Oscar Pistorius: Media Review, Week 1:CNNI CNN HLN

CNN

CNN South African Correspondent Robin Curnow. With Nelson Mandela's passing and now this trial, she is really getting to prove what she is worth.

CNN has been covering the event along with other 'big' news in the rest of the world. Between covering the Oscars, Oscar and the happenings in the Ukraine, CNN is spoilt for choice on what they get to cover. The trial has generally taken a back seat to the Ukraine coverage, but with the many added temporary bulletins that has been added to CNNI since the Ukraine events this trial is still getting sufficient coverage on the channel with Robin Curnow on the ground along with another CNN correspondent that was brought in to cover the trial, though he is seen more than Robin. One has to wonder where the likes of Errol Barnnett, one of CNN's other correspondents based in Africa are and do they too not deserve the chance to 'shine?' 

Chris Cuomo from CNNUS's morning show, New Day

Their US feed has also been covering the case quite extensively. Knowing that the US judicial system is different to the South African one, anchor Chris Cuomo is seen explaining the South African system to the US audience. This case is really allowing the world to know if South Africa's constitution is as good in practice as it is in writing.

Between covering the Ukraine coverage, Amanpour still had time for this court case

 CNN's sister channel HLN, the channel for social media (and court cases) has been covering the case extensively, as expected. Here South African socialite, Jen Su, is seen providing analysis on HLN primetime show Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thinus seems disgusted that this woman was chosen as she cannot be seen as 'credible.' I disagree with this stance because if you look at what other channels are providing (lawyers and the likes) it is refreshing to be informed by a non lawyer type on a channel that is not a 'news' channel but a 'social' channel all about trends and what people are talking about

Oscar Pistorius: Media Review, Week 1 (Introduction)

Multiple tv channels created just for it. Specialists in the field being brought in at top dollar just to cover it. New state of the art broadcast studios, graphics and cameras. Rolling coverage on tv and online. Special reports.The world's eyes on South Africa.

Reeva Steenkamp during the 2010 Soccer World Cup

If you were in a coma for slightly more than a year, you would be thinking I am talking about the 2010 Soccer World Cup. But I am not. The tv channels are dedicated to a court case, not a sport. The specialists are lawyers and not retired sports legends. The state  of the art studio is not for Supersport. The media is not here for sport. They here for a court case. The court case of Oscar Pistorius, once a hero to countless people and the mood is not exactly festive either.

(C) SAPA

Here is a summary and review of the first weeks court proceedings, as covered in the media.

I always wondered why exactly the media was so excited about covering the trial. And then I realised the real answer: They were excited about covering each other. Monday night I struggled to find courtroom coverage on tv, yet the Oscar trial was on ALL news channels. What was on? Media, covering media. The Carte Blanche channel dedicated to covering the trial was in the midst of a 1 hour program covering how the media was  covering the event. Switch to eNCA: An insert by the head of news (Ben Said) on the media. The insert spoke of the journalists, the cameras, the helicopters, even the drone camera (which was from Carte Blanche, the first time a drone has been used in South African coverage) but no coverage. I switch to the dedicated 10pm slot on SABC News and what do I find? Lo and behold, coverage on the news (I was impressed, however, that they acknowledged that 'three' local news channels covered it. Usually they tend to not even acknowledge the existence of competition).

However, soon things regulated and focus shifted back to the trial.

Nikiwe Bikitsha has left eNCA

eNCA Senior Anchor, Nikiwe Bikitsha, has signed off for the final time this past Friday, February 28th. She broke the news herself earlier in the week. There had been no rumblings of her leaving and in  the past few months she even gor promoted to anchor eNews Prime Time in addition to her anchoring duties on eNCA.

Nikiwe Bikitsha joined what was then known as the e News Channel on the 11th of May 2009 as the female co anchor on their flagship broadcast, News Night, replacing outgoing anchor, Redi Direko, who stepped down citing burnout. She joined eNCA from CNBC Africa and before then, was a breakfast host on SAFM. She was also a commentator for the Mail and Guardian, though she returned a few moths ago. 

In 2012 she took a leave of absence from the eNews Channel to take up the prestigious Hubert Humphrey Fellowship. This left co anchor Jeremy Maggs anchoring the show solo for well over a week, before the channel decided to move then breakfast show anchor Iman Rappetti into the slot temporarily (prompting Ayanda-Allie Paine to fill in her slot). However, the duo received such warm reviews for their on screen chemistry, that they remained the News Night pair since. 

