Media24 mourns the passing Prof Jakes Gerwel

Wednesday 28 November

Today Media24 mourns the passing of its chairman, Professor Jakes Gerwel, following a short illness.

Gerwel served as the chairman of Media24 since 2007 when he took over the reins from Ton Vosloo, current chairman of Naspers. Gerwel also served on Naspers’s board of directors and chaired Welkom Yizani, Media24’s black empowerment partner, since its inception in 2006.

Media24 CEO Esmaré Weideman was devastated by the news. “Prof was not only a wonderful chairman, but also a true mentor.  His quiet yet incisive leadership and insight into the media – and Media24 in particular – grounded us all. The first thing he always asked me, in our regular chats, was ‘And how are the people?’ He really loved this company. We have lost a father figure. Our thoughts are with his wife Phoebe and his family.”

Fellow directors on the Media24 board said the following:

Ruda Landman: “End of an era, of someone who made a difference during this crucial period in our country.”

Prof Rachel Jafta: “We’ll miss his dignified presence in so many aspects of our lives.”

Prof Gerwel made a valuable contribution to the group and will be sorely missed by the board and all employees of Media24.

Media24 donates R24 million to new CSI project

28 June 2012

NEWS

Media24 has donated R24 million worth of free advertising space to 12 non-profit organisations and 12 small businesses to assist them with media exposure. This donation forms part of the group’s ‘Giving you space to Grow’ project aimed at community development and growth.

BUSINESS

Twenty-four small businesses and non-profit organisations will benefit from a Media24 donation of free advertising space worth R24 million. As part of this community development project, each organisation will receive advertising coverage worth R1 million within various Media24 publications, including newspapers, magazines and several online titles.

MEDIA24 DONATES R24 MILLION

Media24 has launched a multi-million rand project to give selected non-profit organisations and small businesses a boost by making advertising space to the value of R24 million available, allowing them to market their services and projects in the group’s newspapers, magazines and online titles. This ‘Giving you space to Grow’ project is a focused initiative to combine the efforts of the media company’s myriad social investments under one umbrella and to make a significant difference in the visibility of these 24 organisations and businesses.

“Media24 is excited about launching this initiative, aimed at being of value to communities,” says Esmaré Weideman, CEO: Media24. “With ‘Giving you space to Grow’ we are focusing our contribution to socio-economic development and enterprise development on making a real difference within the context of broad-based black economic empowerment. By donating advertising space and editorial coverage, we are helping 12 non-profit organisations to get more exposure for the huge contributions they are already making to the social fibre of our community. In addition, we are also supporting 12 small businesses whose entrepreneurship initiatives are aiding economic progress at local levels.”

Media24’s influential variety of publications will assist the project to make a contribution to the sterling work these 24 organisations are already doing. The beneficiaries will each receive advertising space to the value of R1 million and the advertisements will run in various Media24 magazines, newspapers and online titles from 1 August until 31 December this year.

Media24’s contribution won’t only be limited to advertising space – several publications have also committed their editorial support for the project. Some of South Africa’s most influential titles such as YOU, NewsNow, go! and Finweek have chosen “partners” that fit in with their various brands from this list of 24 organisations. The titles will report about these organisations to support their work in the communities.

Project Manager Adrie Jurgensen says ‘Giving you space to Grow’ is a wonderful way of honouring organisations and people who perform community work with great enthusiasm and empathy – and to also give entrepreneurs the opportunity to market their businesses to the broader public. “There are many different ways of getting involved with projects in South Africa. Merely dishing out money is not always the answer,” she says. “Media24 wants to make a difference by doing what we do best, by telling ordinary people’s stories. South Africa has such a wealth of stories about hope and success, as well as stories about trials and tribulations. We can all learn from what others do to help people. With this project we can help to tell South Africans stories about the remarkable work done daily.”

The 12 non-profit organisations which will benefit from the donation are: Badisa, Junior Achievement SA, the Make a Difference Foundation, FunDza, World Wildlife Fund, grassroots ad agency The Movement, Reach for a Dream, Charity Aid Foundation SA, FAMSA, the sport and education NGO the JAG Foundation, help2read and the Shanduka Black Umbrellas. The 12 small businesses that will benefit from this project all form part of the Shanduka Black Umbrellas, an organisation supporting new businesses.

Magdél Steyn from the JAG Foundation, one of the organisations selected, says, “This Media24 initiative will help us reach higher heights with our projects and this will create a bigger difference in the lives of more children. It is a huge honour and opportunity to be one of the 12 businesses chosen to benefit from this enormous project and we thank Media24 and their management for such an incredible opportunity.”

Visit www.csi24.co.za for more information.

QUOTES:

“What an incredible initiative. Nowadays media coverage is priceless and this is exactly what we needed to convey our good stories and to tell the public what we need,” says Annemarie Bezuidenhout, marketing manager of Badisa, an organisation which provides social services to those in need.

“The FunDza Trust is delighted about the opportunity Media24 has given us. With their support, we will be able to reach out to more young South Africans and nurture a love for reading,” says Nicci Giles of The FunDza Literacy Trust.

DRUM's S’thembiso Hlongwane named Discovery Health Journalist of the Year

DRUM magazine reporter S’thembiso Hlongwane walked away with Discovery Health Journalist of the Year 2011 Award for his piece “We’re waiting to die”. According to the judging panel, his article is “a masterpiece of excellent, striking and unforgettable journalism, which portrays a healthcare delivery system on its knees due to political and economic mismanagement by an unelected absolute monarch who spends the nation’s resources on himself. The story, focussing on Swaziland, demonstrates the collateral effects on South Africa’s own challenged health delivery system in ways that similar stories focusing on health crises in other countries did not manage to achieve. The story is exemplary journalism in its uses of a diversity of sources that add informational and explanatory value.” S’thembiso was also awarded the Best Health News Reporting category award for the same piece.

