Newzroom Afrika reporter Ziniko kaMlhaba wrongfully arrested in Soweto while covering South Africa's 2021 municipal elections; SABC News reporters harassed in Limpopo.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405) reporter Ziniko kaMhlaba was wrongfully arrested in Soweto while covering South Africa's 2021 municipal elections on Monday for allegedly "interfering with the work of the Independent Election Commission (IEC)" while 3 SABC News reporters were harassed in Limpopo.

The South Africa's National Editors' Forum (SANEF) strongly criticised the wrongful arrest of Ziniko kaMhlaba, with the South African police criticised for its "sheer abuse of power" during an election.

Newzroom Afrika's Ziniko kaMhlaba was arrested live on television by South African police on Monday at the Zakheni Primary School in Soweto while reporting about the voting process taking place at the school.

Ziniko kaMhlaba was handcuffed, put in the back of a police van and taken to Orlando police cells.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said that the South African Police Service was forced to arrest Ziniko kaMhlaba from the voting station for allegedly "interfering with the work of the IEC".

"This matter has since been escalated to the provincial commissioner of Gauteng Elias Mawela who ordered both the release of the journalist and an investigation into the matter."

Newzroom Afrika says that both Ziniko kaMhlaba as well as cameraman Muraga Mphaphuli had the correct and necessary media accreditation cover the voting process at the school grounds.

Ziniko kaMhlaba had tried to request the presiding officer to interview party agents and members of the public outside the voting station but she refused to talk to him. 

She ordered him and a camera person to leave the premises outside the Zakheni Primary School.

Ziniko kaMlhaba tried to engage the Gauteng IEC media liaison officer to mediate, but his efforts were fruitless as the presiding officer "just walked away and refused to take the call".

"When police who observed the discussion refused to kick him out of the school premises on grounds that he had not broken any law, the presiding officer then called the Orlando Police Station and reported him allegedly as a person disrupting the elections inside the hall of the polling station."

"A senior officer who introduced herself as Station Commander Kubheka came and threatened to arrest me if I did not stop trying to interview the public on issues of lack of electricity and others that affected them," Ziniko kaMlhaba said.

“We were never inside the building where voting was taking place, but the presiding officer seemed to have informed senior officials that we were inside.

The live crossing on Newzroom Afrika was then shockingly interrupted by the Kubheka police person who then also chased and took cellphones from members of the members who were recording the incident.

IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo told journalists at an IEC briefing that the IEC has launched a "fact-finding mission" to determine the circumstances surrounding Ziniko's arrest.

Katy Katopidis, Newzroom Afrika news director Katy Katopodis, in an interview on Radio 702, said that the TV news channel "is absolutely outraged and we have taken this up at the highest levels with both the South African police and the IEC".

"It is an attack on media freedom and it is an abuse of power by the police. He has been released now but it is something we are taking very seriously."

Sbu Ngalwa, SANEF chairperson in a statement says that the arrest of Ziniko kaMlhaba "was totally unnecessary and sheer abuse of power by the police. No journalist should be arrested or harassed for merely doing their job. Journalism is not a crime."

"SANEF is concerned that despite all the pre-election engagements and preparations, something like this still happened and the police reacted with a heavy hand instead of facilitating an amicable solution."

SABC reporters in Limpopo also harassed

In an unrelated elections coverage case 3 SABC News (DStv 404) reporters were harassed and intimidated by members of the public while reporting on elections issues near the polling station in the hostel in Tsabeng, in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province.

"SANEF was told that after packing their equipment to leave the area to report elsewhere, a group of men and women hostel residents hauled insults at SABC reporters Pimani Baloyi, Mahlatse Phaladi, and cameraman Mpho Masela demanding that they immediately leave the area because the media was not welcome there."

Mpho Masela who was driving the SABC News vehicle calmly tried to manoeuvre slowly and leave the area while the group approached the car and pounded the car bonnet with their hands.

"We stayed calm and slowly drove off and avoided confrontation. We were not physically harmed," Pimani Baloyi says.

REVIEW. During and after South Africa's Thursday hostage drama Newzroom Afrika won the night, followed by SABC News 2nd and eNCA arriving 3rd in the coverage play-by-play.

by Thinus Ferreira

On Thursday night at around 23:30 while Newzroom Afrika's (DStv 405) political editor Sbu Ngalwa had literally found and pulled a reluctant South African police national spokesperson Vish Naidoo into the camera glare for a live interview in the aftermath of a ministerial hostage drama, the SABC News (DStv 404) cameraman showed viewers how its reporter arrived after several minutes and ran to also push a mic into Vish's face.

