Hashtag by hashtag. The news cycle continued its crazy pace this week, with the Gavin Watson death crash dominating headlines.
The #RamaphosaLeaks story has finally moved from top spot in the weekly media hit parade compiled by Acumen Media and based on social media activity. If social media is the gauge, South Africans are having a ‘ja right’ moment over the Bosasa boss’s death. Acumen Media’s social media monitoring found not a single person believed the crash was an accident. Chaos in the Pretoria CBD was the second most riveting story in the news. What was the truth behind the eruption. Taxis, drug dealers, police… a toxic cocktail for sure.
“What a week huh? Did you buy the Watson story? If so, you were in isolation,” wrote Acumen Media‘s Tonya Khoury.
- Gavin Watson was “allegedly” killed in a solitary car crash with a pole. He was driving a Toyota Corolla and had no cellphone and R70 in his pocket. As the news made headlines, social media retaliated. Not a single post believes the story and people are baying for blood. The body was identified by the family and the family’s reconstructed investigation added to our anger;
- #PretoriaCBD and the violence, xenophobia, taxi violence and police retaliation left an astonished social media audience and the images caused major distress;
- #StateCaptureInquiry saw a witness flee in fear for her life as the testimony about #AceMagashule got more intense;
- The #PublicProtector dropped her move to #Concourt making more senseless headlines, however the biggest story is the law is being changed to remove the position;
- #RamaphosaLeaks still a top story with the constant barrage of detail being bombarded in the media space;
- #Eskom got #Medupi up and running – wasn’t that quick? However as a coal supply not as it was originally intended;
- #NHIBill continues to cause conversation online and most is negative;
- #Gumede resigned, oh wait that was last week’s story, Gumede retracted her resignation, you can’t make this stuff up; and
- #BenSaid, veteran journalist, died in a diving accident in Mozambique and the #ENCA team lamented the good work he had done in his lifetime.
