I think you are 100% correct Cde Godfrey.
What we need more than a new paper is new writing.
If comrades were writing more, we would be able to place more in the
existing newspapers.
Whereas a new newspaper will largely consist of material that is similar
or identical to the material in the existing newspapers.
VC
On 2010/07/06 08:21 AM, Godfrey Simelane wrote:
Morning C'des
As much as I support the idea,
I wish to see how independent this newspaper will be. Is it gonna give
birth to new journalism ?
I think we are going to the likes of Swaziland and Zimbabwe where the
state/ ruling party owns the media.
Some amongst us will manipulate the very same journalists for their
personal gain.
What is wrong with the current media that we assume is not gonna happen
to the proposed paper ?
Lets debate .
Simelane Godfrey
'' Wise men put their trust in Ideas and not in circumstances ''
"Dominic.Tweedie"<[email protected]> 7/6/2010 7:03 AM>>>
Business Day
*Gupta Group to fund ‘ANC-sympathetic’ newspaper*
*Chantelle Benjamin, Business Day, Johannesburg, 6 July 2010 *
THE Gupta Group — which is closely linked to President Jacob Zuma and
the African National Congress (ANC) — is funding a national daily
newspaper due to go public in September.
It will be called The New Age and one of the people behind it is Essop
Pahad , whose magazine The Thinker is also bankrolled by the Guptas.
Yesterday, Mr Pahad said the newspaper “is not, and will not be,
affiliated to the ANC”.
The newspaper is likely to add to competition for the government’s
lucrative recruitment advertising, which is currently dominated by the
Sunday Times.
When he was minister in the Presidency, Mr Pahad threatened to withdraw
recruitment advertising from the Sunday Times in protest at its
coverage
of the government.
The daily newspaper market in SA is a tough one to crack. In 2004,
ThisDay folded after just a year and another, Nova, went under after
five months in 2006. More recently, newspapers were hard hit by
declining advertising revenue during the recession.
Mr Pahad confirmed that former Business Day journalist Vuyo Mvoko, who
was most recently spokesman for the Ithala Development Finance
Corporation, will be editor.
The Gupta group, consisting of Atul Gupta, MD of Sahara Computers,
along
with his brothers, Anil and Rajesh, is described as entrepreneurial and
IT-focused, with a significant interest in mining.
The ANC has made no secret of its dissatisfaction with the media and
its
belief that media companies are unfairly critical of it. At its
Polokwane conference in 2007 it was agreed that an ANC-aligned
newspaper
was needed, but the biggest stumbling block has been to find a
financier.
The New Age will target the middle to top end of the market and will be
based in Gauteng — it is believed at Sahara’s Midrand offices.
Although Mr Pahad and a spokesman from Sahara Computers yesterday
denied
the new newspaper would be ANC-affiliated, it is understood in media
circles that it will be “sympathetic” to the party.
Media analyst and the head of Journalism and Media Studies at Wits
University, Anton Harber, said yesterday the newspaper would be a
“healthy addition to the mix of voices” but that it was important
that
“they are clear and open about where they are coming from”.
He said there was a need to ensure that government departments did not
favour the new publication when it came to recruitment advertising,
which he said “would be illegal”.
Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesman Patrick
Craven
yesterday also welcomed the competition, saying the labour federation
had always felt that “print media were owned by too few
companies”.
Yesterday, a report indicated that Cosatu and mining-related unions
were
at loggerheads with Shiva Uranium over allegations that it plans to
force workers to work under a labour broker. Shiva’s directors
include
Mr Zuma’s son, Duduzane, and Atul Gupta.
The Gupta Group has also been in the news over a mining dispute. Kumba
Iron Ore launched legal proceedings in May against the Department of
Mineral Resources and questioned a decision to award prospecting rights
on a 21,4% stake in a Sishen iron
ore mine to little-known Imperial
Crown Trading. Jagdish Parekh is an executive of Gupta firm JIC Mining,
which holds half of Imperial, which was awarded the stake.
Business Day has since published a report indicating that the
application by Imperial Crown Trading for prospecting rights over the
Sishen mine was stamped by the Department of Mineral Resources before
it
was signed by the applicant.
Queries sent to Atul Gupta about The New Age were referred to Mr Pahad.
A journal called New Age existed in the 1960s, and included Walter
Sisulu and Albie Sachs on its staff.
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
*From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=113830*
* *
--
You are subscribed. This footer can help you.
Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this
message.
You can visit the group WEB SITE at
http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options,
pages, files and membership.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't
have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in
the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat):
[email protected] .