It took even longer for the eNCA (DStv 403) cameraman to arrive to show that channel's viewers how the eNCA reporter scrambled down a corridor to, quite belatedly, also thrust a mic into Sbu Ngalwa's basically done interview.

Sbu Ngalwa's brilliant work, and cornering Vish Naidoo with a doorstop interview, was indicative of how the totality of Thursday night went on South African TV news in the play-by-play of covering the developing news story for television viewers.

Newzroom Afrika fully won the night after it quickly switched to rolling and constant coverage, including cellphone footage (that neither SABC News nor eNCA had) of the night's ministerial hostage drama.

Newzroom Afrika constantly kept churning out updates and interviews, including a right-panel update screen. 

It put SABC News and eNCA to shame that both stuck with pre-recorded stories and election coverage for quite a while before trying to catch up and match Newzroom Afrika's "CNN-style" breaking, rolling coverage.

On Thursday night it looked like SABC News and eNCA were caught flat-footed, initially with more mooted coverage than Newzroom Afrika's borderline lurid, grainy cellphone video of the hostage drama that unfolded inside the St George's Hotel complex where South Africa's minister of defence Thandi Modise and other government officials were held hostage and had to be rescued by the South African Police Service Special Task Force.

Social media provides further proof of the pecking order of Thursday night's TV news channels' news coverage race.

eNCA on Twitter had absolutely nothing on its feed with no news updates after 22:00 where it apparently closed up shop and ended the night with a type of sponsored post about advertiser-funded content available on the channel.

SABC News put in a valiant effort with a few news updates but it's Newzroom Afrika that absolute excelled. 

Newzroom Afrika churned out both text and video reports about the unfolding developments late into the night and already started notifying potential viewers throughout the night about who it was prepping and lining up for interviews on Friday morning.

Newzroom Afrika felt present and out front as a media outlet covering the event on various platforms while SABC News and eNCA looked as if it they were short on resources and scrambling to catch up.

While Newzroom Afrika was covering the breaking news with real rolling coverage, SABC News initially did more short reaction interviews and commentary from its Auckland Park studio before a reporter eventually arriving on the scene.

eNCA would break in with the story but would weirdly return to packaged election news and other stories before it also switched full-time to rolling coverage from outside the St George's Hotel.

Noteworthy is that Thursday night's coverage of the ministerial hostage drama was led by men: Three male anchors with Thabo Mdluli (Newzroom Africa), Peter Ndoro (SABC News) and Shahan Ramkissoon (eNCA) behind the studio desks, and three male field reporters, Sbu Ngalwa (Newzroom Afrika), Samkele Maseko (SABC News) and Pule Letshwiti-Jones (eNCA) at the scene of the hostage drama.

Thabo Mdluli, Peter Ndoro and Shahan Ramkissoon were all great at "anchoring" with skilled gravitas and holding all of the various strands of news information together once all three TV news channels were fully covering the unfolding story.

Shahan Ramkissoon showed wonderful presence of mind by holding up a cellphone to his lapel mic to get the audio to viewers.

 

Sbu Ngalwa was first inside the St George's Hotel complex doing walk-and-talk, on-the-ground reporting. SABC News and eNCA, together with Newzroom Afrika, eventually all showed roving reporters and cameramen roaming the hotel corridors.

Also noteworthy was how all three TV news channels were able to immediately extend their live coverage for the night on Thursday night for breaking South African news instead of switching to repeats at their pre-determined hours.

It's clear that some learning has taken place and contingency plans put in place at all three TV news channel newsrooms having been showed up and found wanting in the past with non-coverage and no live coverage of South African news of national importance happening late night.

Katy Katopodis, Newzroom Afrika news director, kept viewers informed and actually told the audience on social media that the channel would remain live on the story, saying "We're extending our live broadcast to bring you rolling coverage of the breaking news from the St George's Hotel. Our politics editor, Sbu Ngalwa is coming to you live from the scene".

Watching and tracking all three TV news channels simultaneously on Thursday night for hours, Newzroom Afrika clearly won the night by a wide margin and looked the most like breaking news and rolling news coverage of the ministerial hostage drama. 

