The art of reporting on what's interesting ... but also important
With terrible predictability the beginning of South Africa's winter brings with it another batch of circumcision-related deaths.
In the rush to offer analysis facts are too often neglected
Of late, I have read too many stories in the paper that do not work hard enough to persuade me as the reader that the central facts are established.
No smoking gun in SAA story
The lead story in last week's sought to provide some context to the recent upheavals at South African Airways.
News credibility is king in our twittering world
The Oscar Pistorius case has put the limits of court reporting in the spotlight, particularly the sub-judice rule.
Democracies wrestle over media regulation
As the new year creakily gathers steam, press standards and regulation are under scrutiny in both South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Headline on Ramaphosa story more embroidery than accuracy
The art of writing headlines is a difficult one: they need to be accurate and attractive and it is easy to fall into the trap of overselling a story.
Sensationalist reporting obscures complexity behind the violence
Not since the xenophobic attacks of 2008 have South Africa's underlying and unresolved patterns of violence burst as clearly into the open.
Media: The addling business of advertorials
Newspapers can earn good money by publishing sponsored content but it must be clearly distinguished from editorial or risk the newspaper's reputation.
Boipatong's ripples still spread today
Twenty years on, the events of the massacre are contested and people remain divided and angry, writes the M&G's ombudsman Franz Kruger.
Use of an allegation should have been made more clear
In any week there are readers who are unhappy with some aspect of the Mail & Guardian. Franz Kruger discusses two articles that upset readers.