Upon returning well educated from her scholarship, Nikiwe Bikitsha found herself working for a channel that has relaunched and changed its name from e News Channel to eNCA since she left, with a new anchor in what used to be her slot, and the addition of exciting new anchor Eleni Giokos meant that every slot from 6am to 9pm was choc-a-bloc with two anchors, leaving no place for Nikiwe. During her first few months back, the newly returned "Senior Anchor," as she was tagged on screen found herself without a slot, instead doing 'special reports.' However, soon the likes of Ayanda Allie-Paine, Eleni Giokos and Mac Moleli all left the channel, and she was given the 4pm slot in what was yet another channel lineup shuffle.

Nikiwe just never seemed happy in this slot to me, always coming across as dry and uninterested in the new slot, a far cry of the super enthusiastic and full of energy anchor she had been just a year or so prior before leaving for the scholarship. I often thought it might just be the format of a solo anchored late afternoon slot that was just dull, but whenever JoAnne Josephs filled in for, JoAnne seemed to make the slot feel so exciting. 

Nikiwe was also recently promoted to anchor eNews Prime Time after anchor Sally Burdett received a promotion in the group to head of anchors (which I must say seems to come across as a very messy job these days). She seemed dry anchoring the most watched Englsih news Bulletin in the country as well. 

Nikiwe most recently co anchored special coverage of the events surrounding Nelson Mandela's death. However, now that I look back, it is really interesting that she was not used more effectively during the SONA coverage (actually, not used at all outside of a normal role) which could actually be read as a sign of her leaving.

Nikiwe was studying when she joined the channel, studied while there and says she will study now that she is leaving (along with working in business and doing freelance work). Nothing like someone always bettering themselves. Here's to Nikiwe, once upon a time one of the fastest rising stars in local news. 

ANALYSIS: ALL ABOUT THE OSCAR PISTORIUS TRIAL CHANNEL

This comes from the channel DStv is planning on launching to cover the Oscar trial. As always, analysis follows the press release:
26 FEBRUARY 2014

On 3 March the world’s media will descend on Pretoria to cover the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius. However, only one media platform will provide 24-hour coverage of the trial’s progress, with in-depth analysis and informed commentary from key personalities.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial - A Carte Blanche Channel on DStv Channel 199, will feature interviews with a large variety of expert guests from around the world throughout the course of the daytime and evening programming. These guests will offer insight and commentary on what happened in court. Experts will include senior legal minds, psychologists, forensic experts, social commentators, brand gurus, social media analysts, news and media heavyweights.

“The channel has secured exclusive access to acclaimed international experts, who will feature as regular guests. These include criminal defence attorney, Robert Shapiro, famous for his defence of OJ Simpson, American forensic experts and police consultants to hit TV shows likeDexter, who provide fascinating insights,” said George Mazarakis, Executive Editor of the channel.

The editorial team responsible for the channel’s conception and content are the very same journalists who have brought the world 25 years of credible, award-winning investigative reporting on news magazine show, Carte Blanche. The presenters are veteran news journalists Derek Watts, John Webb, Bongani Bingwa and Devi Sankaree Govender, top social media lawyer Emma Sadleir, experienced radio talk show host Leigh Bennie, heavyweight legal journalist and radio talk show host, David O’Sullivan and ex BBC presenter, Subniv Babuta.

In a landmark judgment today, Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo found in favour of MultiChoice’s application to broadcast audio of the full trial and to televise parts of the trial, including opening arguments, state expert witnesses’ testimony, police officers, any other state witnesses (unless they object), closing arguments, judgement and sentencing. “We are thrilled that the SA judiciary has matured to this ground breaking decision. It is a seminal moment and will make South African television and legal history as visual access of this nature has never before been granted in a South African court,” said Mazarakis.

The channel will be hosted from a studio in Johannesburg, with regular live crossings to a team of top journalists who will be based at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. This team, led by field anchor John Webb, will provide live commentary via on-camera crossings and social media as events unfold in court.

Top local and international journalists will also join in-studio and field anchors to offer insight and analysis. This partnership between news channels and platforms is also a first of its kind.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial - A Carte Blanche Channel will feature daily analysis on the global audience’s reaction to the case on social media, with a live Twitter feed displayed on screen and engaging public polls run on social media.

The channel will also have daytime and night time programming, which will run from 7:00 to 22:00 daily, with content repeated from 22:00 until 7:00 the following morning when the channel goes live again from the North Gauteng High Court and the channel’s Johannesburg studio.