SABC News and eNCA were never able to fully match what Newzroom Afrika showed or did first - and better - on Thursday night.

While Newzroom Afrika showed cellphone footage of inside the room and with Sbu Ngalwa shown already walking around inside the hotel grounds and complex, at the same time SABC News would do a phone interview with static images while eNCA showed its reporter standing outside the front entrance.

In the TV news stakes, on Thursday night Newzroom Afrika was the one that constantly just looked the best.

Another Newzroom Afrika news team attacked and robbed, vehicle broken into, this time while reporting live from East London.

by Thinus Ferreira

Another Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405) news team got attacked and robbed and their vehicle broken into, this time while reporting live from East London in the Eastern Cape on Friday.

On Friday criminals robbed a reporting team of the South African TV news channel while they were live on air in East London in the Eastern Cape.

The attack follows a recent attack on South African reporters in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, where an eNCA (DStv 403) news crew was threatened and robbed.

The Newzroom Afrika crew were robbed near the ANC offices, with Katy Katopodis, Newzroom Afrika news director, confirming the incident.

"Our Eastern Cape reporter and camera operator were robbed of all their belongings. They were live on air, while robbers broke into the news vehicle, stole equipment and their bags with all their clothing and personal goods inside," Katy Katopodis says.

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) condemned this criminal attack on Saturday and called on South Africa's law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute the criminals.

"The psychological impact such crimes have on reporting crews, or any worker for that matter, cannot be underestimated as the scars remain," Sanef said in a statement.

"We have seen how volatile it has become for news crews to go out and be allowed to do their jobs."

"The safety of journalists is paramount to Sanef; hence we will be seeking ways on how to best protect our news crews on the field."

"This latest crime, and many others, concern Sanef as we continue to find ways on training reporting crews when they go out to cover stories. Such training would largely focus on the safety of journalists and what do when they go out to cover any story, riots, unrests, service delivery protests and political rallies."

"Sanef appreciates South Africans that have come to understand the work the media do and would like to call on the community to report criminals who continue to steal, threaten, bully, and prevent the media from doing its work."

Coronavirus: Newzroom Afrika staffers test positive for Covid-19, prompts more changes at the TV news channel's Linden newsroom including cordoning off sections, one-way corridors and an end to desk swapping.

by Thinus Ferreira

Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405) staffers have been diagnosed positive for the Covid-19 virus and have been quarantined at home while the TV news channel is once again reconfiguring its Johannesburg newsroom, including cordoning off sections through which staffers will no longer be able to walk and making corridors one-way walk-throughs.

The Newzroom Afrika Covid-19 cases in Cape Town underscores how vulnerable South Africa's media workers and reporters are as they continue to try and cover the impact of the unfolding humanitarian, health, economic and societal tragedy as the novel coronavirus spreads in the country and across Africa.

The Newzroom Afrika staffers who've tested positive and who are now in self-isolation come days after the tragic and shocking death on Wednesday morning of Lungile Tom (45) - the etv News, eNuus and eNCA (DStv 403) cameraman who worked at eMedia Investments' Cape Town office - where the building was shuttered for a deep-clean and more than 70 staffers sent home for self-isolation and 14-days quarantine.

Lungile Tom is the first-known South African journalist to die from Covid-19, after the SABC News reporter Ulrich Hendriks based in Kimberley who tested positive for Covid-19 and saw the SABC shutter its office in the Northern Cape province, recovered in April.

The Newzroom Afrika reporter Athi Mtongana revealed that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and shared a Bible-verse on her Twitter account on social media, referencing Isaiah 53: "My results have come back positive. I will recover, no Corona virus formed against us shall prosper. Isaiah 53 'by Christ's wounds we are healed".

Newzroom Afrika that just celebrated its first anniversary since the TV news channel that was commissioned by MultiChoice in 2019 from co-founders Thabile Ngwato and Thokozani Nkosi went on-air on 2 May 2019, didn't respond to an emailed media enquiry on Sunday morning but a response will be added when or if received.

About the Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic in South Africa Thabile Ngwato said on the TV news channel's first birthday that "on the business side we have been really prepared".

"As things started to escalate we really worked on a business-continuity plan, that would make sure that we continue to operate and continue to provide our viewers with the content that they need. Especially now."

