Innovation space beckons for M&G’s Roper

Editor-in-chief and online editor Chris Roper, who is leaving to join a data-journalism operation, looks back at his six years at the Mail & Guardian and how online and the print title has changed in that time.

Chris Roper was a surprising choice as editor-in-chief for the Mail & Guardian in 2013 because his background is digital; not the traditional newsroom.

Now he’s surprised everyone again by announcing that he is resigning to become a senior Knight Fellow at the International Center for Journalists.

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ABC first-quarter: A sorry tale for SA newspapers

The release of the latest ABC circulation figures today – for the first quarter of 2015 – from the Audit Bureau of Circulations of SA (ABC) tell a sorrier tale than usual for newspapers: even those that have managed to hold steady or increase slightly in recent years are down.

All categories of newspapers – daily, weekend, weekly, local, free and hybrid – ­fell from the corresponding period in 2014 although they were showing signs of stabilising from the immediate previous quarter, that of the fourth quarter of 2014.

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Menell Media Exchange returns to Joburg

Tanya Pampalone discusses the upcoming Menell Media Exchange (MMX) conference which takes place in June in Johannesburg. This article originally appeared on fesmedia-africa.org.

It wasn’t long after mining executive Clive Menell died that his family decided to honor him in a way befitting the man.

His daughter, Mary Menell Zients, remembers how, in the sixties and seventies, her parents’ home in Parktown North was a gathering place for people around the country from different political, socio-economic and racial backgrounds. They were there to discuss, among other things in the South African zeitgeist, how to alleviate the worst effects of apartheid, and to figure out avenues toward a new, democratic country.

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How the Chinese media coverage of the Kenyan restaurant incident

On 15 March a Nigerian journalist visiting Nairobi for a workshop went to for a meal at a Chinese restaurant in the city. He arrived sometime in the afternoon, and shortly after he was admitted the restaurant’s gate was shut, although the institution was still open. He found this slightly odd but thought it was just a security measure of some sort. The next day he invited two of his friends, both Kenyan journalists, along to the same restaurant for dinner.

Yet when the party of three arrived at Chongqing Chinese Restaurant in the neighborhood Kilimani, they were refused entry on the grounds that “the time for Africans has ended”, i.e. Africans are not allowed to patronize the restaurant after 5 pm for reasons of security. Last year, staff at the restaurant explained, an armed gang had carried out a robbery of the restaurant and its patrons, and as a result the owner had opted for a blanket refusal to serve Africans at night.

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Picking up after SAPA’s demise

After 76 years the independent not-for-profit Sapa announced in February this year that it could not find a way out of a long-running funding impasse and would shut up shop on March 31st. However, in fact as far back as last year (See State of the Newsroom SA 2014) Sapa declared that it was in discussions about a new commercial model but this floundered when the Sapa board decided it could not credibly decide on its future because some of its members were among the bidders.

It was a surprise to the news organisations of South Africa because the signals sent out by the Sapa board in 2014 – during which new “investors” were sought – was that there was confidence that a solution could be found to the crisis that began when one of its four funding members, Times Media Group, pulled out in 2013..

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Law Focus: Law of Operation Fiela

Operation Fiela means to sweep clean. The controversial operation seems to be targeting undocumented foreign nationals, so tonight we discuss the legality and consequences.

Lawyers for Human Rights’ Kayan Leung and Dr Johan Burger from the Institute for Security studies join us, as well as someone who has experienced the operation.

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The Science Inside: #012 – Nepal Quake

The earthquake that shook Nepal has shocked the world.

Hear tenth-grader Chloe Jenkins’ experience of the quake, then find out all about how earthquakes work with Prof Ray Durrheim from Wits. Later in the show Dr Charlotte Nobel and Medecins Sans Frontiers’s Dan Sermand explain the medical medical dangers and response on Everest – with or without an earthquake. .

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The Science Inside: #011 – Say No To Xenophobia

#‎SayNoToXenophobia‬
You know the hashtag, but what’s being done scientifically around xenophobia?

We find out about what genes can tell us about human migration from Dr Ian McKay at the Origins Centre at Wits University. Elna finds out how to build a healthy xenophobia shelter with Medicine Sans Frontiers’s Dan Sermand and Mark Pillai from Gift of the Givers.

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Radio Days Africa 2015

The Wits Radio Academy’s annual radio conference has become the premier gathering of radio leaders on the continent. It’s where they grapple with issues facing the medium in a changing environment, get inspired by the best new ideas from here and abroad, and learn new skills.

The conference will bring together around 50 top international speakers, and 200 and upwards delegates from public, commercial and community radio; producers, managers, on-air talent, sales and marketing staff and anybody else interested in the medium. It’s the conference for everybody interested in radio and its future. This year, the theme is Radio 2.0, concentrating on the new shapes and forms the medium will take.

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Update your multi-media skills

Apply now for June and July 2015. Wits Journalism offers mid-year courses in several key areas for working journalists and communicators.

• Online Journalism
• Photojournalism
• Radio Journalism
• TV/Video Journalism 

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