As with Western channels, critical eye needed for RT news
When earlier this year Multichoice dropped RT, the television voice of Vladimir Putin, there was a debate about whether it was a good thing. Was it valuable to get Putin’s
Scrolla and The Continent: news sites charting innovative paths
In a break from lamenting the state of our mainstream news media, I want to examine two local media ventures which are exploring new paths.
New Frame’s demise illustrates a pitfall of philanthropic funding
The online news publication New Frame suspended operations last week when its funder –Jamaican-American tech magnate Roy Singham - unexpectedly pulled the plug.
Courses in media literacy could forestall damage done by fake news
Disinformation is not a new problem. There have always been those who used whatever media was available to spread malicious disinformation for the purposes of making money, scoring political points
Journalists court PTSD in a society riven by it
The problem has escalated to such an extent that the editors’ forum has turned to professionals for help
How the bookstore got saved — by social media led by TikTok
The robustly rebounding book industry is a sober lesson to all who try to predict the impact of new media technology.
An unhappy birthday for the Thembisa 10 — and the news media
The Pretoria News’s fact-free story did enormous damage at a time when journalism is battling disinformation
Freedom of expression and the energy crisis
Perhaps we don’t pay enough attention to how important free speech is to the economy and prosperity
Seychelles makes impressive media-friendly leap
The Seychelles knocked Namibia off its best-in-Africa perch this month. Not as a tourism destination but as a place hospitable to journalists (though these might be related).
Will Twitter owner Elon Musk put profit over public service, as has Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg?
Two billionaires now control the four biggest global social media platforms, the “de facto public town square … [and] bedrock of our democracy ”, in Elon Musk’s words.