"We work from a solid plan on the business side. From the content side we make sure that we are live, that we are direct all the time."

Katy Katopodis, Newzroom Africa news director in an internal communique to staffers that TVwithThinus has seen, confirmed that Cape Town colleagues have tested positive for Covid-19, that channel management is checking on them, and that Newzroom Afrika is once again making newsroom changes to try and prevent further Covid-19 cases.

Newzroom Afrika is once again reconfiguring its Johannesburg newsroom set-up that will include cordoning off certain sections ending walk-thoughs, ensuring alternative open desk space between seats, designated desks and an end to desk and seat swapping, and corridors becoming one-way walk-throughs.

Here is the email from Katy Katopodis to Newzroom Afrika staffers:

"Hi all,

As you may all know, some CT colleagues have tested positive for Covid-19.

I have spoken to them and they are resting as much as possible and taking good care of themselves. I am confident that they will be fine and they will get through this difficult time.

We are all here for them. We support them and should they need anything, together with Rebecca in HR we will assist. We will also keep checking on them.  Our thoughts and prayers are with our CT team and we wish them a speedy recovery.

At the same time we are also working on yet another reconfiguration of the newsroom. We will change the desks so that everyone is sitting on every alternate desk.

We will also cordon off certain sections in the newsroom that we cannot walk through. We will have designated desks for people so that we don’t keep swapping. We are also changing the flow of the building - making the corridors one way.

Those who can work from home / remotely have been identified. Wearing masks in the office is non-negotiable and we must please keep them on at all times. We must also ensure that we sanitize and wash hands constantly.

We are also working closely with Morishe and Jayosh to look for even more innovative ways to protect the mics and sanitize the equipment. I hope to have more clarity by tomorrow.

Please don’t hesitate to speak to me, Malebo, Bongiwe or Zain or any of your line managers if you have any questions or concerns.

Our health and safety is our TOP PRIORITY and we must all pull together to ensure that we are safe.

Our health is critical at this time.
Be safe everyone.

Thanks"

eNCA's Michelle Craig jumps to rival Newzroom Afrika, will now co-anchor the TV news channel's new amber-infused third morning show version AM Report alongside Ayanda Nyathi.

by Thinus Ferreira

Michelle Craig is the next eNCA (DStv 403) on-air personality who has left the scandal-engulfed eMedia Investments' TV news channel in Hyde Park for a new perch as the new co-host of the Linden-based Newzroom Africa (DStv 405) that will debut its third morning show iteration, AM Report on Monday.

Newzroom Afrika ended its first morning show try, Breaking Dawn in December 2019, followed by morning version of Newsfeed.

Now the South African TV news channel is teaming Michelle Craig - the latest high-profile on-air talent defection from eNCA - with the existing Ayanda Nyathi. Benjamin "Benji" Leshoro will do sports coverage on the new amber-toned morning show.

AM Report will compete with the country's most-watched breakfast show - Morning Live on SABC2 and SABC News (DStv 404) produced in-house at Auckland Park; as well as Expresso on SABC3 produced by Cardova Productions from its Tokai studio in Cape Town.

Other morning show competitors include The South African morning with Xoli Mngambi and Jane Dutton on eNCA (DStv 403) who have both been removed from the air this week for unexplained reasons.

Then there's also a new third version of The Morning Show produced by Cheeky Media that will also return to the e.tv airwaves on 11 May after it went off the air because of the Covid-19 national lockdown in South Africa and had to let staffers go.

"AM Report will get viewers set for the day with a zesty combination of hard news and current affairs, delivered with the channel's charactistic passion and purpose," says Newzroom Afrika that just celebrated its first anniversary on 2 May 2020.

"With a fast-paced combination of the latest updates on the big news of the day, hard-hitting studio interviews and live crossings to our field reporters across the country, AM Report will provide a dependable survival guide for the day ahead, bringing viewers up to speed on key news developments that affect us all," says the TV news channel.

AM Report will review the morning's big news stories in the newspapers and look at compelling photographs, opinion pieces and cartoons in popular print and digital media. "The show will also take viewers on an agenda-setting tour of the day's news diary."

"Candid discussions with newsmakers will add further depth, insight and relevance to the big stories as the anchors interrogate the issues and engage with viewers," the channel says.

