The Media Online’s weekly round up of people, account and business moves in media. As South Africa entered lockdown, businesses closed across the country. But the media will continue to do its job, and The Media Online will continue to report on the sector. #StaySafe.
This week’s BIG move: Government partners with private sector and NGOs to curb fake news during COVID-19
Government has ramped up its capacity to monitor and respond to misinformation and fake news during this period of Covid-19 national pandemic and beyond.
A hi-tech monitoring and evaluation process has been put in place to assess complaints and reports from the media, the public and other sectors of society, with the ability to take down fake news items on a range of platforms and submit cases to the SAPS for investigation and prosecution.
This solution is the result of a collaboration between the Department, the Government Communication & Information System, Media Monitoring Africa and the CovidComms volunteer communication network. It forms part of the work of a special Ministerial Task Team established by the Department of Communications & Digital Technologies, which also includes representatives from ICASA, Film & Publications Board, ZADna, mobile phone companies and other key players in the ICT sector, including platform owners.
“We are stepping up our campaign against digital misinformation, particularly in relation to Covid-19 and related actions such as the national lockdown,” said Acting Minister of Communications Jackson Mthembu.
“We also need to remind South Africans that spreading fake news or disinformation about Covid-19 is a punishable offence. Arrests have already been made, and they will continue if people persist in spreading fake news,” Mthembu added.
Once fake news items or social media posts have been identified, platform owners are notified to bring down the posts. Electronic Communications Services Licensees, including over-the-top media service providers and internet service providers that are in the service of providing linear and non-linear services, will then have the responsibility to remove fake news from their platforms with immediate effect.
The following facilities have been set up for people to send their complaints:
- The Real411 website
- Or the WhatsApp line on 067 966 4015
The SANEF safety guide for journalists is here.
People moves
New director for Atmosphere Communications
Atmosphere Communications has appointed Bukelwa Monqo as a director to its board with effect from 1 April 2020. Monqo has been with the agency’s Cape Town office for almost a decade and will also head up Atmosphere’s empowerment trust, Zebra Horse Holdings.
“Bukelwa is a true leader and while at Atmosphere, she has led blue-chip clients such as Capitec Bank and Santam and has implemented award-winning campaigns for our clients such as Siemens, Sanlam and ghd to mention a few. She has a proven track record as a team leader and a commitment to client service excellence,” said Nicola Nel, managing director and founder of Atmosphere Communications.
“I am excited to be part of the generation that redefines the industry and rewrites the playbook,” said Monqo. “My vision is to continue to foster the strong company culture Atmosphere has built over the past 18 years.”
Table Mountain Cableway appoints new brand manager
As one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, Table Mountain is ranked as the leading tourist attraction in Africa.
“The success of our company relies solely on the capabilities, hard work and dedication of our committed staff members,” said Wahida Parker, the managing director of TMACC.
“To ensure that we continue building on our excellent track record, I am very excited to welcome our new executive brand manager, Giselle Esau, as a member of our team.”
Esau entered the world of marketing over eight years ago, specialising within the e-commerce industry. Having shifted her career to focus on the tourism industry, she aims to bring greater global recognition to TMACC by elevating the status of the iconic landmark.
Business moves
GNI launches global Journalism Emergency Relief Fund for local news publishers
The Google News Initiative has launched a Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to deliver urgent aid to thousands of small, medium and local news publishers globally.
The funding is open to news organisations producing original news for local communities during this time of crisis, and will range from the low thousands of dollars for small hyper-local newsrooms to low tens of thousands for larger newsrooms, with variations per region.
Starting Tuesday 14 April, publishers everywhere can apply for funds via a simple application form. Applications will close on Wednesday 29 April 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
“We’ve made this as streamlined as possible to ensure we get help to eligible publishers all over the world. At the end of the process, we’ll announce who has received funding and how publishers are spending the money,” said Richard Gingras, VP, News, Google.
Recognising that covering the coronavirus pandemic can take its toll on reporters on the front line, Google.org is giving $1 million collectively to the International Centre for Journalists, which plans to provide immediate resources to support reporters globally, and the Columbia Journalism School’s Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, which is helping journalists exposed to traumatic events experienced during the crisis.
This news builds on other efforts Google has made to support the industry and connect people to quality information at this time of need.
“We believe it is important to do what we can to alleviate the financial pressures on newsrooms, and will continue to look at other ways to help with more to announce soon,” Gingras added.
Covid-19 Chronicles: New online show keeps South Africa informed and updated
Caxton CTP, which has a total audience of 8.5 million people and 108 print publications ranging from premium news to lifestyle, and includes the Local News Network, an online network of 66 local news websites averaging approximately 6.7 million users per month, has launched Covid-19 Chronicles.
It’s a daily 10-minute show streamed online so that everyone with access to the internet – even those with feature phones – can stay well-informed as the crisis unfolds in our country.
