Reels of talent in AfricaThe African film industry is headlining in 2010 with some great showings at various film festivals globally including the annual Tri Continental Film Festival which showcases films from around the world, as well as the Africa in Motion Festival. Africa definitely has a large pool of talented filmmakers who capture the continent's history and culture from a home-grown perspective. There's a new face on Facebook and this man needs no introduction in Nigeria; it's none other than President Goodluck Jonathan. You can't add him as a friend, but you can like his page. This is a smart move by the president in his electoral campaign in reaching the youth and perhaps, further down the line, the potential social media campaign will reap rewards for this forward-thinking politician. Uganda has, of late, seen a distressing rise in threats to freedom of expression. Help is on the way though with the International Partnership Group for Uganda gathering in the country to address the situation. Somalia is facing its own threat to media freedom with militias in the country constantly harassing and taking over radio stations. Hopefully both these countries will soon see more stable futures. Cheers, Sindy Peters, Africa editor
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Special focus on media freedom
MOGADISHU: Reporters Without Borders has condemned the assaults by Islamist militias on two radio stations in Mogadishu yesterday, 19 September 2010. Radio HornAfrik was ransacked and looted by members of Al-Shabaab while Global Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was taken over by Hizb-Al-Islam, which has decided to use it for broadcasting its own propaganda. Read more >>Advertisement:
WASHINGTON: Amid increased violence against journalists, the International Partnership Group for Uganda, a joint mission of seven regional and international non-governmental freedom of expression organisations, plans to travel to Kampala for a three-day freedom of expression mission from 20-24 September 2010. Read more >>[Thapelo Ndlovu] For Batswana journalists, news that their South African colleagues are busy warding off a proposed statutory media tribunal from the ruling African National Congress sounds all too familiar. For more than a decade, the government of Botswana has been trying to push a media law that would effectively shift the whole media under state control. Read more >> NEW YORK: Unidentified assailants beat and killed news presenter Dickson Ssentongo Monday morning, 13 September 2010, on his way to work at Prime Radio in Mukono district, central Uganda. Assailants beat Ssentongo with metal bars and dragged him into a nearby cassava field, local journalists told CPJ. He was the second journalist murdered in three days in Uganda. Read more >>KAMPALA: Reporters Without Borders has deplored the murder of journalist Paul Kiggundu by a crowd of angry motorcyclists in the southern town of Rakai on 10 September 2010. The correspondent of Top Radio and several TV stations, he was beaten to death when spotted filming their attack on a suspect's home. Read more >>Branding
[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Many people believe that sunshine journalism, which consists of only telling positive stories about Africa will make Brand Africa go forward and give it a nice feel, but I disagree, said Trevor Ncube, Mail & Guardian Media Group deputy executive chairman, speaking at the Brand Africa 2010 Forum on Thursday, 16 September 2010, in Johannesburg. Read more >> [Issa Sikiti da Silva] Political leadership is a major stumbling block to the development of Brand Africa - that is why Africans should not rely on politicians to fix the continent's brand, London-based Zambian economist Dr Dambisa Moyo told delegates at the Brand Africa 2010 Forum held on Thursday, 16 September 2010, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Read more >> Cinema
The 2010 Tri Continental Film Festival will run from 1-21 October at selected Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau Theatres in South Africa in the cities of Johannesburg, Durban and Pretoria. The festival will feature African and international films. Read more >>The Africa in Motion 2010 Festival takes place from 21 October to 5 November 2010 at Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh, Scotland with screenings of over 70 films from 28 African countries. The overall theme for the event is 'Celebrations'. Read more >>Digital