Michelle Craig says she's "looking forward to kicking off the news cycle each day and setting the pace with Newzroom Afrika's team of committed TV news professionals."

Katy Katopidis, Newzroom Afrika's news director, says "Michelle Craig will bring fresh energy and experience to the breakfast offering for viewers with her engaging journalism style and hard-hitting approach".

"We are thrilled to have Michelle on board. She is one of those special journalists who is truly passionate about her craft and understands the importance of telling human-centric stories. We are so looking forward to watching Michelle, Ayanda and Benjamin take breakfast television to the next level."

Local plans in peril: Cancellation threat hangs over A+E Networks Africa's entire local content slate after MultiChoice dumps its channels from DStv.

The just-announced local TV content slate of A+E Networks Africa for its set of channels carried on DStv in South Africa and across Southern Africa is in danger of getting scrapped, with huge uncertainy over what - or if any - of the projects will go ahead after MultiChoice's shocking decision to dump all of A+E Networks' channels from its pay-TV service. 

The termination of the long-standing commercial partnership between A+E Networks and MultiChoice comes as Yolisa Phahle is currently MultiChoice's CEO for general entertainment, with Aletta Alberts as MultiChoice's head of content strategy and third-party channels, and with Calvo Mawela as MultiChoice CEO.

MultiChoice, through its decision to dump A+E Networks Africa's channels after having carried the slowly growing channels collection for an established number of years on DStv, is inflicting some direct damage on South Africa's TV industry as well as the local content production industry.

MultiChoice is making victims of South African production companies commissioned to produce local content for A+E Networks Africa, ranging from established ones like Clive Morris Productions doing Crime Stories SA to new companies like Nala Media from Katy Katopodis and Penny Peppa producing the gender-based violence special Loved Like Crazy.

These production companies might all likely have their programming cancelled, with their work - even if produced - that won't be seen by South African viewers since the channels will no longer be available in Africa for Dstv subscribers.

MultiChoice is also endangering jobs within the local South African TV industry with A+E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst and Sky, that established a localised A+E Networks Africa office in Johannesburg a few years ago that has slowly expanded to employ 12 people and is overseen by Yusuf Nabee as general manager.

With A+E Networks' "core" business - its History (DStv 186), Crime+Investigation Network (DStv 170) and Lifetime (DStv 131) channels that MultiChoice decided to remove from DStv - it is likely that jobs at A+E Networks Africa will now be under threat, if not the future of the entire local office which now remains unclear.

TVwithThinus asked A+E Networks and A+E Networks Africa in a media enquiry through its publicists how MultiChoice's axing of its channels on DStv will affect its announced programming.

A+E Networks didn't respond to the question.

A+E Networks and A+E Networks Africa was asked whether A+E will continue to produce the recently announced localised format show Don't Tell the Bride South Africa set for 2020 on the Lifetime channel. A+E Networks didn't respond to the question.

A+E Networks and A+E Networks Africa was also asked what is happening with the Loved Like Crazy special announced as earmarked for a broadcast date in November and which is supposed to be produced by Nala Media, and whether the second season of Crime Stories SA will still be produced by Clive Morris Productions.

A+E Networks didn't respond to the question.

A+E Networks and A+E Networks Africa was asked that if the commissioned programmes were to be produced, why A+E would go ahead since viewers won't be able to see it - or if the shows were to be cancelled, what the impact is on A+E Networks Africa and the production companies, as well as South Africa's local TV industry, and how A+E feels about having to cancel announced shows.

Again A+E Networks didn't provide any response to the question.

Dean Possenniskie, the managing director of A+E Networks for the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, spoke at A+E Networks Africa's content showcase upfront on 19 September in Johannesburg and touted the ongoing, increasing production spending going to the creation of local South African programming on its set of channels.

Dean Possenniskie described it's channels supplied to MultiChoice as its "core business" and part of a long-standing partnership with DStv, and that A+E Networks had already invested R30 million in creating local content in South Africa in 2019.

"We're proud to say that in the last 5 years we have invested in excess of R50 million into local productions which I think is very important for the local production community and which is something I believe that we will absolutely go on and do more of in the future."

While he mentioned that a slate of "exciting new local productions are coming your way in 2020 for our subscribers and viewers" all of that is now apparently under threat of never being produced - or not to be seen.

