As an antidote to the pessimism infusing the business news as the global financial crisis plays itself out, I can recommend a gem of a book published last year by the former president of the Coca Cola Company, Donald Keough. The book is The Ten Commandments for Business Failure and two of those commandments are […]
Media
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Jacob against the media
Jacob Zuma is at it again, attempting to suppress the freedom of expression. He has instituted a lawsuit against the cartoonist Zapiro for about R7-million in response to the cartoon depicting him as raping the figurative Lady Justice. It is not beyond comprehension that the uninformed may have misinterpreted such cartoon as having had a […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
The floccinaucinihilipilification song of South Africa
I AM MORE than mildly perplexed by Achmat Dangor’s lashback at Breyten Breytenbach’s “attack” on Nelson Mandela. Firstly, I confess I haven’t read Breytenbach’s article and would dearly love to do so. A subscription to Harper’s magazine, though perfectly justified at the price — it is one of the 10 best English magazines in the […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
Beware the power de-rangers
YOU KNOW that feeling when suddenly, though subtly, events around you seem to coalesce as if life, fate, God — call it what you will — is trying to tell you something? At a time when my self-confidence and faith in my own judgment are at a nadir, I seem to be watching TV programmes, […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
‘Blacks’ or whites do not exist and the racist notion should have been dropped in 1994
Not long ago, a colleague of mine who spent over 30 years in exile said to me that seeing people as blacks, white, Indian or coloured is the antithesis of nation-building and non-racism. Using these outdated labels, he insisted, means that you are psychologically burdened with old and tired apartheid baggage. If we want to […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics, Tech
Is the new news news to you?
NO ONE could hold it against you if you hadn’t noticed the extent to which our news media are in crisis. After all, the traditional media are no longer the source of your really important news any more. And by “really important” I mean really important to YOU. Of course, the headlines of the day […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Why historically unANChored young black professionals are Coping very well
A struggle veteran was telling me that he has observed Cope has become a popular attraction for the young black professional class. Well, I don’t know anything about that as I have not attended any of their gatherings in plush homes, hotels conference rooms or hip cocktail parties and dinners. But he insisted that the […]
Posted inMedia
Sunday Times: Could it be the real ‘Train o’ Hope’?
It’s been a dismal December so far for our news media, hasn’t it? The paucity of strong local news stories has been reflected in generally pedestrian media content, presentation, insight and originality. The movie circuit has been pretty similar. The most riveting regional news reports we’ve had have been the spread of cholera, rather half-hearted […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Julius Malema is a raw and intuitive talker while Cope’s guru is … er, too polished and a self-made thinker
I want to make a crude and slightly unfair comparison to contrast the caliber of youth leadership in the ANC Youth League and Cope’s youth wing. Political bodies are, largely, the lengthened shadow of their leading personalities and thus Julius Malema and JJ Tabane, for instance, represent and reflect the faces of their organisations. You […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Mbeki cannot Cope without the ANC
Recent malicious gossip and unfounded news reports (Moffet Mofokeng, “COPE ‘Mbeki’s idea’,” Pg 1 City Press 7 December 2008) continue to peddle lies about former president Thabo Mbeki. On the one hand, there are political opportunists who want to use the Mbeki name to attract people who love and follow him to join the ranks […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
How our cultural industry killed a piano maestro Bheki Mseleku and legendary actor John Matshikiza
The last few months has seen tragic passing on of a number of great African artists. Frankly, these great artists died because, as creative African intellectuals, they could not find jobs and thus had no money to lead respectable and dignified lives. In fact, they were almost like paupers. It is a serious indictment on […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
How the mainstream media destroys local arts & culture
I find myself obliged by conscience to break the silence and to take a public stand against the media’s violent war on local arts, culture and heritage. The considerations, which have led me to this painful decision, are a casual look at the content of both the print and broadcasting media. Indeed, what the media […]