Save us from the Save David Bullard brigade
By Robert Brand and Anne Taylor We’ve had to put up with David Bullard for years, so it was with delight that we heard he’d been fired. But it seems there are those who are rallying to his defence,...
View ArticleDamned lies, journalism and private healthcare
What is it about journalists and numbers? Mathematical incompetence among journalists is, as the American media scholar Steve Maier once put it, ‘legendary”. Actually, Maier was wrong. Far from being...
View ArticleThe ANC’s newspaper for people who don’t read newspapers
The easiest way to make a small fortune from newspapers, a wise man once said, is to start with a large fortune. The ANC would do well to keep this advice in mind as it considers a proposal to acquire...
View ArticleWhat goes up, never comes down
Why do we keep paying more for food at supermarkets even as the petrol price and producer prices fall? Business Day’s explanation in an editorial this week is far from convincing. It starts off...
View ArticleNiehaus provides the entertainment but what’s the real story?
I can’t help feeling sorry for Carl Niehaus. Not that anything can excuse the man’s behaviour, but you have to understand where he’s coming from. Niehaus spent his early adulthood in jail for his...
View ArticleThose who want newspapers to die are missing the point
The Rocky Mountain News, Cincinnati Post and New York Sun are gone. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published its last edition on Tuesday. The San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer and...
View ArticleDo we need the biggest Cabinet in the world?
Can someone explain to me why South Africa needs 31 Cabinet ministers? According to The Times, Jacob Zuma is planning to enlarge the Cabinet from 28 to 31, plus 19 deputy ministers. That would make...
View ArticleRetailers, please explain: Why do food prices defy gravity?
I am getting just a little bit irritated by food retailers who shed crocodile tears over the difficulties of their cash-strapped customers, while raking in ever-increasing profits. Take, for example,...
View ArticleNyanda as communications minister? Is this some kind of joke?
Some journalists believe that President Jacob Zuma’s inauguration speech signalled a thaw in his relationship with the media. But actions speak louder than words: look who he appointed as his...
View ArticleIn defence of Julius’s right to free speech
I believe in freedom of expression. Our Constitution protects the right to freedom of expression. That is why I cannot welcome the Equality Court’s ruling that Malema was guilty of hate speech when he...
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