At A+E Networks Africa's upfront event, Fatime Kaba, A+E Networks Africa's head of programming and scheduling, said that "There are more announcements to come in the next few months as we continue to close deals and invest in these channels that we all love and also invest in our local creators and industry".

This premature pronouncement now looks like a pipe dream.

TVwithThinus asked MultiChoice in a media enquiry what MultiChoice's response is to DStv subscribers about taking this new local content like Don't Tell the Bride SA, Crime Stories SA and Loved Like Crazy away from them.

MultiChoice didn't answer the specific question but said in a broad response that "We encourage fresh content from all our channel suppliers, including our third-party channels as well as our owned channels that are constantly renewing their content".

MultiChoice said that "When making changes to channels on our platforms, we need to consider the content, how it resonates with our customers and its longevity".

"In addition, we need to consider the costs for the channel, the terms which may apply and whether we can get better value elsewhere".

"In some instances, decisions will be made due to channels not performing up to expectations, particularly given the costs concerned, but the world over its not unusual for channels to be changed if parties cannot agree on terms, for whatever reason."


ALSO READ: MultiChoice dumps History, Lifetime and Crime+Investigation from DStv in South Africa and across Africa after channel carriage renewal negotiations break down with A+E Networks.
ALSO READ: Loss of a Lifetime sees thousands of livid DStv subscribers sign petition demanding that MultiChoice keeps the History, Crime+Investigation and Lifetime channels.
ALSO READ: MultiChoice on axing the A+E Networks channels from DStv after a bitter carriage fee fight: 'Unfortunately, some deals don’t go as intended'. 
ALSO READ: Knowing there's no channel carriage renewal deal in place, MultiChoice warned A+E Networks not to go ahead with its 2019 upfront and content showcase event - but A+E Networks Africa did it anyway. Then came the shocking revelation.
ALSO READ: TV CRITIC's NOTEBOOK. In the ugly divorce between dad and mom MultiChoice and A+E Networks the biggest loser is the kids - viewers - who will bear the brunt of TV parents who now dislike each other.
ALSO READ: A+E Networks goes into hiding after MultiChoice axes its channels; petition grows to over 5 000 signatures from angry DStv subscribers as MultiChoice posts Channel Termination notices on the DStv EPG.

BREAKING. M-Net adds additional weekly Carte Blanche hour on Sunday nights to cover the sensational Shrien Dewani court trial.

There won't be dedicated court trial TV channel from MultiChoice on DStv like the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel which lured a massive viewing audience but M-Net and Combined Artistic Productions will now add a new weekly, hour long, additional Carte Blanche hour to cover the already sensational Shrien Dewani court trial from this Sunday.

M-Net will also broadcast the closing arguments and the judgment when that is handed down in the case by Judge Jeanette Traverso live.

The British millionaire, accused of plotting the murder of his new bride Anni in 2010 during their honeymoon in South Africa, took the stand earlier this week following a long extradition battle, with the businessman admitting in the Western Cape High Court that he's bisexual and had sex with male prostitutes.

The businessman's Paris to Las Vegas jetsetting lifestyle, expensive wedding and drug-fuelled bisexual escapades, and admission of tense fights with Anni, instantly created major public interest from South Africans as well as abroad.

M-Net is now adding the weekly Carte Blanche Legal Round Table: The Shrien Dewani Trial to the schedule from this Sunday, 12 October, from after the Sunday night movie, using the same template and presenters as for the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel on DStv.

The weekly show will also be added by MultiChoice to its DStv Catch Up offering on the DStv Explora.

The tele-terrific Katy Katopodis, Primedia's editor-in-chief of Eyewitness News (EWN) who excelled during the Oscar Pistorius trial as TV moderator with her own show, as well as David O'Sullivan will present, while the Carte Blanche presenter John Webb will attend the trial in Cape Town and share his reporting and observations on a weekly basis as well.

"It is highly intelligent and informed television discussion at its best," says George Mazarakis, Carte Blanche's executive producer.

Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel on DStv shutting down until 7 August when it will broadcast again when closing arguments are to be heard.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel (DStv 199) on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform is shutting down tonight at midnight for a third time since it began.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel will broadcast again from 08:00 on 7 August when the trial of the former paralympic athlete who shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year on 14 February will resume.

The court is expected to hear closing arguments on 7 August and the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel,produced by Combined Artistic Productions for DStv, will carry that court proceedings again live from this date.

