" if the campaign hadn't boosted sales. Read more >>Education and Training
[Anna Malczyk] Copyright licenses have received a lot of attention recently. The internet has created a space that allows anyone to share content across national boundaries and without incurring high costs. With copyright infringement becoming a greater concern, this new environment has caused people to rethink how copyright does - and should - work. Read more >>Eventing
[Ronald Ssekandi] KAMPALA: Following decades of playing an observatory role and unfair conditions on the international scene, Africa is now pushing for greater involvement especially on issues that affect its economic development. Read more >> Advertisement:![](https://biz-file.com/b/1007/51215.jpg?1)
Media
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] From Cape to Cairo, from Morocco to South Africa and from the east to the west, independent journalists and editors are crying foul, singing a song of redemption, death and distress as African governments - most of them 'brutal', 'cruel' and 'corrupt' - flex their muscles to stifle free reporting and put fear in newsrooms. Read more >> [Thabani Khumalo] The African National Congress' 2007 Limpopo Conference proposed that an independent Media Appeals Tribunal be created to adjudicate complaints from citizens about media publications. The suggestion put the ANC on collision course with media journalists, editors, analysts and human rights activists who feared that such a process would curtail media liberties. Read more >>CAPE TOWN: Getting parents to buy children books instead of toy guns and cars and enticing readers in outlets like hair salons are just two of the challenges facing Africa's publishers. Read more >>HARGEISHA: The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has called for the opening of the broadcast media space in Somaliland following a peaceful and a democratic transition of power in the recent presidential election on 26 June 2010. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54583.jpg) TUNIS: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), on Thursday, 29 July 2010 accused the authorities in Tunisia of engaging in a "relentless campaign" of intimidation and harassment of Zied-el-Heni, a member of the leadership of the Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens (SNJT) and of the steering committee of the African Federation of Journalistes (FAJ), the IFJ regional group . Read more >>Mobile
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54504.jpg) OSLO, NORWAY: Opera's recently released Mobile Web Report World Cup Edition explores mobile web trends in Africa, announces the first Mobile Web World Cup champion, and explores the top sports sites on the mobile web. Mobile web use is exploding in Africa, according to Opera's State of the Mobile Web Report, published on Wednesday, 28 July 2010. Read more >>Advertisement:![](https://biz-file.com/b/1007/52425.gif?2)
Eaton Telecom on Tuesday (27 July 2010) announced the launch of Eaton Towers Tanzania, claiming it to be the country's first independent mobile tower company. Read more >>Newspapers
![](https://biz-file.com/c/1008/54704.jpg) In celebration of International Literacy Day on 8 September 2010, the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is offering a free, twelve-part serial story for children to the world's newspapers to publish and to encourage family reading. Read more >>![](https://biz-file.com/c/1007/54432.jpg) The 2010 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers will be presented at the World Editors Forum, to be held in Hamburg, Germany, 6-8 October 2010. The report addresses newsroom integration, multimedia storytelling techniques, investigative journalism, social media, tablets, readers' clubs and business re-organisation. Read more >>NEW YORK: The New York Times Co. reported a slight increase in quarterly revenue on Thursday (22 July 2010) as double-digit growth in digital advertising helped offset a continued slide in print advertising. Read more >>Retail
[Claire Ngozo] BLANTYRE: The Malawian government has again stood firm in the face of calls by the European Union (EU) to sign an economic partnership agreement (EPA) - even after top-level EU officials visited southern Africa to convince it to put pen to paper. Read more >> [Servaas van den Bosch] WINDHOEK: European Union (EU) trade commissioner Karel de Gucht has appeased leading European civil society organisations about the negotiations for a Southern African economic partnership agreement (EPA), promising "not to put undue pressure" on countries. Read more >> A United Nations official said on Tuesday (27 July 2010) that Zimbabwe's farming sector has increased food production from 1.2 million to 1.3 million tonnes since the 2008 food crisis. Read more >>The United Kingdom's minister for Africa pledged on Monday (26 July 2010) to increase bilateral trade with Sudan during his first official visit to the country. Read more >>A London-based campaign group plans to sue the United Kingdom government for allegedly failing to tell the UN about companies and individuals involved in the trade of "conflict minerals" from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read more >>JHI Real Estate Mozambique, a subsidiary of JHI property services, recently opened a further branch office in Matola and is now looking to expand to other key growth areas in the region. According to Wayne Wright, business development director for JHI property services, retail development in Mozambique is set to increase significantly over the next few years. Read more >>[Claire Ngozo] LILONGWE: The Malawian government's new cost-cutting prohibition on the hosting of conferences, training sessions and workshops on the shores of Lake Malawi has hit small-scale merchants who ply their trade on the roadsides and beaches of the fresh-water lake. Read more >> Sponsorship
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has become the exclusive sponsor of CNN International's new monthly half-hour feature programme 'Icon', which launched late last month. The sponsorship agreement positions ADTA around CNN's interactive editorial commitment to the arts and culture and in front of CNN's audiences across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Read more >>Youth Marketing
[Walter Wafula] The number of applicants vying for Uganda's 2010 Young Achievers Awards (YAA) more than doubled last year's applications according to the organisers. Read more >> More International news...
- Getting to grips with govt capacity and delivery CAF Southern Africa - Bryanston, 3 August
- Rotary art festival 2010 Rotary Club of Rosebank - Johannesburg, 10 August
- Adobe Acrobat - beginner to intermediate 2B Studio - Johannesburg, 10 August
- Business journey Umndeni Multimedia - Belfast, 10 August
- 'The Big Hole' - Cape Town, 11 August
- TOGAF 9 Foundation - Level One Real IRM - Pretoria, 17 August
- Handling the media IAJ - Institute for the Advancement of Journalism - Cape Town, 22 August
- Empowerment wins business - Johannesburg, 25 August
- Learn PHP for full control over your website Tailormade4you Web Design - Johannesburg, 1 September
- Arts alive JT Communications - Johannesburg, 2 September
""I must do something" always solves more problems than "Something must be done."" - Anonymous "Courage can't see around corners, but goes around them anyway." - Mignon McLaughlin "A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not." - Unknown
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