Tribunal go-ahead for media merger

NEWSWATCH: The ‘unconditional' approval of the sale of the 38% M-Net/SuperSport stake to Naspers for R4 billion by the competition tribunal yesterday, Thursday, 8 November 2007, may result in a takeover battle for Johncom, writes Business Report. Caxton has been opposing this merger and may take the decision to the Supreme Court of Appeal, according to Business Day, and reasons for approving the merger will be given at a later stage, reports Fin24.

The Mail & Guardian editorial this week focuses on the Koni deal, which it describes as “anything but groovy”:

    Koni Media, led by the Groovin Nchabaleng, might not sound like a very serious proposition. But the secretive attempt by Koni to buy Johncom is part of a Machiavellian strategy to deal with the Sunday Times, the group's largest and most powerful newspaper.

Meanwhile Prof Guy Berger, head of the School of Journalism & Media Studies at Rhodes University, writes in the Mail & Guardian that “[i]f self-regulation [of newspapers] fails, it will be replaced by external regulation, combined perhaps with the use of advertising as a political tool and moves on ownership.”

Finally, the Mail & Guardian reports that the SABC has “embarked on a charm offensive” following a confidential market research survey, leaked to the newspaper in September, that “found that viewers think the corporation treats government officials lightly and fails to ask hard questions about wrongdoing.” The spin strategy comprises a strategy document, Inside the SABC: Empowering Citizens with Knowledge about their SABC, with elements already implemented including “a Special Assignment programme on print media in South Africa and a debate on journalism at the SABC on the programme, Interface.” Reactions to the campaign have reportedly been mixed.

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About Simone Puterman

Simone Puterman (@SimoneAtLarge) is currently editor-at-large at Marklives.com and deputy chair of the Sanef online editors subcommittee. After majoring in psychology and linguistics at Rhodes University, and then completing her honours in psychology, she has been in the world of B2B publishing since 1997, with 7.5 year stints at both WriteStuff Publishing and Bizcommunity.com (March 2006-August 2013). Email her at moc.sevilkram@enomis.
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