Katy Katopodis, asked what she is going to be doing now with all her free time during evenings, told viewers on Tuesday night during her show Court Today with Katy, "grade two homework".

The most recent start-up of the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel on DStv was a definite misfire: a toned-down, torn-down, reduced and redacted version of how the channel initially started.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel suddenly had reduced hours, changed shows and an altered schedule, none of which was not communicated, nor explained, in addition to a new amateurly and bad looking, green-screened virtual block fake-remake of the once amazing studio.

Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel dumps shows, changes schedule; swops studio for fake, bad virtual set, can't bother to ensure correct DStv EPG.

They're not on trial here but it's very bad that the Ocar Pistorius Trial TV channel (DStv 199) on MultiChoice's DStv decided to dump shows in primetime and change the schedule of the just-resumed channel without even bothering to tell the press or to even ensure a proper and correct electronic programme guide (EPG) on DStv.

Furthermore the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel dumped its beautiful real set and now does coverage from a cheap and fake-looking virtual rendering of how the set used to look, but added blue lines and souped up flooring (because when you're colouring in with them Crayola's, why stop?)

The cut-out superimposed virtual insertion of the desk and chair floating in the air looks rough and clumzy.

The baby blue line and floor screening doesn't fit and someone forgot to draw some shadows. But hey, why care while you're drawing, right? And let's just "Starship Enterprise" this thing while we're at it.

No panning is possible anymore, just "camera angles" of zooming in and out, and the white back barrier of the "set" flashes with black spots as part of the overall new fake virtual feel.

Meanwhile The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel dumped The Editors with Katy Katopodis - one of the best regular strands of the channel - as well as things like Social Media Analysis of the Day.

In its place is the hour long The Trial Overview with David at 18:00 (co-incidentally not even with David O'Sullivan but with John Webb actually anchoring), Court Today with Katy at 19:00 for an hour, and Legal Round Table with David at 20:00 for an hour, until 21:00.

That is when the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel repeats the day's court proceedings and shows highlights of the day, ending an hour earlier than before.

The recordable and indicted timeslots on the DStv EPG do not correspond with what is actually being shown on the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel.

DStv subscribers recording or tuning in for The Editors will see something entirely different.

At 18:00 the DStv EPG still lists Social Media Analysis of the Day, although its The Trial Overview with David which is actually being shown.

"News of Court Today" says DStv at 19:00 on its EPG, although the real name is Court Today with Katy as Katy Katopodis now suddenly appears here, doing a different show.

(Court Today with Katy incorporates some of what The Editors was previously, with media representatives in the fake virtual studio to talk to Katy Katopodis.)

Sadly neither the channel run by Combined Artistic Productions nor MultiChoice could be bothered to communicate the changes in line-up beforehand on the dedicated DStv channel to the press and TV critics.

Nor was there any warning or basic programming publicity note that the TV channel which resumed again on Monday is now starting an hour later with the day's new programming, at 08:00 in the mornings, as opposed to 07:00 before.

The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel apparently also gave up on spelling with the on-screen text that appear. (unless there's really a Thee Times reporting on an Offscar for instance.)

TV with Thinus asked whether The Editors with Katy Katopodis was cancelled.

The surprising answer from the channel is: "The Editors are still on but with Katy during the 19:00 show. The duration of the live elements have been reduced for this final phase of the trial broadcast. The start time in the morning is now 8:00 and not 7:00".

KUDOS TO KATY: Katy Katopodis scores by successfully making media talk clique-ey on The Editors.

Perched atop her seat behind a mainsail shaped desk, Katy Katopidis loftily breezes through a daily, clique-ey coffee klatch with some of the who's who in South Africa's media maelstrom.

It's from this gleaming vantage point that Katy Katopodis, presenting The Editors on weekdays at 21:00 on The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel (DStv 199) has turned this talk show over the past two months not just into appointment television, but herself into the country's newest must-watch TV talk show star.

Holding sway over The Editors with inside jokes and off-topic references (Gareth Cliff once scared her with a snake), and filling guest seats night after night with Gauteng's mediarati for the scintillating hourly kletchfest, Katy Katopodis is equal parts reign-in kindergarten teacher and ultimate insider disher.

Katy Katopodis was clearly either head girl long ago and simply managed to maintain her imprimatur as ultimate insider, always in the know - or decided that she will grow up and become one of the presiding media mavens not just managing the news but steering the conversation.

