Cartoonist Jerm has jumped ship, leaving Eyewitness News for eNCA, the 24-hour television channel and news website announced this week. Jerm was famously fired by The New Age for not kowtowing to management’s demands that he tone down his work when it comes to the ruling party and its government ministers.
“Our association with Jerm slots nicely into this dynamic, providing visual content that will work across both TV and online. It is also a step forward in our ambition to bolster our opinion content, building on a strong base that already includes regular contributions from the likes of Jeremy Maggs and Fred Khumalo. I am tremendously excited to be working with Jerm. His work reflects the same ethos of unflinching examination of contemporary society that has become the hallmark of eNCA”, says general manager of eNCA online, Timothy Spira.
The cartoonist – real name Jeremy Nell – was recognised by The Media as one of the ‘Top 200 Young South Africans’ and one of the ‘Top 40 under 40’ media personalities during 2013.
“While print media dwindles, I am chuffed to be at the forefront of South Africa’s growing digital cartooning landscape. And it’s even better that eNCA see the value in digital media. I am pretty excited to be working with eNCA,” Nell said.
Jerm’s cartoons will appear on Tuesdays to Fridays on eNCA.com.
Spira also reported that in the six months since the launch of eNCA’s website, it has grown enormously. In a statement, Spria eNCA’s September numbers showed eNCA.com had passed the milestone of half-a-million unique browsers (UBs), with 538 000 total UBs and 395 000 domestic UBs.
“Our combination of original text and image content, combined with extensive video coverage, is clearly hitting the mark with the South African online news consumer,” he said.
For today’s inaugural cartoon, click here.