Pistorius’ criminal trial is scheduled to run in the North Gauteng High Court from 3 March to 20 March.
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ANALYSIS:
-DStv is really going all out with the trial. They are really investing what I am sure is millions into this trial, in the form of talent, on screen and off, which comprises of Carte Blanche personalities, Eye Witness News reporters (which I am sure did not come a t a cheap cost) and international 'starts' that are being brought in to cover the trial of a century. Howver, one has to wonder on the type of return they plan on seeing. As they say in business, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So, with this in mind, one has to wonder what DStv expects in return for their investment. I mean, yes, many people are likely to tune in to the channel, which could be a good source of ad revenue. But DStv is not in the business of Ad revenue. They need sunbscribers and though this may generate a lot of interest, I do not see any potential subscribers signing up to DStv to see the trial or the channel. I cannot even imagine many people on smaller packages upgrading to at least the Compact bouquet so that they can gain access to the channel.

- The partnership between Eye Witness News and Carte Blanche is equally as promising as it is interesting. Promising as in the fact that this can lead to many more great projects coming out of this partnership in the future (should it succeed). Before the launch of ANN7 and SABC News, I always thought the first competitors eNCA would have would be either a channel from Carte Blanche or EWN.
Interesting in exactly what each party gets out of the deal. Before this announcement, I wondered as to how Carte Blanche planned on running a full channel based on only the staff of a one hour show. Now we know that they will have EWN reporters as well to fill the schedule. But what does EWN get out of the deal? Free advertising? Carte Blanche talent, who are rather quite popular, going on radio? This talent sharing deal could actually in the end be bad if talents are forced to pull double duty for both radio on EWN and tv for this channel.

-Does the country come to a stand still for this trial? What I mean with this is is there really not going to be any other news for Carte Blanche, who usually does a multi-story show, to cover during the trial as it seems the award winning weekly show will be exclusively focus on the trial for the next few weeks and not other issues in the country like, say, the elections.

-The studio being built for this channel is rather nice I might say. (See below)

ANALYSIS:OpenView HD launches Trial TV: The State vs Oscar Pistorius on Channel 119

So Openview HD will be having their own channel dedicated to the "Trial of the Century" The press release is below, followed by analysis:
"South Africa’s first free-to-air digital satellite platform, OpenView HD, is launching a channel dedicated to broadcasting  the  Oscar Pistorius trial live on Monday, 3 March 2014.

Trial TV: The State vs Oscar Pistorius, which will run on OpenView HD Channel 119, will offer viewers live court proceedings from 10AM-4PM.  Court proceedings will be repeated on the channel throughout the schedule.

Oscar Pistorius, also known as the blade runner, was accused of allegedly shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp on 14 February last year. Pistorius is due to stand trial in the Pretoria High Court on 3 March.

Says Maxwell Nonge, Managing Director of Platco Digital: “OpenView HD is pleased to be able to broadcast the Oscar Pistorius trial live on our platform. The decision to provide our viewers access to  information of public interest is in line with our commitment to afford OpenView HD viewers with as broad a range of programing as we have at  our disposal.”

Monde Twala, e.tv Head of Channels says: “There has been a lot of interest around the Oscar Pistorius case amongst our viewers, therefore, we would like to afford our viewers the opportunity to witness and follow the trial of Oscar Pistorius as it happens.”

Viewers can also tune into e.tv Prime Time and eNCA on DStv Channel 403 for more riveting coverage of the court proceedings."

ANALYSIS:
What is clear from this release is that this channel will be produced by the eTV guys (sister company of Platco, Openview HD's operator. What makes this interesting is the fact that eNCA will also be having their own coverage of proceedings as it happens, so the same team will be responsible for providing coverage on two tv channels.

This then raises the question of 'talent' that will be used for the Openview HD channel because they obviously do not have a news channel of their own. This then leads to the probability of eNCA talent having to pull double duty to appear on both channels. You will also have to start wondering whether there will be simulcasts between the channels because analysis will have to be provided on both channels and it is going to be pretty redundant to have two separate productions being produced by one production company, providing coverage of one event. What content is shared is also going to be of interest for then content that airs on eNCA, which is perceived as a premium news channel available exclusively to people willing to pay R265 or more for it (that is the cost of the DStv package that has it, DStv Compact).

