Sandra Gordon, the former CEO of small JSE-listed media company Sasani, is going it alone and launching a new monthly title focussing on the media industry.
Gordon says the title, called The Media, will be an independent voice tracking the changes in the commercial and operational landscape of the media industry. The new company is called Wag the Dog and she says that’s exactly what her partner and her team intends to do.
Despite the adverting industry being in a recession, Gordon believes The Media will work because of its narrow focus. “The joy of having a niche publication is you’re able to control your production costs while at the same time spending any savings on very good editorial, and you have a limited and focused target market to reach,” says Gordon. That target audience will include media owners, executives and professionals in the SA media sector.
The Media’s first edition will be in October, and editorial cast will include Anton Harber and Tawana Kupe of Wits and Guys Berger of Rhodes University as columnists, with contributions from former Primedia Broadcasting Talk Radio MD Rina Broomberg and iafrica.com founding member Rudy Nadler-Nir and an occasional column from David Bullard. Kevin Bloom will be the publication’s editor.
Gordon said Wag the Dog was an investment company that would buy into a number of areas, one of which was the media. Apart from The Media, which will probably be its only title for the first year to 18 months, Wag the Dog has also launched a strategic communication business.
Gordon says the goal with Wag the Dog is to build a “reasonable business that I’ll be happy developing and running, and making some money at the same time.”