Good grief, I'm tired of the sanctimonious nonsense going on at the Daily Maverick over the Sunday Times report. Like many in the media, I've heard that Maverick has been sitting on the 2008 Sunday Times report for which Rhodes student Michelle Solomon … [Read More...]
Grubby Pause
Almost but no cigar for The Times in cop-killing splash
I had a minor frothy a short while back about SABC2's inability to be reflective and add context in its coverage of the local government election. Essentially, they did little more than a hold a mirror up to the events of the day, I said in a column … [Read More...]
Spooks and politicans: they dance so well together
As a general rule, the judicious newspaper editor tends to avoid publishing a story that says Mr X intends to sue Mr Y. And why is that? Because until Mr X has coughed up R40 000 or R50 000 to lodge papers at the High Court, it's far easier to put … [Read More...]
Why aren’t art exhibitions more like quilting exhibitions?
I'll eat my hat if someone doesn't make a movie called "How to Make a Mystery Quilt" one day. It's a delightful enterprise by which one member of a quilting guild gives everyone else instructions week by week for making bits of a quilt though the design … [Read More...]
Back to the future
It's a been a while, dear, dear reader, but I'm back at my hot terminal, breathing life back into Grubstreet. There are a few changes on the street (so to speak) as I have moved from East London, that warm but ailing heart of the Eastern Cape (more of … [Read More...]
Your easy peasy 1-2-3 guide to the threats to our media freedom
Why do we need to speak up for free speech? Not since the days of apartheid has freedom of speech been under such threat in South Africa. Firstly, there is the Protection of Information (POI) Bill that will give the government wide-ranging … [Read More...]
The fascinating puzzle that is The New Age
There are many curious things about the launch of the government-friendly The New Age newspaper scheduled for September but chief among them is that the editor, Vuyo Mvoko, is no ANC lackey. He's a respected political hack (I worked with him at Business … [Read More...]
Naspers 2010/09 annual results: Happy campers all the way
Let me count the ways that we can compare Naspers and Avusa: the bull and the bear; the quick and the dead; diamonds and dogs. The two media companies released their annual results - for the year to March 31 2010 - in the past week, prompting many a smarty-pants … [Read More...]
Trevor Ncube’s brave new Zimbabwe
Trevor Ncube, the owner of the Mail & Guardian newspaper, has leaped back into the brave new world that is Zimbabwe today with a new daily newspaper, NewsDay. The Zimbabwean publisher and entrepreneur who remained a thorn in President Robert Mugabe’s … [Read More...]
Chris Whitfield on the Argus scandal
Ah, politics in Cape Town. The cynical allegiances. The bitter battles. The spy tapes and the scandals. A review of the city and province’s politicians over the past 15 years reads like the cast of characters in a Carl Hiaasen novel: the musical … [Read More...]
The Mercury gets it right for big Brazil-Portuguese clash
Take a look at The Mercury's great front page today in honour of the big Brazil-Portugal game that is taking place at 4pm in Durban. I love that masthead and Page 1 and 2 is completely in Portuguese (remember Brazilans speak Portuguese too) while Page … [Read More...]
How SA’s front pages handled the Bafana exit story: Pics
It's not often that I get to climb off my high horse but here goes, and I hope I manage it with some aplomb. Yesterday I had a frothy about a lack of personality at the Independent's three morning newspapers (The Star, Cape Times and The Mercury) that … [Read More...]
The right call: Ilanga, City Press and M&G on MaNtuli affair
Lucky for President Jacob Zuma and First Lady Nompumelelo Ntuli Zuma that the World Cup came along and shifted the country’s attention from the recent allegations of infidelity in the extended presidential household. Or perhaps the timing of that … [Read More...]
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