M-Net and MultiChoice's 6th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards for 2018 is once again coming up as a so-called pan-African awards show that will be broadcast live tonight on M-Net's various Africa Magic channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.
Get ready therefore for an avalanche of pre-coverage reports, incisive and comprehensive analysis, detailed think-pieces, interviews with the organisers, interviews with the MultiChoice and M-Net executives, interviews with awards show producers, some of the nominees, coverage of the nominees cocktail party, reports about what was said during the MultiChoice and M-Net executive panel discussion(s) with people like John Ugbe, Yolisa Phahle, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwa and Nkateko Mabaso that usually precede the event - as well as of course real-time coverage of the awards show, post-win interviews, the post award show press conference Q&A, award show reviews, and the informative post-award show analysis and recaps from the journalists who flew to Nigeria to cover the event at the Eko Hotel in Lagos.
Or not.
Quick to run for the liquor at the open bar till late night and working hard at hobnobbing for selfies with celebs, Africa's viewing public will very likely - as has been the case the past 5 years - once again be ill and under-served by the continent's so-called "entertainment press".
Journalists will likely once again be doing a very bad job when it comes to actually doing what they're supposed - and have been sent - to do, which is to actually cover the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.
MultiChoice Africa once again jetted a bunch of the continent's journalists to the awards show to attend it in person, reportedly from countries including Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia, Uganda and Ghana.
MultiChoice Ghana dispatched William Asiedu (president of the Arts Writers Association of Ghana), so-called celebrity journalist Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah known in showbiz circles as "Attractive Mustapha", Annastacia Delali Sika of Graphic Showbiz, Gloria Akpene Nyarku known as "MzGee", David Bhone Dzata of Multimedia, Christopher Sowah of EIB/CypressGhana.com and NII Amah Dagadu to "cover" the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.
No South African journalists covering the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards have been included, with the Nigerian-heavy awards show that continues to make a feeble attempt to include under-represented Southern Africa and South Africa nominees in some categories as the ceremony's try at appearing inclusively continental at least in a theoretical sense.
How many print articles, reports and real-time reporting will there be this year about the usually mistake-riddled awards show and its track-record of dubious and laugh-out-loud bad production values?
Judging by previous years, not a lot - and what there might be will once again lack real depth, insight, and actual news value.
The number of articles and coverage about the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards will likely once again be very little compared to what there should be, given the number of journalists and press physically attending and invited by MultiChoice and flown from various African countries specifically to cover it.
In America and Europe with awards shows, the group of reporters are actually expected to work and do stuff - meaning file multiple reports beforehand, during and afterwards, and actually be in the pen next to the red carpet, sitting in the awards show, be at the press conference afterwards and asking real questions, and doing post-show recaps.
Not in Africa though, and not the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards where the majority will once again likely do little to nothing on Saturday night, and be more interested about how to get to the bar quickest at the post awards show afterparty.
What coverage there will be, will be the usual fawning, superficial coverage - red carpet pics, winners' lists and little else.
From the post awards show press conference - if there is even still such a thing - there will be little to no actual coverage as in previous years since the bulk of the journalists attending simply can't bother and can't bother to even ask questions.
The biggest problem however is the non-existent coverage - and it will again be so again this year 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards: Journalists who attend and end up doing absolutely nothing but with M-Net and MultiChoice who keep inviting them.
This/they does/do a huge disservice to viewers and the public who they are there to represent.
Where are the arts and film criticism about aspects of the awards show, the process, the nominees, and the ceremony about this year in particular that should already have been published as a primer before tonight's broadcast?
Where are the reporting about the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards cocktail party for nominees and what happened there?
Where are the reporting and criticism from Africa's so-called entertainment journos that an award show that calls itself "viewers' choice" once again cut down viewers' actual choice to just 7 out of 27 categories from the already paltry 16 in 2017 - with viewers literally just "choosing 25% of the actual winners?
The bad and basically non-existent publicity from M-Net and Africa Magic isn't a reason for reporters not to cover something, or not to cover the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards properly.
Reporters should still be doing real reporting, asking for comment, making media enquiries and be asking, asking asking.
Back in January I reported that the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards isn't scrapped despite Nigerian trash reporting erroneously claiming that the AMVCAs has come to an end.
Shoddy reporting like the lack of coverage and bad reporting from journalists who attend go beyond not caring, and not knowing.
For the bulk of these journalists its about not wanting to know and not caring to know or to do better - not caring to research, and not caring to do actual real arts, entertainment and TV and film journalism.
With little real background in covering TV, film and awards shows, I've seen it happen time and time again.
They get seduced by hotel stays where they buy into a sudden "holiday" over work mode, get overwhelmed by the hype and glitz and the superficial spectacle instead of being used to it and actually hunkering down, working the room at awards shows and press conferences and doing interviews, and what they should - representing their readers.
Perhaps M-Net and MultiChoice should consider some type of a compulsory "mini master class" in arts journalism and TV and film criticism as an afternoon class for the media who are invited to this Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.
South Africa's brilliant veteran journalist and writer Gwen Ansell for instance would be absolutely perfect, and has done just such a one or 2-day courses and lectures in arts journalism for several years at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival.
In the past this journalist attended these classes for two years and what Gwen Ansell said, her terrific notes and quick-course material, and what she instills in journalists' minds about entertainment writing, doing reviews and arts coverage even in just an hour or two, is the type of thing that Africa's mostly clueless entertainment reporters desperately need more of to do their jobs better.
Arts journalism standards in Africa are decrepitly low - the level of which will again, sadly, be on full display tonight when you wonder where the actual real (non-existent) coverage of the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards is.
