How is FastFlip working for you?

I recently interviewed Newsclip CIO Jaco Wilson about Google FastFlip – the new media content product launched by Google earlier this month – as some say – in an attempt to help publishers regain some ground with lost revenue.
Publishers have been struggling with the onset of the web, losing their content to millions of users, [...]

Simply having an online presence is not the answer

Sean Williams recently summed up key points from an article he had written for the Institute of Public Relations on communication strategy – and one of the points really hits home hard. Williams states: “Social Media is no panacea… We know that the creation of social networks – and the action of dialogue within these communities [...]

Sharing knowledge and giving credit where it is due

I am one of those that falls into the category of: ‘I feel terrible if I download music from the internet.’ I don’t like stealing, and downloading things like books or songs has a tendency to feel wrong. Why? Maybe because it’s just so simple! No one has to know, you can enjoy any song [...]

Twittering teens add words to the dictionary

This week’s Sunday Timesnewspaper featured an article from The Times, London, titled ’smells like teen spirit’. According to the piece, “Twittering teenagers have shown their influence on the English language by introducing dozens of new words to the dictionary and helping re-invigorate older ones.”
This is just the kind of thing that piques my interest. Teens have long [...]

A re-emergence of print?

2009 has been a turbulent year in economic terms. The global financial crisis stunted the growth of numerous businesses worldwide; unemployment levels soared globally; and many businesses let go of their search for profit and adopted the approach of simply trying to break even. Although there has been much talk about ‘green shoots’ in the [...]

Trademarks and copyright in the media and advertising space

I recently attended a Knowledge Resources seminar on marketing legislation, where the focus was on the importance of awareness and understanding of the legal requirements and best practices affecting the environment in which you operate, as non-compliance could damage your brand and company reputation.
Intellectual property is an interesting concept to consider, as it is the [...]

Predictive text is unpredictable!

While cell phone features and functions just keep on growing and developing, there will always be those features that are confusing; complicated; or just plain annoying. The ‘instant online access’ button found on newer phones is particularly tricky to navigate, as I, like many others, don’t always press the button I intend to, and only [...]

The media loves Kanye’s big mouth

Hardly a single newspaper missed the attention-grabbing stunt by Kanye West at last weekend’s MTV Video Music Awards. When Taylor Swift went on stage to accept her award for Best Music Video, West snatched the microphone from her and stated ‘We all know Beyonce really had the Best Video!’. This ruined Swift’s acceptance speech, as one would [...]

The Times LIVE new-look website does not please

The Times re-launched its website, with a new-look and feel and has called it Times LIVE. The research into the design process was taken from Scandinavian countries, which have the highest internet penetration rates, as well as the highest number of online news consumers. It therefore made sense that the new-look would be successful in [...]

Multimedia’s growing appeal to Gen-Y

We recently published a story about the launch of The Times new-look website and noticed a few interesting trends based on our interviews with The Times Editor, Ray Hartley and Avusa GM, Elan Lohmann. The new-look website is using a new content management system that will integrate more multimedia content not only on the website, [...]