Non-stop news - 22 Sep 2008

Our 24-hour news channel, etv's eNews, came of age this weekend with its non-stop news coverage on the Presidential drama - a panacea for news junkies like myself who tend to channel surf for all news angles. Well done! Also worth mentioning was the scrolling instant SMS reaction from viewers which SABC carried right after President Thabo Mbeki's address to the nation at which he announced his resignation. While techno-savvy blogophiles at the cusp of the online social media revolution may scoff at keeping up-to-date on such key events through the mainstream media, it is still a reality for the majority of our country's people. Although things are changing rapidly as the youth (our future readers/audiences) spend more time on their mobiles, iPods and on the Internet than perusing mainstream media - as we heard last week at HDI's ‘Summer School' for marketers on youth marketing trends. And at another key event last week, Tony Koenderman's Cracking the Digital Code workshop, Google SA's Stafford Masie indicated that South Africa could have the fastest and most cost-effective broadband Internet by 2010 already. Wishful thinking? We hope not; this is a media space that is innovating fast and our local technology needs fast broadband in order to keep up with the rest of the business world. On a personal note, I'd like to pass on my heartfelt appreciation to all our clients and our readers who sent messages of condolences and who made donations to St Luke's Hospice in Cape Town, after the recent passing of my father. Thank you.