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/ 4 May 2005

Govt mag: propaganda or public service?

The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) hopes to appoint an editor for a planned bi-monthly magazine by the end of May and could be distributing around a million magazines by September. The as-yet unnamed magazine will aim to "disseminate information about economic opportunities to those who need to improve their lives".

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/ 4 May 2005

Failure’s Lessons

What does the demise of <i>ThisDay</i> tell us about the daily newspaper model in South Africa? Phillip de Wet analyses the reasons behind his former employer’s downfall and asks whether the remaining crop are comparatively healthy.

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/ 4 May 2005

Despite modest advances, malaria still a major killer

Despite advances made in the prevention and treatment of malaria around the world, the disease continues to represent a major challenge in Africa, where the overwhelming majority of deaths now take place. The 2005 World Malaria Report, released on Tuesday by the World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund, notes that the efforts made in recent years have begun to bear fruit.

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/ 4 May 2005

Pay more and stop the talent drain

Financial wisdom has it that the media sector is not the place to get decent returns on an investment. The initial capital outlay tends to be excessive, ongoing production costs can be up in the stratosphere, and the merchandise that’s flogged to advertising clients is generally intangible. It makes sense then that the media isn’t renowned for its massive salaries.

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/ 4 May 2005

Maasai warrior’s long walk for tradition

It is not extraordinary for Maasai warriors to walk for months as nomads across Africa in search of grazing land. But it is bizarre to see a six-foot, regal, ebony skinned warrior gliding across Long Street in downtown Cape Town, amid quaint coffee shops, carrying his spear and kitted out in his majestic blood-red blankets.

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/ 4 May 2005

The real C-word

Ladies and gentlemen, a new sex manual has sauntered into town. Punning title, check; cover image of sliced fruit, check; sexologist author with PhD, check. So far, so standard, but Dr Ian Kerner’s She Comes First: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman is beginning to have an impact beyond the usual scope of a glossy paperback sex manual.

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/ 4 May 2005

Death by land

The descendants of British colonialists in Kenya are reeling in shock following the arrest of a member of the country’s most prominent white settler dynasty, the Delameres, in an incident that has ignited debate about land reform in East Africa’s largest economy. Tom Cholmondeley (37), a farmer, is expected to be charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Simon ole Sitima (44), a Kenya Wildlife Service game ranger.

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/ 4 May 2005

An invidious form of Aids censorship

”The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) is taking legal action against what it sees as a charlatan flogging vitamins to people with Aids so that they can avoid taking anti-retroviral treatments which is said to be poisonous. That is what the TAC does, and should do, so well,” writes Pat Sidley.