With over 300 qualified and dedicated journalists countrywide as well as an experienced international award-winning team of television news producers, Caxton CTP is ensuring that the news aired on Covid-19 Chronicles is factually sound and aligned with the journalistic ethos.
You can find the Covid-19 Chronicles within Spectrum, a free local video platform that allows visitors to watch video content on any device, at a fraction of the bandwidth of other video platforms.
“We are doing our best to reach all citizens of South Africa by empowering them with relevant and reliable information related to the pandemic and asking our fellow South African brands to stand by us and support this initiative with sponsorship packages,” Caxton said in a press release. “As a news company, our first objective is to inform the public and so this project is not for commercial gain, but rather to help fund the continued sharing of factual news. For every sponsorship package sold, R5000 will go to the healthcare workers who are on the frontline of the fight against Covid-19.
To watch the show, visit any one of the LNN websites, or //spectrum.tysflo.io/. To contact our media team, email info@hivedigital.media
Gardening has not stopped
Lonehill Media like many other media houses have been severely impacted by the national lockdown especially print media.
It was unable to print the May issue, and this necessitated out of the box thinking to not only keep its title brands top of mind but also generate some advertising revenue.
With this in mind, the company has created a free to download gardening guide supported by daily videos on its YouTube channel for every day of the Lockdown.
Introducing The Gardener’s Survival Guide, a special digital magazine brought to you by The Gardener Magazine to smooth the waters in these troubled times.
The Gardener’s Survival Guide is an 84-page digital magazine that can be downloaded at no charge from our website here and the YouTube series is here.
France 24 and Radio France Internationale swing into action to keep informing in Africa
With a large following in Sub-Saharan Africa, notably in the French-speaking part of the continent, France Médias Monde’s media outlets France 24 and Radio France Internationale (RFI) have kept informing its African audience on the coronavirus crisis. Several magazines and reports dedicated to the pandemic are produced by the correspondents in Africa, as well as many interviews with Heads of States to discuss the crisis.
The programming schedules and digital offers have been adapted to focus on news and interactivity with the multilingual audience on the continent. France 24 and RFI are indeed available in English and French, and the radio station also broadcasts in Hausa, Swahili, Mandika, Fula and Portuguese.
With 23.4 million visits on their social media and websites in March, France 24 and RFI have doubled their traffic coming from the continent. Moreover, the media outlets have decided to offer advertising spaces to health organisations, which share prevention messages to fight the virus in Africa. Many initiatives brought by the RFI Clubs and the network of partner radio stations contribute to raise awareness on Covid-19.
France 24 and RFI are also mobilized to ensure academic continuity during the lockdown and develop tools designed to help African students and their parents.
Making moves
1st for Women crowdfund for nurses fighting #Covid19SA, donate R500k as project launches
1st for Women Insurance has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support nurses on the frontline of Covid-19, partnering with Gift of the Givers and Vula Mobile.
As Covid-19 continues to spread and rise in South Africa, experts are concerned that the virus could disproportionately impact women. Globally, women make up 70% of the health and social sectors and according to the World Health Organisation, in Africa, 65% of nurses are women.
It’s with this in mind that 1st for Women Insurance and donations based crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy have teamed up with Gift of the Givers and Vula Mobile to create a dedicated online crowdfunding campaign for nurses on the frontlines. Those that do so much for so many and who are working tirelessly at the coalface to fight the pandemic.
According to Robyn Farrell, CEO of 1st for Women Insurance, “With Nurse Insure, we surveyed nurses from across the country to ask about their immediate needs. The majority said psychosocial support as well as the provision of protective gear.”
SuperSport to showcase the greatest sports movies of all time
Show me the money!” Yes, the famous line from Oscar award-winning movie Jerry Maguire is coming to SuperSport’s screens this week, as the sports broadcaster broadcasts an epic line-up of the greatest sports movies of all time starting this Friday and running every evening at 8.30pm on SuperSport 1.
The opening film, starring Cuba Gooding jnr and Tom Cruise, will kick off the movie fest, which will run daily for 60 days.
The 8.30pm slot will be a daily sports movie feature, with Jerry Maguire to be followed by Senna (Saturday), Any Given Sunday (Sunday), Rocky 1-5 (next Monday to Friday) and Invictus (next Saturday).
The titles range across a multitude of sports, from rugby to boxing, from baseball to soccer and cycling and more. There are serious movies (Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Arm) and slapstick (The Waterboy, Happy Gilmore), Oscar winners (The Colour of Money, Jerry Maguire) and tear-jerkers (Rudy, Rocky) among them.
“We’ve negotiated with all the major studios to bring viewers this incredible line-up,” said Gideon Khobane, chief executive of SuperSport. “There really is something here for everyone, many of them classics with lines and scenes that resonate as strongly as ever.”
The movies will also be available on DStv’s Catch Up service.