This year is the fourth annual Discovery Health Journalism Awards and close to 200 entries were received for this year’s awards.

Dr Jonathan Broomberg, CEO of Discovery Health said, “congratulations to all the deserving winners. These awards aim to make a meaningful contribution to the quantity and quality of health reporting in South Africa by promoting and recognising excellent health reporting. Health journalism is as broad as the healthcare profession is, spanning a number of issues in the clinical, scientific, economics, personal finance, lifestyle and other sectors where healthcare issues are of importance.”

Professor Tawana Kupe, Convenor of the judging panel and Dean of Humanities at University of the Witwatersrand said, “we were pleased with the overall quality of entries and to receive a record number of entries. Many of these entries skilfully dealt with relevant health issues that are ongoing and will have a significant impact on our society over time; and demonstrated a knowledge, understanding and application of the many facets necessary for delivering excellent health journalism in a factual, well balanced, clear, and informative way. This kind of knowledge, understanding and application of excellent journalism is what judges look for in a competition of this calibre.”

loveLife CEO, Grace Matlhape said, "health reporting targeting youth requires young people themselves to drive that reporting process to capture and retain the attention of youth. Journalism remains a critical tool to promote active citizenship and the health of our nation. loveLife’s involvement in the Discovery Health Journalism Awards encourages the participation of young journalists in providing excellent and creative health reporting."  

Media24 winners

Discovery Health Journalist of the Year
S’thembiso Hlongwane
‘We’re waiting to die’ - DRUM

Judges’ Citation
S’thembiso Hlongwane’s very well written story “We’re waiting to die” is a masterpiece of excellent, striking and unforgettable photography, which portrays a health care delivery system on its knees due to political and economic mismanagement by an unelected absolute monarch who spends the nation’s resources on himself. The story demonstrates the collateral effects on South Africa’s own challenged health delivery system in ways that similar stories focusing on health crises in other countries did not manage to achieve. The story is exemplary journalism in its uses of a diversity of sources that add informational and explanatory value.

Best Health News Reporting
S’thembiso Hlongwane
‘We’re waiting to die’- DRUM

Judges’ Citation
S’thembiso Hlongwane’s very well written story, “We’re waiting to die” on the collapse of the Swazi health delivery system and its impact on South Africa is a well crafted piece of journalism that uses striking and unforgettable photographs. It stood out as an example of how both the words and photographs complement each other at the same time as the photographs tell a story in their own right. The power of S’thembiso’s story is its ability to explain the causes of the almost comatose state of the health delivery system as a result of the political misdeeds and economic profligacy of the absolute monarch and in giving a voice to those who are directly affected, as well as quoting a range of experts and officials in South Africa and Swaziland.

Best Health Lifestyle Feature
Lydia van der Merwe
‘Waar jou gesondheid begin’ – SARIE

Judges’ Citation
The sequencing of the human genome promised to usher in a new era in health management and intervention, but in many cases, it has raised more questions and provided few definitive answers. It has become clear that there are hereditary factors for the susceptibility and progression of various communicable and non-communicable diseases, and this knowledge has not altered the course of major diseases such as breast cancer and diabetes. A less explored area is the effect the environment, and more specifically, the environment during early development in utero, has on health. Scientists are now looking in this area to bridge the gap between genes and the overall health status of people.

This issue is expertly and systematically handled by Lydia van der Merwe in explaining the link between fetal development and conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes and temperament. Lydia’s use of multiple academic sources, combined with an added layer of interpretation is exemplary and makes for exciting reading. Her writing is clear and unencumbered by jargon. She explores various aspects of the issue using published literature and historical narrative, in ways that enhance the appeal of the piece. This is a fine piece of journalism.

Best Health Consumer and Feature Writing
Colette du Plessis
‘Om te berg of nie?’ - Baba & Kleuter

Judges’ Citation
Colette du Plessis’s excellent consumer piece “Om te berg of nie?” on harvesting and storing umbilical cord blood to obtain stem cells for future treatment is both novel and timely. New parents have so many things to consider; and this article provides a clear and systematic description of the options and process of harvesting cord blood in South Africa. Colette’s well written piece presents both the immediate costs and the long-term legal issues that need to be considered in collecting cord blood. There is artistry in writing about complex issues in an accessible way.

Melinda Shaw resigns as editor in chief of heat

Media24 Weekly Magazines has announced the resignation of the Editor in Chief of heat magazine, Melinda Shaw.  Shaw has been with heat since October 2003. André Neveling, current editor of TVPlus, will be acting editor of heat in transition period before the appointment of a new editor.

“Over the past years Melinda has built a strong editorial team and published an international title which under her leadership has grown into one of the strongest media brands in South Africa. This is a remarkable achievement in a highly competitive environment. We would like to wish Melinda all the best with her new plans.  We will really miss her in our team, but we do respect her decision. I have no doubt that her career will continue to grow from strength to strength,” said Willem Breytenbach, General Manager of the Media24 Weekly Magazines Division.

Shaw said: “My time with heat has been challenging and enormously satisfying and I will always be grateful for the opportunities and growth that it has afforded me. I will be sad to say goodbye to the unique and extremely talented group of people who make this brand so compelling. At the same time I am very excited to be embarking on a new adventure.”

Shaw will be launching a media consultancy that will connect brands, personalities and media across a variety of platforms.

Melinda Shaw was South African founder Editor of heat magazine and has been at the helm of the title for the past eight years. Before that she was the launch Managing Editor and later Deputy Editor of FHM in South Africa.

Your SMS determines our classroom winner

If you own a mobile phone and can count to five, your SMS votes can help determine which existing pre-school in the Boland region will win a new classroom to the value of R80 000.