A South African newspaper editor has gone where very few editors have gone before: releasing previews and “inside” information about a yet-to-be-launched new major daily newspaper on a new blog.
The much-anticipated paper, The Times, South Africa, is a major event on the South African and greater African media calendar. It comes from one of the continent’s biggest media houses, Johncom. The group publishes a number of newspapers and magazines and also runs a business-focused TV channel.
Initially the paper will be rolled out to subscribers of the country’s current top-selling weekly, the Sunday Times — guaranteeing the daily an instant readership of more than 120,000 even before it hits the shelves.
In his blog, editor Ray Hartley offers inside information on the trials of setting up the operation from scratch. He also discusses newsroom management philosophies. The operation will be fully converged, with multimedia editors and reporters working side-by-side with their print colleagues. The blog even includes some doodles he’s drawn in meetings.