[Tom Foremski: In Silicon Valley] Everyone knows that Steve Jobs has banned porn and any sexual content from the iPad but is this a wise move? I just started reading Nick Bilton's book "I live in the future & here's how it works" and the first chapter is about his investigation of the porn industry to see if there are any lessons to be applied to the media industry. Read more >> [Sipho Hlongwane] Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's life is turning into an extraordinary adventure. Not only did he come to power in Nigeria without directly winning an election in 11 years and somehow managing to avoid the stench of corruption, but he has now turned to Facebook as his electoral platform. Read more >> SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter began rolling out a new home page that lets people more easily sift through the growing mountain of micro-messages and creates more opportunity for advertising. Read more >>[Dumisani Ndlela] A leading internet service provider (ISP) has admitted internet in Zimbabwe is expensive and frustratingly slow but blamed this on high costs and lack of domestic internet content among a host of factors. Read more >> [Staff reporter] Businesses across Africa are expecting a revolution in internet access, technology and costs as a result of the rush of new undersea cables connecting the continent. Read more >> [Jenny Kling] With Facebook's stringent rules regarding contests and competitions on its site, you need a lot more than free giveaways to build your Facebook community. You need to be interesting and relevant to your target market. Content is king, as the saying goes, and that has never been truer than when dealing with Facebook in a marketing context. Read more >> Education and Training
Edinburgh Business School is launching a scholarship scheme across Africa - providing 250 people the opportunity to study its flagship MBA programme. The scholarship is being endorsed by Graça Machel, the renowned international advocate for women and children's rights and wife of Nelson Mandela. The launch event took place in Johannesburg late last week. Read more >>[Wilma den Hartigh] Stellenbosch University (SU) has launched its new journalism centre, Mediafrica. The new centre will become the base for developing well-trained, professional media workers who can competently tell Africa's story, and report objectively on important issues affecting the continent. Read more >> Eventing
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy is open for entries from local sustainable energy programmes from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Entry is free, and six international winners will receive £20,000 (Ksh2.5 million) each in prize money for programme development, with one winner receiving a gold award of £40,000 (Ksh5 million). The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London in June 2011. Read more >>Advertisement:
[Neville Maakana] TZANEEN: More than 4 000 municipal workers are expected to take part in the 2010 Southern Africa Inter-Municipal Games to be held in Tzaneen, Limpopo, later this month. Read more >> LONDON: The African Banker Awards has announced its shortlist of nominees for the 2010 edition of the annual event. This year, according to organisers, competition is characterised by a more even geographical spread of financial institutions making the selection cut. The most notable absentees this year are the Nigerian institutions who have undergone a tough year of restructuring and difficult trading conditions. Read more >>The Africa Media and Broadcasting Congress will take place from 29 November 2010 in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre. The congress aims to ensure Africa's media and broadcasters can keep up with the switch-over from analogue to digital. Terrapinn is the organiser of the annual event. Read more >>Exhibitions
The Loeries Travelling Exhibition, sponsored by Adobe, plans to stop in Potchefstroom from 20 September - 2 October, displaying the winning works from The 31st Annual Loerie Awards in a gallery-style format at the North West University. Read more >>The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) has announced its partnership in a joint venture with the African Bureau of Conventions in securing events, exhibitions, conventions and meetings in Johannesburg, South Africa. Read more >>Magazines
New Africa Analysis, reputedly the first international magazine of its kind in South Africa focusing on progress in Africa, will launch in early October - and is seeking to appoint an editor. Read more >> Media
[Matebello Motloung] Author of the bestselling Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs and the publisher of the latest version, SA's Greatest Entrepreneurs, compiled in partnership with the Gordon Institute of Business Science and launched last week, Moky Makura is on a mission to capture Africa's stories and prevent the continent's history and heritage from being eroded. Read more >> Mobile
John Waibochi of Virtual City, from Kenya, on Thursday scooped the Nokia $1,000,000 Growth Economy Venture Challenge at Nokia World. Read more >>Newspapers
US, San Francisco will host the 12th International Readership Conference and Expo, which plans to present newspaper strategies to satisfy loyal readers while attracting new audiences, in print, online and on mobile devices. The conference, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) takes place 16-17 November 2010 at the Hotel Nikko. Read more >>The Innovations in Newspapers global report will be presented at the 2010 World Editors Forum, to be held 6-8 October 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. The presentation, by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group, will focus on three major subjects. Read more >>Radio