This also creates the possibilty of future channels covering specific events in the future on the Openview HD platform in the future, like the elections. Now that prospect is exciting

[Further analysis of Oscar coverage will be introduced heavily within a few hours]

State of the Nation Coverage Plans for eNCA, eTV, SABC News, SABC2, CNBC Africa and ANN7

This Thursday, the 13th of February is the annual State of the Nation Address by President Jacob Zuma. This is going to be an interesting one to watch as it is an election year and also to hear which issues he will address and how to address them.

©SABC News

For the first time ever, we have more than just one general news channel that will be covering the event (along with the fininacials). Since President Zuma made a smart move by moving the event to prime time where normal South Africans can see it, the channels really went all out with their coverage.



eNCA will cover the event throughout the week as part of their regulars cheduled program. Their actual coverage starts at 4pm in Cape Town at Parliament (immediately after the Cape Town broadcasted News Day). Senior anchors Iman Rapetti (NewsNight) and Andrew Barnes (NewsDay) will anchor live from Cape Town with the likes of Nikiwe Bikitsha contributing. This is Andrew's umpteenth SONA considering that he is Cape Town based, with it being Iman's second, after last year. Before that Nikiwe was the female anchor but could not last year due to her studying (I still cannot see how those studies benefitted her career).  Jeremy Maggs usually does a review panel from Joburg at 9pm.
eTV will also broadcast the address from 7pm to 8:30pm. As such both their soaps (Rhythm City and Scandal, respectively) will broadcast from 6pm, pre empting the 6pm Sotho bulletin.
EDITORS COMMENTARY: I remember last years state of the Nation address coverage on eTV and eNCA quite well. It was Valentines Day, the same day Oscar Pistorius murdered his girlfriend. As such eNCA really wanted to gain interest from an international audience who they just recently reached through Sky in the UK and LiveStation online. They did this through providing rolling coverage of the event with great repetition anchored by Deborah Patta with input from the highly talented Karyn  Maughn. This coverage did not even mention the SONA which happened at the same time. The SONA address was covered on eTV, but because they only wanted to show it until 8:30pm and Zuma stopped talking at about 8:25, they just wrapped up, wasting the resources that were brought to Cape Town including anchors, reporters and analysts.



It goes without saying that the public broadcaster will cover the even live as well. Coverage begins at 5pm on the SABC News Channel (DStv 404), repeated at midnight. This will be a full team effort  and ends at 9pm. This also makes things interesting to see what will broadcast on SABC 3 at 6:30pm  which is usually a simulcast with the SABC News coverage at that hour and also that some talents used for the 6:30pm broadcast will be used for SONA. At 9pm a sports review broadcast, which will be pre empted at 8:30pm will be broadcast at 9pm before returning to regularly scheduled programming. This is an odd choice considering that a more appropriate Business Report with Francis Herd is also being pre empted, but wont be shown.
Of course SONA coverage will be shown on SABC 2 as well, from 6pm to 8:30pm, shifting that evening's 7de Laan to a Friday double bill. At 8:30pm we have fifteen minute bulletins in Afrikaans and then Sotho back to back.
 

ANN7 will be broadcasting the event live as well. it is not clear whether they will broadcast from location but will indeed have a few reporters there. Those likely working the even include Chantal Rutter Dros and analyst Hajra Omarjee.

The Financial Networks will also be providing live coverage.

CNBC Africa has live coverage for 2 hours from 7pm.

Summit TV is unclear at this moment.

Spoilt for choice indeed, but if you prefer the speech and no fluff and analysis, you can of course get the live and raw feed with no flashy anything or fancy editing on the Parliamentary Service (DStv 408, surprised it is not on StarSat yet). This is where you go if you want your coverage anchored by the speaker of the house and not some journalist.

Mandela Viewership: Funeral

Blow find the FTA viewrship figures for the Mandela funeral. Certain channels had round the clock coverage, while others just broadcast the actual thing.
Notice how the SABC 2 viewrship gradually increases due to their rolling coverage to a point where they totally eclipse the other channels.

Mandela Viewership: Official Memorial

Below find the viewership graph for 7am-4:30 pm on December 10th 2013, the date of Nelson Mandela's memorial. The memorial was live on SABC 2 and eTV on the FTA channls.

More Notes:
- Though slated for an 11am start, it only offically got underway at 11:58.
- The 'Óther Viewers' column represents viewers who watched either SABC 1 or 3 during the memorial, neither of which showed live coverage, but did have a reasonable amount of Mandela-themed content.
- The feed that was shown on SABC 2 was also seen on SABC News, DStv Channel 198, SABCNews.com and the SABC's youtube channel (none of whiches figures are added here).
- The feed seen on eTV was also shown on eNCA, their youtube channel, livestation.com and at certain extended periods on NDTV, none of which are added here.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial: a Carte Blanche channel

Press release issued this morning:

MultiChoice to launch pop-up Oscar Pistorius trial channel on DStv.

