New research puts spotlight on how – and why – ads work - 30 Apr 2012[Rod Baker, Content Director] Researchers at the University of Los Angeles in the US have found that when it comes to which ads are winners your brain knows better than you do. Neuroscientists at the university used brain data to predict how large populations will respond to advertisements. It's sad, but true, that one of the world's most dangerous professions is journalism. read more Countdown to World Press Freedom Day - 23 Apr 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] Next week Thursday, 3 May 2012, is World Press Freedom Day, which marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991 in Windhoek, Namibia. This year, the main celebration of World Press Freedom Day will be held in Tunis from 3-5 May, jointly organised by UNESCO and the Tunisian Government under the theme 'New Voices: Media Freedom Helping to Transform Societies'. According to a study released in May 2011, the number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media declined to its lowest level in over a decade. read more Social media can be a funny thing - 16 Apr 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] Social media can be a funny thing at times. Especially when it comes to breaking news. read more Let's get going.... - 2 Apr 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] So we've completed the first trimester of 2012 and so far so much has happened on the continent. Here are just some of the things that stood out for me in the past three months: we released our 2012 Biz Trends report and it is still available to download in pdf format; Airtel continues to expand its footprint on the continent with its latest move, launching mobile services in Rwanda; research revealed how Africa tweets; there's been some positive growth in media in Malawi; Design Indaba 2012 has come and gone and Samsung is set to offer free satellite TV to Africa. The one thing that remains the same is the ongoing battle of media freedom on the continent. read more Africa is getting there - 26 Mar 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] Over the weekend I got into a discussion on the topic of living in Africa. The person who I had this discussion with was from South Africa, the same place where I'm from. read more For the better... - 19 Mar 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] Last week I mentioned that media freedom in parts of Africa is still an ongoing battle. Following MISA-Malawi's response on recent incidents, the chairman of the Malawi Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, Anthony Kasunda, has since received threats over the chapter's stance on the Malawi government's repeated attacks on the media. read more Media freedom - the battle continues - 12 Mar 2012[Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985] Media freedom in some parts of Africa is still an ongoing battle. In Malawi, information and civic education minister, Patricia Kaliati is reported to have verbally assaulted journalist, Gregory Gondwe, following an article in which Gondwe reports on the annual assessment of the presidential cabinet. read more Going mobile in Africa - 5 Mar 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] Towards the end of 2011 I made the statement that the African continent wasn't showing any sign of slowing down, especially in the mobile sector. We are now approaching the end of the first quarter of the year and things are still looking bright. With that said, Airtel Africa has announced that it will continue its existing partnership with Google, with the aim to make internet products more accessible to consumers across Africa. read more Time for Design Indaba 2012 - 27 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] It's that time again when thousands of the world's brightest talents from across various creative industries descend on Cape Town, South Africa, for the annual Design Indaba Conference and Expo. The conference takes place from Wednesday 29 February until Friday 2 March 2012 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and the expo (which is open to the general public) takes place 2-4 March. read more A world without knowing - 20 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] Could you ever imagine a world without having access to information? A world in which we didn't know what was happening around the world? For the life of me, I can't for one second imagine just how it would be. News sites, newspapers, radio, television, social networks - just how they have become part of our very existence is beyond amazing. There isn't one day where I go about my everyday doings without having to check social networks to see what's happening in the world. read more How credible is the news on social networks? - 13 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] During this past week, the credibility of news reported on social media networks is what caught my eye. It has become way to easy for news, with or without confirmed facts, to be spread to the rest of the world by a simple click of a button. read more The good news and the sad news - 6 Feb 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] Like in any industry, there's always the good news and then there's the bad news. Well in this case, some sad news Firstly, the sad news is that the acting executive director of the Media Council of Malawi, George 'Sly' Dambula, passed away on Thursday, after succumbing to Malaria and lung infection. read more Sowing the seeds of the mobile community - 30 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] With the growth of mobile users on the continent, users in Morocco continued their upward push through 2011, with the number of users rising to 36.55 million. YoungAfricaLive, the mobile community that entertains and educates young people on topics of love, sexual health, gender and relationships affecting the youth has now also launched in Kenya and is available through the SafaricomLIVE! portal. read more New year, new beginnings... - 23 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] We're heading to the end of January 2012 already and almost everybody should be back at work by now. With a new year, comes new beginnings. read more The hashtag generation - 16 Jan 2012[Evan-Lee Courie] I recently got very annoyed reading my news feed on my Facebook page when I saw a number of people using hashtags in their status updates, it wasn't just one or two people but it was more than I expected to see. It may say something about the Facebook friends I have or the people I know, but let me tell you that is not the case. read more |
