Media

One wonders what the producers of TV shows think when they prepare to pitch for new shows. Is it entirely the prospect of ad revenue that underpins their sales line? Do they consider the post-production revenues from the fame that flows to the participants? Do they lie awake at night wondering whether they will be […]

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems standards of fame are declining. Back in Andy Warhol’s day, everyone got fifteen minutes; in the YouTube era, it’s down to five. Maybe that’s just as well, because nowadays it’s possible to be famous for anything, no matter how stupid or pointless. As in the case of Clare […]

I approach writing that finds news media fallen from grace into the gutter with deep suspicion. There never was a golden age of journalism, and each generation feels its problems to be unique. A new book by UK journalist and documentary-maker Nick Davies about the defects of global news media has some of this, to […]

Now that I am back in South Africa, I have had a chance to catch up on some of the ads that are being flighted right now. While most are unremarkable, and a couple are actively offensive, a few campaigns do stand out. 1. The ad everybody loves right now is the TV commercial for […]

The crisis of the US newspaper industry is what broadcasters are going to experience. Plunging audiences and collapsing advertising revenues. And it’s also coming to South Africa. That’s the prognosis of Wits digital arts professor Christo Doherty speaking as chair of a conference on digital media for broadcasters, organised by Classic Events at Wanderers this […]

If one had to choose between a Zuma presidency without a media-relations unit or a media without Zuma, I would settle for the former. Whatever one may wish for, the media without Zuma is impossible. In the last seven or eight years, the media have made their profit by waging an incessant assault on Zuma’s […]

Wavelength 49 (Pty) Limited would like to introduce you to our new website the Richmark Sentinel. The site, which will comprise news, lifestyle and sport, is designed to provide a venue for all South Africans and Africans to meet, gather, debate and swap ideas and information while highlighting the fact that we are PROUDLY SOUTH […]

On Freedom Day, to celebrate fifteen years of democracy, I launched The Soapbox — a nonpartisan online platform where young South Africans can speak out about things they feel strongly about. Why? Because South Africa is at a crossroads. Now more than ever is it important to use our freedom to ensure that democracy prevails […]

Ad revenues are plummeting, which should see a rise in shorter, pithier, more imaginative advertising — but we’re not and it’s because the money-people at companies have stopped listening to the creatives. The financial crisis is seeing everyone trying to market better, but companies have also become more demanding and are more likely to use […]

Submitted by Mahmood Sanglay I watched Slumdog Millionaire and felt sick. Never have so many watched so much poverty on a silver screen and felt so good about it. The deception disgusts and the irony offends — extremely. But I apologise for this undeserved kindness. Mine is just one of few critical voices amid the […]