On Sunday, 2 March 2014, MultiChoice will launch a 24-hour pop-up channel on DStv Channel 199. The Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel will feature round-the-clock coverage of the legal proceedings, as well as exclusive documentaries, profiles and in-depth expert analysis.

This is the first time DStv is using a pop-up channel to cover a major news event. “We previously added dedicated channels for special events such as Idols and Big Brother. This pop-up channel will give our viewers in-depth coverage of the Oscar Pistorius trial, with a rich variety of content and social media integration,” says Aletta Alberts, Head of Content for MultiChoice.

The channel will be put together by the producers of Carte Blanche, well known for their excellence in investigative journalism. “The Carte Blanche producers were the obvious choice to create and package the channel. Their mantra of ‘You have the right to see it all’ ensures viewers will get fair and balanced coverage of the trail,” Alberts added.

The channel will be available exclusively to DStv Premium, Extra and Compact customers. The Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel will be a conduit to the inside information on the most talked about and controversial subject in recent South African history.

Pistorius’ criminal trial is scheduled to run in the Pretoria High Court from Monday, 3 March to Thursday, 20 March 2014. The trial judge will decide whether any part of the trial will be broadcast live closer to the start date.

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Let's analyse:

First time ever something like this is put together and the Carte Blanche team involved.

It is going to be interesting to see how the Cart Blanche team will manage going from their well structured news magazine   show to providing rolling coverage.

One has to wonder if these guys have enough time to man the channel AND to continue putting together such a high quality weekly show.

While the channel will be available for Compact and upwards, the show itself (and thus the brand), is premium exclusive, meaning a great deal of their potential audience is unfamiliar with their product and thus are likely to stay with their current news provider of choice. However, considring that the channel is sandwitched between both SS Blitz and Big Brother Mzansi, both of which are hugely popular on the lesser packages, they are definitely counting on people to channel surf in the region

 It is also going to be interesting to see how exactly this 'pop up channel' concept will work as it is being described as the channel will "disappear" if there is nothing going on. Disappear as in go the message that says 'Service Not Available' or disappear as in a static on air graphic. The channl also cannot do these disappearing acts too often otherwise the viewers wont enjoy it.

This can only lead to greater things from these guys in the future as we gt to see what Cart Blanche is really capable of.

eNews Prime Time not Prime for etv? Part 2

I do understand that at 7pm the group broadcasts FOUR bulletins (eNews Prime Time on eTV, News Night on eNCA, their African News Bulletin for e Africa, eNuus op Kyknet) and has to get ready for an 8pm Zulu bulletin on eKasi+ and 9pm extended African bulletin,  but is it fair that the most watched one gets the least attention? That it no longer has stability?

I mean this musical chairs of anchors (and now locations as well) really makes what is actually a very successful show seem unstable when compared to the competition on SABC 3 where there is a solid 2 person anchor duo, which is their most days wekdays, a business anchor and a sports anchor, all dedicated to this show only and not on eTV where both the anchor and sports anchor are new on a daily basis.

eNews Prime Time not Prime enough for eTV?

Image courtesy of www.etv.co.za

eNews Prime Time is by far the most watched English News Bulletin in the country, more than doubling its only competiton's (SABC 3's hour long bulletin which starts at 18:30) numbers on a daily basis .

However, it seems as if eTV and eNCA are really not giving much attention to what is definitly its  most watched bulletin of the day.

As you can see, the picture in this article is that of FORMER anchor Sally Burdett which I found on etv's official website. This was the only relevant picture I could find as others show even older anchors and older logos. [If you do not know, Sally left her position as eNews Prime Time anchor to take up the position of Story Editor & Head of Anchors at eNCA since th latter half of this year. She has done the odd anchor job on eNCA every now and then, like anchoring the evening of Nelson Mandela's passing].

However, since she left this position to become head of anchors, there really has been no solid anchor in this slot.

Nikiwe Bikitsha, who left News Night two years ago to complete a 10 month leadership,academic and professional development programme known as the Fulbright Hubert Humphrey fellowship in the U.S for mid career professionals deemed leaders in their field. However when she she did not return to News Night (Where Iman Rappetti hold the co anchor title now), sh instead picked up the 4 o'clock to 6 slot and later added e News Prime Time to it as well.
First question: Is it normal that the anchor of your most watched show is someone just doing double duty after another show?