Having logged as many hours as the first season of a successful American prime time show already, Katy Katopodis has managed to successfully turn The Editors and herself into a veritable multimedia extravaganza: creating daily appointment television taking place on a white dais with excited talkers who can't wait to share - and who are often only outdone by Katy's kindred enthusiasm.

The biggest positive yield for South African television in terms of on-screen talent upscaling from the endeavour of MultiChoice and Combined Artistic Productions' Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel, is unquestionably the incredibly professional Devi Sankaree Govender - fully, and brilliantly holding her own; anchoring hours of studio-based coverage with alacrity and a meticulous sense of purpose.

The other big TV star made by the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel is unquestionably Katy Katopodis. 

If M-Net is clever (and in a perfect world) the pay-TV broadcaster and Combined Artistic Productions would develop a TV talk show around our Katy once the Oscar Pistorius trial is over - or at least add her to Carte Blanche, fronting one story a month.

You don't buy informed presence without being haughty about it and TV charisma at the corner shop. And Katy Katopodis is one of those rare TV telegentsia. 

Doing a once a week or even a half hour weekday talker with Katy Katopodis a la The Talk and a troupe of guest talkers, would definitely work as a South African TV talk show.

The Editors - supposed to be about coverage of the Oscar Pistorius trial - has been lacking in actual real and different editors and journalists from outside of the enclaved Johannesburg-centric media hub, complete with some dubious media dilletantes in the mix (also no TV critics yet on The Editors; ironic since its about a televised court trial.

The talk show has also been short on estrogen (is there a lack of clever women in South African media or is tabloid weeklies People, heat and Destiny mostly what they do?).

The over representation of XY chromosomes has however been responsible for the pushing of the envelope in many instances into deliciously risque, almost locker room-esque talk as rambunctious male guests egg and fuel each other on while big sister Katy sighs and makes as if she cannot really control the boys. 

Yet Katy Katopodis is able to lull the viewer into a sense that those who come to talk are the available spectrum of the media, with several guests who've made numerous repeat appearances. 

The Editors feel as if it is the media coming in for show-and-tell; as if you are watching the South Africa's entirety of who and what the media in South Africa is.

She knows them, they know her, and Katy Katopodis deftly demonstrates in every edition another one of television's great, mostly unteachable skills: shepherding the madness.

When it comes to guests in the oh-so-tricky live TV environment, this mediating kingfisher superbly demonstrates that she know just when and for how long to let them go (on), when to reel them in, and when to drop the next enticing info nugget - whether superfluous self-revelation or a new topic - into the multimedia mix to spice things up again.

Another interesting aspect is that Katy Katopodis knows - and isn't scared to share. There's a somewhat paradoxical quality in journalists and reporters as they climb the ranks to managing editors, editors and editors-in-chief. 

They don't deliberately do it, but like a sponge there's somewhat of a change over time in most journalists as they mature and move from information gathering and news dissemination, to soaking up news, channeling and managing it - instead of "giving it back again" quickly and constantly to the reader, listener and viewer.

Barney says sharing is caring, and Katy Katopodis is one of those people who've remained a sharer. 

In that sense, too, she is highly successful in the art of  being a TV talk show host. 

She doesn't just ask, she contributes her own thoughts to mold conversations. She doesn't just poll, she also gives her opinion (and just enough of it). She doesn't expect others to just show up and play - she's willing to play along.

Some guests she's clearly know for years and years and Katy Katopodis isn't scared to leverage that professional and personal relational power to draw them out and get them to say more than what they would have said to a stranger.

That also makes The Editors funny. The show is funny and at times extremely witty because the guests feel safe.

To a degree, The Editors on DStv's channel 199 recreates and gives shape to the never-seen, never-heard, newspaper newsrooms at night.

The guests on The Editors often say things and make remarks which are really just heard in newspaper offices during the evenings and late nights where journalists, copy editors and layout artists slave away with somewhat macabre jokes about headlines, photos, stories and some things which will never be printed.

The Editors is unashamedly clique-ey, but that's probably part of its allure. 

Here is an insider group, that the viewers who are watching and who are not working in the media themselves, feel that they want to be a part of. 

Katy and her guests know what's going on - and if you sit still and keep tuning in, the pay-off premise of The Editors is that you will know too.