The Pan African Space Station (PASS) cyber-radio project, launched on Saturday, 11 September 2010, is now broadcasting live from Cape Town and Cameroon. PASS Radio is an online portal that streams unprogrammed content, interviews, music, live recordings, and musical debate. Read more >>Retail
Edgars Stores (Zimbabwe) has reported a significant leap in sales, spurred largely by growth of its credit scheme which made a comeback after dollarisation of the crisis-torn economy last year. Read more >>GWANDA: More than a million people will need food aid in Zimbabwe this year. As the government looks to boost agriculture production, one rural community is leading the way by using irrigation schemes to improve food security and income. Read more >>ICT group Pinnacle Technology Holdings said on Tuesday (14 September 2010) that retail sales for Pinnacle Africa increased 25% for the year ended June, despite the prevalent economic conditions. Read more >>WASHINGTON: The World Bank Group has announced that it plans to mobilise significant new funding for health, education, and agriculture to help countries achieve their Millenium Development Goals by 2015. Read more >>LONDON, UK: MediaCom has been named Media Agency of The Year at the 2010 M&M Awards, for the second year running. The M&M Awards recognise and celebrate leading multi-market advertising campaigns, the most innovative and effective work and the finest co-ordination of multi-local advertising strategies. Read more >>NEW YORK, US: Coca-Cola retains the number one spot; Google gains on Microsoft, while HP enters the top 10 in Interbrand's 11th annual ranking of the world's top brands. The rankings were released yesterday, 15 September 2010. Read more >> More International news...
SOUTH AFRICA Search for the Beauty of Triumph MoreMore Motoring news...
TVG, the South African-based travel and leisure ownership company, has recently acquired a major stake in the African Vacation Club and The Lake Langano Resort in Ethiopia. Read more >> More Travel news...
[Michael Britton] David Muller's one-man play, Imagining Einstein, is currently on at the Kalk Bay Theatre. Muller's play is a glimpse into the life of Albert Einstein, arguably the most famous scientist of the last century. It touches on his work and his personal life, covering the period from his early working life in a patents office to his last years as a professor at Princeton. Read more >> [Patricia Pieterse] I had no idea what to expect from Going the Distance. I hadn't heard very much about it, and while I like both Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, they were both in the very disappointing He's Just Not That Into You. Read more >> [Evan-Lee Courie] Recently I had the privilege to attend the launch of not one, but two music videos. That of Chad Saaiman and Byron Clarke, who were both SAMA-nominated artists in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Saaiman's first single, Thinking About You off his second album The Flight, which is to be released in the near future and Clarke's The Rain from his debut album was launched at Living Room in Cape Town. Read more >> [Zeenat Ebrahim] Martial arts films have always gained my preference and Jackie Chan couldn't have been a better choice for a remake of the renowned 1984-film, The Karate Kid with Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita). Read more >> More BizLounge news...
- Mobile Web in Africa 2010 - Johannesburg, 28 September
- Indian experience KZN Philharmonic Orchestra - Durban, 22 September
- MySQL and PHP IT Training Corporation - Centurion, 22 September
- Oompah, oompah ze AMASA 2010 party is coming AMASA - Johannesburg, 30 September
- Photoshop part-time course Friends of Design - Academy of Digital Arts - Cape Town, 4 October
- Serious enterprise development Creative Space Media - Johannesburg, 6 October
- SAARF training seminars SAARF - Johannesburg, 12 October
- Developing a social media strategy for business Social Media IQ - Johannesburg, 13 October
- QVC organisational communications Quo Vadis Communications - Johannesburg, 13 October
- eMarketing course Quirk eMarketing - Online, 18 October
SOUTH AFRICA Petersburg Quartet tour to bring more than music to South Africans[Sponsorship] Local couple Andre and Elzabé du Toit are hosting Russian acapella group Petersburg Quartet in a South African tour from 29 September to 21 October 2010.
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities." - Aristotle "An original writer is not one who imitates nobody, but one whom nobody can imitate." - De Chateaubriand "You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements." - Norman Douglas
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