It doesn't end there. As this well learned person, Nikiwe is the group's go to anchor for on location reporting, having reported from the Eastern Cape during the period of Mandela's passing,  Pretoria for Politics and Davos for the World Economic Forum. This then leads to the obvious problem that now you have two shows that no longer have an anchor, e News Prime Time and the 4pm-6pm slot on eNCA. Usually, Jo-Anne Josephs filled in on both (she is, after all a former prime time anchor at SABC 3 before joining the then e News Channel).

But it doesn't end there. JoAnne these days are seen more on her actual slot (9am-1pm) alongside Gareth Edwards, leaving 7 pm empty, again.

On Tuesday, Jremy Maggs filled in at 4pm (and eventually did double duty on his usual slot to 9pm). However, due to obvious reasons, he cannot be on e News Prime Time. So who comes in? Junior anchor (and occasional fill in at 4pm or mid morning on eNCA) Duduzile Ramela. I have nothing against her, but I do think that it should NOT be a junior anchor anchoring your most watched show.

Wednesday was another story (because these people are really pushing limits). Cape Town did Prime Time (News Day's Andrew Barnes anchoring this time). As you know Cape Town only does the weekend, public holidays and late night news on eTV (and News Day on eNCA, simulcast for 30 minutes on eTV).

Political Tuesday Coverage: ANC Press Conference

The news channels barely had time to rest before needing to cover yet anothr political event, the ANC presser.

SABC News took this one live (unsurprisingly), though their coverage was quite bare, only having one anchor in studio and leaving the conference first at 12:30 to show taped show Question Time. At lunch time, they provided very little extra coverage.

eNCA took the conference from the start as well with a political analyst in studio. They, however, left the conference at about 12:53 to get a bit of perspective from their analyst (they do not pay him for nothing, I suppose) and thn went to yet another weather bulletin (you can never get enough weather).

Hajra Omarjee, who has seemed quite foolish in her coverage for the day thus far declared that they (ANN7) will take the conference live when they feel like there is something meaty being said (nothing like deciding for your audience I suppose). After this, the news anchor read about 2 other stories before they too decided to opt in to the conference.

Political Tuesday Coverage: DA-Agang SA Merger Announcement

So in the early hours of today the DA and Agang-SA announced that thy will be merging. This news was of course breaking news across the local news channels, except SABC News Cahnnel, of course.

I watched the 11:30 bulletin on eNCA, which was quite neutral in tone anchored by JoAnne Josephs and Gareth Edwards (both quit talented and supposed to have anchored this slot together for quite a few months now but hasn't been the case due to them being the go-to fill in anchors on other slots, meaning one usually anchors solo). They only covered it for a few minutes though before playing an extended report by Cathy Mohlanhlana took them to the top of the hour, followed by weather.
On News Day, Andrew Barnes is co-anchoring from outside the Townhouse where the announcement was made, providing more perspective.

On ANN7 though, I was quit shocked to see exactly how critical in tone Senior Political Correspondent Hajra Omarjee was of this merger, ridiculing it in anyway she could and mentioning things like this means Mamphela cannot stan by her word, etc. which is quite silly as politicians are known to change their views more drastically. 

ANC Manifesto Launch Coverage

All 3 news channels covered the ANC's Manifesto launch on Saturday (11 January).

The SABC's feed was also shown on SABC2, which is quite a downstep as the last ANC Manifesto launch was shown across all channels. Their coverage was just a feed of the actual events on stage the whole time, which at times weren't exactly appropriate for the whole nation to see (eg. reading out the names of the children performing and then their parents so that their parents can collect them afterwards).

eNCA's feed was anchored from a media suite/box in the Mangaung based stadium, where Justice Malala provided analysis along with a new analyst and senior anchor Dan Moyane anchoring from the studio. However, this analysis seemed to take more screen time than the actual event itself, which was quite frustrating as people tuned in for the event and not talking heads as it was happening. This drew some reaction from the online community as people took to Twitter to complain.

The station that made the most of these complaints is ANN7, who really seems to take advantage of others mistakes (because everyone laughs at theirs). They had their reporters retweeting complaints of people tweeting about what was happening on eNCA. Their coverage was quite welldone, anchored by Hajra Omarjee, a senior political analyst. However, one thing that did work in their favour is that they provided live coverage of the stampede outside of the stadium, which was a refreshing alternative to what was on the other stations.