South Africa is sorely missing a real journal of opinion, of the ilk of the US’s <i>The Nation</i>. Sean Jacobs looks at the lessons held in the memoirs of <i>The Nation</i>’s publisher, Victor Navasky.
David Bullard argues that, just like the era of the niche bank, the era of the niche magazine will be a short one. Is there a similar smell to the hype?
How do the media budgets of South Africa’s big four banks rate in comparison to their market share? Kirsty Laschinger looks at the figures and speaks to the banks’ marketing executives about strategy.
Auditor General Shauket Fakie has called for documents that deal with the government’s financial arrangements with Sasol. The fuel-from-coal giant, on which taxpayer support was lavished in the past, has been at the centre of controversy as oil prices have jumped dramatically in recent months and continued to trade at these much higher levels.
Absa has introduced a new home-loan product that makes it possible for almost anyone to own a home of their own. MyHome gives individuals or couples with joint monthly incomes of between R1Â 500 and and R7Â 500 access to an affordable 100% mortgage bond that can also include a five-year fixed-rate option.
As far as I can remember from second and third-hand conversations here and there there’s a very famous bit in the Bible where it say that this fellow Jesus came upon a group of poverty-stricken-looking guys with shabby clothes and ragged beards looking lost and forlorn by the Sea of Galilee.
As African leaders gear up for two successive summits to salvage peace efforts in Côte d’Ivoire, the country’s President, Laurent Gbagbo, has ruled out any mediation role for his fellow West African leaders. The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States has invited heads of state from across the region to the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
Billions of dollars of reconstruction contracts awarded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are being investigated amid concerns of cronyism and abuse. More than 80% of the ,5Â -billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were awarded without bidding or with only limited competition.
The political administration of the country’s nine provinces will cost the taxpayer R16-billion by the end of this financial year, about 8% of the total transfer from national government. Provincial ministers, their bodyguards and private secretaries will soak up R500-million in remuneration alone.
The flood of new titles into the magazine space may well be filling what appear to our biggest publishers to be obvious gaps. These guys don’t skimp on research and they’re past masters at the art of the compelling media argument.