Revenge: A Jason Calacanis-inspired Techcrunch Disruptor?
American Internet entrepreneur and blogger Jason Calacanis used to be a good friend and business partner with Techcrunch founder, Mike Arrington. Together they launched a conference series but fell out...
View ArticleScribbleLive: Live media technologies for real-time newsrooms
I recently met with Michael de Monte, CEO of Scribble Technologies, based in Toronto, Canada. The company offers a very interesting media technology called ScribbleLive, which is a real-time newsroom...
View ArticleTynt: A business built on ‘copy and paste’
Who would think that there is a business in providing an online copy and paste service? Tynt believes that there is a very large opportunity even though it hasn’t yet figured out how best to monetise...
View ArticleWikiLeaks: A morality tale of the modern media
It is a captivating story, isn’t it? Julian Assange, the face of WikiLeaks, is now an enemy of some of the most powerful people in the world. This Australian born ex-hacker, questionably accused of sex...
View ArticleiPad magazines: Not all they’re cut out to be
The iPad may not be all it is cut out to be for magazine publishers. According to Engadget, iPad magazine numbers have dropped. It indicates that iPad magazines benefited from a novelty factor but that...
View ArticleOnline anonymity – what’s the big deal?
Online anonymity is an issue fraught with emotion. It often inspires passionate arguments from both sides and opens windows into the deeper and darker aspects of our societies. So what, exactly, is the...
View ArticleWith The Daily, News Corp and Apple try to shake up the news business model
Rupert Murdoch is the biggest man in media. Apple is one of the hottest companies in tech. The two have teamed up to make a run at a new kind of news organisation, creating a tablet-only paid product...
View ArticleInnovation journalism — Media coverage is important to startups
Media coverage is very important for startups. It is how they gain respect in their community, it is how they can win investors, and it is invaluable in helping to recruit staff. Positive media...
View ArticleThe inevitable rise of mainstream media’s saviour: Activist media
I recently gave a presentation to TEDxSF, looking at the theme of “Designing your own government” — In it, I examined the role of media, especially around the Occupy Wall Street movement. What strikes...
View ArticleMagazine mindset undermines tablet opportunity
The rush by media owners to embrace tablets borders on the unseemly. And who can blame them given the continued decline of print revenue and resistance by folk to pay for content on the internet....
View ArticleNobody killed anybody: the case for radio and video in the internet age
Death is society’s favourite topic. The minute something new comes along, we predict the death of the old because it must be so. No one ever asks if it can adapt or reinvent. Instead it simply must...
View ArticlePopcorn Time: what the ‘Netflix you always wanted’ taught us about ourselves
I think it is pretty safe to say that we have all done it. We have succumbed to the peer pressure of the masses and we have buckled. We have tasted freedom and we liked it. We liked it so much that we...
View ArticleScrew innovation, the New York Times need to focus on TBD
The New York Times Innovation Report has been ripped to pieces by many brains in the media world but the issues are the familiar TBD framework I work with, namely Technology (can/does it do what is...
View ArticleBeyond memes: BuzzFeed gets $50-million from Andresseen Horowitz
Venture capital firm Andresseen Horowitz has just announced a US$50-million investment in hugely popular media tech company BuzzFeed, tallying up its total valuation at a massive US$850-million....
View ArticleNot just for magazines: why digital publishing is a smart business decision
Time and money are the two key components of running and maintaining a profitable business. Another factor that’s key to a business’ success is always looking for new and innovative ways to stand out...
View ArticleBlurred lines: stop trying to define a journalist in the age of social...
In 2014, is it still important to discuss and compartmentalise what a journalist is? Dan Gilmor, author of We The Media, reckons that the question of what a journalist is shouldn’t be an issue in the...
View ArticleHow EWN used data journalism to give context to Soweto attacks
Xenophobic attacks broke out in Soweto last week spreading to other areas around Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Khayelitsha in the Western Cape. News organisations were quick to report on the killings as...
View ArticlePopular tech site ReCode bought by Vox Media conglomerate
The media landscape has been in flux for quite a while now, with digital eating into print publishers’ business models and more global audiences setting the pace. In the tech reporting space alone,...
View ArticleOnline publication Quartz Africa launches in mission to cover the ‘next billion’
Renowned US publisher Quartz launches its second international chapter in Africa today, reiterating a ripple of international interest in the region which is said to be a hotbed of trade and...
View ArticleYou can now read The New York Times articles on WhatsApp
The New York Times is publishing articles on WhatsApp. For the first time Whatsapp users will be able to read their news from the platform. Though this is a first of its kind, it should not to...
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