New tech news site from FM's McLeod

"Marketers and advertisers in South Africa's technology industry have long wanted an alternative to what's out there. TechCentral is that alternative," McLeod told Bizcommunity.com

McLeod, who won the Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year Award in 2005 and has also been named MyBroadband People's Choice Journalist of the Year a number of times, has formed a company, NewsCentral Media, to house www.TechCentral.co.za and other news websites he plans to launch later.

Now is the right time

According to McLeod, who has spent the past 12 years at the FM, now is the right time to make the move into online journalism. With new undersea telecommunications cables such as Seacom, coupled with the billions of rand telecoms operators are pumping into new national fibre-optic infrastructure, the price of broadband access will (eventually) be driven down. This in turn, believes McLeod, will lead to dramatic growth in the number of South Africans with regular access to the web.

“Web-based technology journalism in South Africa has, with the odd exception, been fairly poor,” McLeod says. “I hope to build TechCentral into the quality, first-choice read for people in South Africa's information and communications technology industry, as well as those interested in technology news generally.”

TechCentral has secured top columnists ahead of its official launch. For example, former Vodacom group CEO Alan Knott-Craig will contribute a monthly opinion piece and McLeod is certain that Knott-Craig's first column, on telecoms interconnect rates, will stir controversy and debate.

The site design is heavily focused on multimedia and photography. TechCentral will feature the popular weekly ZA Tech Show podcast, and McLeod has plans to launch other podcasts soon after launch. “As broadband prices come down and as bandwidth caps are raised, more people will begin downloading podcasts for the first time,” he says.

The website will also have lighter pieces, such as personality profiles and movie and videogame reviews. Ever-popular technology and gadget reviews will feature prominently.

Q&A with McLeod

Bizcommunity.com's Simone Puterman recently caught up with McLeod, who turns out to be a Durban boy who decided against meteorology at the University of Pretoria since the thought of studying applied mathematics in Afrikaans didn't appeal to him. Because he had always enjoyed writing, he decided to pursue a career in journalism instead and signed up for the three-year national diploma in journalism at Technikon Natal (now the Durban University of Technology), under head of department Prof Graeme Addison.

Addison also shared a strong interest in technology, so together they set up a computer lab that was used to train students in (what were then fairly rudimentary) DTP applications. Addison also sent him on assignment to Johannesburg to investigate SA broadcasting technology and then nascent technologies such as digital terrestrial television and digital audio broadcasting.

After he graduated, he moved to Johannesburg and joined Systems Publishers as a subeditor on PC Report, a computer magazine. He later joined ComputerWeek as a journalist before becoming the weekly newspaper's news editor. He left Systems in 1997 to join the Financial Mail as a senior technology reporter, eventually becoming associate editor.

When did you first come up with the idea and how long have you been planning this?

I've been at the FM for 12 years, and I've known for some time that I needed to move on. I could have gone to another publication, but that would really have been a sideways step. I could have moved onto the editing desk at the FM, but my passion is for writing, so I'd rather be involved in a capacity where I'm able to do that.

I have been thinking about starting my own website for more than a year. I initially spoke to another online publisher in South Africa about a JV [joint venture] but decided against that for various reasons. I've decided, instead, to strike out of my own.

Whom else is part of your team? Who's part of NewsCentral Media? Who are the other columnists?

At the moment it's just me. I'm doing everything from the accounting to the admin. It's fun, though the learning curve is daunting. I'm learning a lot about business by doing it all myself. But it's a good learning experience.

I will be making use of a network of contributors. Ben Kelly, formerly the technology editor at Finweek, will be a regular contributor, for example. Alan Knott-Craig is a columnist, as mentioned, but Hamilton Ratshefola, the CEO of Cornatone and former ICT Personality of the Year, will be contributing a regular opinion piece, as will Dominic Cull, a legal expert well versed in telecommunications law. I have other high-profile columnists lined up but I need to keep one or two surprises for launch day. :-)

Will you have a regular newsletter? How else will you distribute your news?

Yes, I will have a daily newsletter. I'm wrestling with the tech as we speak and it will follow within a few weeks of launch.

Will you be using social media in your news strategy?

Absolutely. Twitter, in particular, will form a key focus for TechCentral. The stream is @TechCentral. I will also be creating a Facebook page to promote the website.

What do you mean by "The site design is heavily focused on multimedia and photography"?

The site will feature large, high-quality photos and will integrate audio (podcasts initially but more planned), as well as video.

Who is responsible for the user interface [UI] and design of the new website?

I bought a commercial theme and modified it for my purposes.

What is your revenue model??

This is a business website aimed at decision-makers and industry leaders in SA's technology industry. Though it's not a trade publication, per se, as it will appeal to a fairly wide audience, it is also not a broad-based consumer website.

The good news is the website will be profitable from month one, thanks to advertisers who have signed up from the start. These advertisers have bought into the vision I have for the site - for it to be SA's leading source of quality technology news and opinion.

I certainly wouldn't have been able to do this without a reputation built up in the ICT industry over the years. As one of my advertisers said to me, if I'd been the average Joe asking for advertising for a new website, they would have sent me away and told me to come back in a year. Without the credibility I have built up, there is no way I would have been able to secure the founder advertisers I have that will ensure the site is profitable from the start.

So what will be the options for advertising? Banner ads? Sponsorships?

Banner ads only at this stage. I have actually sold all of my initial inventory, so I need to find new inventory. It's a nice problem to have before the site has even started. I don't want to put off prospective advertisers, though - once the site is up and running I will definitely be creating additional inventory. Anyone keen to advertise should drop a note to info at techchentral dot co dot za.

What will make you different to your competitors eg ITWeb?

The only way to differentiate yourself and build a loyal readership is to offer quality content. That means breaking news on a regular basis and providing the sort of in-depth analysis that people value.

What other news websites and podcasts do you have up your sleeve?

One hundred percent of my focus for now is on TechCentral. I'll surface for air again in six months and consider future projects then. But I plan to launch projects that are completely out of the technology space.

What email address can PROs use to send you press releases?

They are welcome to use duncan at techcentral dot co dot za.

For more:

• Duncan McLeod on Twitter: @mcleodd