/ 16 August 2013

M&G begins ‘digital first’ restructuring

The paper claimed the "Mail & Guardian and Google have assembled a team to co-ordinate the illegal publication of results of the Zimbabwean election".
'The Bank of Lisbon fire was not the only fire to have sent Johannesburg’s emergency services scurrying on Wednesday. Scores of people in the Angelo informal settlement in Boksburg lost their homes when a fire destroyed 30 of them.'

This was to ensure that all parts of the business were working optimally towards a single, profitable business goal, M&G Media chief executive Hoosain Karjieker announced on Friday. 

Karjieker further advised that the restructuring could result in positions within the organisation being made redundant, which could, in turn, lead to retrenchment.

The company's "digital first" strategy emphasised the greater role digital publishing would play in its future, and recent appointments had been informed by this strategy. Karjieker advised that the new structure would be implemented in a manner that would secure the longer term financial viability of the organisation. The company was a truly hybrid publisher and had experienced significant growth in its digital audience over the past few years with a 60% growth in audience for M&G Online, a 2 000% growth in audience from Mobile and an 81% growth in its overall publisher audience over the past year alone.

Staffing needs were going to be reassessed, and it was envisaged that at least 10 positions could become redundant, he said.

Newly appointed editor-in-chief Chris Roper added that transforming a legacy print business into a digital media business required a total re-engineering of resources and staff. This necessitated retraining and repurposing of people, as well as a re-evaluation of business goals. "It's an exciting enterprise for journalism, as well as a necessary one."