It's highly unusual and doesn't following established industry best practice in terms of basic media engagement and public relations.
The failure of Newzroom Afrika to properly - or at all - engage with trade publications covering the local TV and film industry in South Africa and other press alike, is making the nascent TV news channel look rushed, unprofessional and amateurishly run.
Despite multiple requests for interviews with Newzroom Afrika executives, TVwithThinus has been told that Newzroom Afrika executives are "too busy" to talk to the media about the new South African TV news venture.
Finer details as well as TV broadcasting basics around the channel are not available anywhere and haven't been communicated or released by Newzroom Afrika or MultiChoice.
No basic and complete press pack exists for Newzroom Afrika, which didn't release any channel schedule, channel line-up or programming synopses.
The channel, despite being asked several times, failed to share a set of complete publicity images and info pack about who the anchors, presenters and reporters are and how they look, for general use in the media.
Newzroom Afrika has been set up by Thabile Ngwato's Rapid Innovation and Thokozani Nkosi's Eclipse TV, with Newzroom Afrika that will compete against rivals like eNCA (DStv 403) and SABC News (DStv 404) in a highly-contested TV space for eyeballs and advertising rands.
When MultiChoice and Newzroom Afrika executives in August 2018 jointly announced Newzroom Afrika as the successful news channel bidder to replace the dumped ANN7/Afro Worldview on DStv, it promised both "an early-2019" launch date, as well as that it would "be sharing further details about the channel in the coming weeks".
The 2 May launch date - with no guidance or advisory beforehand despite media enquiries about it in earlier weeks - now no longer falls in "early-2019" but in the second quarter of the year. Newzroom Afrika gave no explanation for the 2 May launch date decision that comes right after a midweek public holiday.
MultiChoice and Newzroom Afrika also didn't keep to the promise of sharing details.
While local TV channels usually have a press briefing where journalists can ask questions, or a media launch event - or both - there will be no press conference or media launch event for the press organised by Newzroom Afrika.
These are usually organised jointly between a new channel, in this case, Newzroom Afrika and MultiChoice as the platform carrying it, with joint banners and showing both logos and MultiChoice contributing towards the budget of an event.
Newzroom Afrika failed to capitalise on the interest that there has been from other media in the lead-up to its launch who wanted to provide coverage about it.
Newzroom Afrika executives were also said to be "too busy" to do interviews beforehand with media that asked, instead oddly opting for two Johannesburg radio interviews and one "exclusive" Johannesburg newspaper interview who were all approached for it.
Nothing is known about the Newzroom Afrika's studio or its setup in Linden, Johannesburg, with no images available.
Nothing was shared by Newzroom Afrika about its hired reporter pool, where they're stationed and what the channel will try to cover, its investments in equipment, technology and broadcasting playout, or even its content blocks, who it will do news for, its editorial policy and news vision, or even where its name and stylized adaptation comes from.
Newzroom Afrika was asked if it would be doing a press briefing. Newzroom Afrika said "there is no press briefing planned".
It means that the only time Newzroom Afrika spoke or appeared before the media at a press conference was the one in August 2018 when it was announced as the successful bidder 8 months ago.
Newzroom Afrika was asked if there would be a media launch event. Newzroom Afrika said "there is no launch event planned before the channel goes live".
TV channels in South Africa usually invite media to a media launch event usually set a week before, on the day or a few days before launch to issue press material either as a physical press pack, on USB or through email, and then address journalists and editors and use such an event to make contact with the media, TV critics, publications and the journalists that will be covering it.
While the media has no direct access to Newzroom Afrika, the channel through the Cape Town PR company Corporate Image was asked how viewers or potential viewers as its audience should or can contact NewzroomAfrika if they want to.
"Our newsroom will be contactable through our social media platforms and by email from launch," the channel said.
