I’m suffering from a severe case of Manto exhaustion over here. Seldom has the media circus managed to get under my skin as much as those professional mudslingers over at the Times have been able to in recent times. For a writer, this is a horrible situation. My creativity is being jeopardised. I’ve got a […]
2007
Posted inMedia, Tech
The rules of engagement
The selection committee for the Amablogoblogo team is now in session. We are using the following rigorous three-stage procedure to choose the shapers and shakers of blogging, social media and Web 2.0 in South Africa: 1. Consulting animal entrails. It worked for the Romans, and science has not yet conclusively refuted its effectiveness. 2. In […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Pan-Arab blog spat: The power of a good story
The treatment of Iraqis at Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport triggered a storm in the Middle Eastern blogosphere. What at first seemed to be a straightforward story of refugees being ill-treated by their neighbour’s security guards has spawned into a pan-Arab blog spat (the type of which is normally reserved for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict). Last week […]
Posted inGeneral
Cry “havoc!” and let loose the force multiplier
Render what is partially Caeser’s unto Caeser, albeit that he never actually met a force multiplier. A few weeks ago Sky News took an in-depth look at Zimbabweans crossing the South African border. Once across, these poor refugees were confronted by three farmers who, in one case, chased them on foot and threw stones at […]
Posted inGeneral
Is the SABC’s expansion into the rest of Africa neo-imperialism?
A hot topic of debate on the first day of the Africa Media Leadership Conference in Cape Town yesterday was the role the SABC plays in the pan-African media space and whether its African expansion project amounts to neo-imperialism. Ironically, the matter was brought to the fore by Phil Molefe, the head of SABC’s international […]
Posted inMedia
Is the SABC’s expansion into the rest of Africa neo-imperialism?
A hot topic of debate on the first day of the Africa Media Leadership Conference in Cape Town yesterday was the role the SABC plays in the pan-African media space and whether its African expansion project amounts to neo-imperialism. Ironically, the matter was brought to the fore by Phil Molefe, the head of SABC’s international […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Manto & Facebook
Does Facebook play a part in politics (governmental, not corporate :-)? Of course! The Sunday Times in South Africa released a front page report yesterday on the South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Over and above the fact that Manto is 66 years old and should probably retire anyway, there are calls from almost every […]
Posted inGeneral
Manto & Facebook
Does Facebook play a part in politics (governmental, not corporate :-)? Of course! The Sunday Times in South Africa released a front page report yesterday on the South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Over and above the fact that Manto is 66 years old and should probably retire anyway, there are calls from almost every […]
Posted inMedia
The spokesperson you have called is not available at present …
Sonia Gandhi — president of the Indian National Congress and the leader of the ruling Indian Congress Alliance — is planning to visit South Africa. Obviously, the Mail & Guardian would like an interview. So a colleague phoned one Manusha Pillai, the Department of Foreign Affairs employee who had sent out the press release on […]
Posted inGeneral
Why atheists are just plain right
“Religion comes from the period of human history where nobody, not even the mighty Democritus, who concluded that all matter was made from atoms, had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our own inescapable demand for […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Thabo Mbeki is quite right
The elevation of axed deputy minister of health, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, to heroine status is a little farcical. The President has every right to relieve a member of the executive of their duties, for any reason, or indeed for no reason whatsoever.
Posted inNews/Politics
Lost in translation
While Americans have had their own English for many years now, South Africans are just starting to redefine the language. Herewith a brief summary of new definitions : “QUIET DIPLOMACY” shall mean the act of thanking former comrades in arms by standing aside or offering moral and/or material support, while they implode an entire region. […]