Work set to resume on SABC1's Uzalo after production shutdown due to SABC non-payment; payments promised to be made Monday morning.

Work is set to resume on SABC1's Uzalo on Monday according to sources after the production shutdown that saw Stained Glass Pictures shutter the prime time soap, with insiders telling TVwithThinus that payments have been promised to be made Monday morning.

Sources told TVwithThinus that the Uzalo team will return to work today on the KwaMashu set soap - the SABC's most watched show on SABC1 and the most watched programme on South African television after promises that cast and crew will be paid today.

It follows after Stained Glass TV shut down production in August because of the SABC's worsening cash crunch that saw the show going unpaid and facing the possibility of firing staffers.

After workers didn't get paid on 25 August they collectively decided to down tools, with several other productions telling TVwithThinus that they're considering doing the same.

Neither the SABC nor the show released any statement that production on Uzalo is officially resuming on Monday.

REVIEW. The less bad than before 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards on Africa Magic on DStv still a far way from a passing grade with many mistakes - but fewer than before.

How to say this: The 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards held for the 6th time on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria on Saturday night wasn't a great award show broadcast on the Africa Magic channels, nor was it good or got a passing grade - but it was less bad than previously, so in that sense was an improvement on the previous 5 years.

The amateurish broadcast of the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards with Nadia White as director and executive produced by Kayode Gbenga had less mistakes than in all previous years but this is still not how a so-called pan-African awards show - honouring and being about the best in film and TV no less - should look on television.

Saturday night's three and a quarter hour broadcast on the Africa Magic channels across MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform had a smoother flow; had more functional pacing that was good, and had a beautiful, world class, gold-and-white audio-visual theme that employed a little director's chair, camera, film rolls and the Africa Magic logo as a button, to great effect.

Julius Oluwadamilare and Peter Obie were responsible for the motion graphics.

Unfortunately the rest was again trash, although there were less trash.

Viewers were not shown empty seats like in the past.

Viewers didn't see late winners storm the stage doing acceptance speeches. Winners this year who went over their time unceremoniously got their mics cut and the camera switching back to one of the hosts to introduce a new category (bad and disruptive yes, but not as bad as rambling people not knowing when to stop).

When Ngozi Obasi for instance simply didn't want to stop talking after winning Best costume designer, despite the music rising louder to drown her out and play her off, producers abruptly cut her mic and switched to IK Osakioduwa who then cut to an ad break.

Sound problems and audio level mistakes - especially with the muting and unmuting of Minnie Dlamini Jones' mic - cropped up throughout the night, with Ayo Adeife who was responsible for sound overall as the audio supervisorm and with Kumle Akintayo as head sound engineer.

The cue-in and cue-out timing between category nominee AVs playing and category presenters talking, were wrong all night - with viewers who missed a lot of words and sentences during the switching between stage-live and play-AV because producers didn't do anything to improve initial mistakes and to correct the playout lag.

The stage design done by Equally Diverse Solutions looked shockingly dull, cheap, unimaginative, plain and unbecoming of an African awards show such as what the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards tries to be.

The golden arches against the back wall were chipped, incredibly dented and scratched, and this showed up highly visible on screen throughout the night.

It gave the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards a constant second-hand on-screen look. Wasn't this supposed to be newly built? Was this a re-use and redress from other Africa Magic shows? It was shoddy and looked trashy.

If you can't bring out proper set silverware for supposedly the year's biggest televised showcase event on Africa Magic, what can M-Net bring it out for?

Interestingly MultiChoice Nigeria (currently embroiled in an ugly court case over its recent price hikes in that country) inserted a recorded public message from John Ugbe, MultiChoice Nigeria managing director, saying "We're here to stay".

The 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards is supposed to be a pan-African awards show, so a specifically Nigerian message didn't really make sense, but it didn't detract from the broadcast.

The In Memoriam segment was once again very bad and again omitted several names across Africa that should have been included.

The producers couldn't bother to actually include pictures of those who died - in an awards show about TV and film as visual mediums, and broadcast on television where you need to show viewers things.

The inclusion of a live orchestral band - with very bad sound (did anybody do a sound and level check beforehand?) was bad because of the lack of proper mics to capture the surround sound.

The result? The orchestra sounded off (and small) - which wasn't their fault.

The inclusion of a random operatic performance was odd and completely out-of-place for a show like this. Nothing against opera, but the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards isn't the appropriate place to insert an aria.

The sexist IK Osakioduwa was back with more lame, one-note jokes all along the theme of him lusting after women he can't have sex with, and saying things like he wants to be a rapper so he could be surrounded by irresponsible girls.

Why people like Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, M-Net West Africa director, keep condoning his behaviour and keep hiring him back to spout this trash remarks that don't belong in Africa's entertainment industry is shocking and inexplicable.

Didn't he have a script that he had to study and keep to? And if he had a script and this was in there, who okay'ed this and though it was acceptable?

The awards show finished on time at 23:15, when it should have - an improvement on the past.

The on-stage lighting was mistakenly switched off several times with Minnie Dlamini Jones and IK Osakioduwa literally standing in the dark, especially towards the end, and having to talk, visible only as silhouettes.

Why does it remain so difficult for M-Net and Africa Magic to broadcast a passing grade and half decent awards show?

If Nigeria doesn't have the required technical talent to pull of an awards show of this scale that comes with certain visual, audio, floor, stage and other planning challenges, why not fly in experienced production people from elsewhere for the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards to help and do it if so many other people are already being flown in?

Pan-African viewers deserve better than what the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards showed, although it was the "best" one out of the bad of the past 6 years. Hopefully the still not quite there production values will continue to improve.

REVIEW. The bad - but better - rumpled red carpet broadcast of the 6th 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards pre-show still filled with blunders, a clueless Helen Paul, and many production mistakes.

The still badly done, visibly rumpled, red carpet pre-show of the 6th 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards broadcast on Africa Magic on Saturday evening was again filled with blunders, awkwardly bad production values, and a clueless Helen Paul thinking its funny to be unprepared - although the red carpet production showed improvement in significant ways.

As in previous years, M-Net West Africa and the organisers of the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards still visibly found it too difficult to roll out a flat red carpet at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos from where Saturday's awards show ceremony again took place.

A ruffled red carpet showed up several times during the 3-hour pre-show broadcast on the Africa Magic channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service, adding to the once-again amateur-looking coverage that this year had Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Sika Osei as the main red carpet hosts.

Both were markedly better than the presenters used in previous years, although Sika Osei seemed mostly unprepared to do actual interviews and often veered off into what's obvious her "safe space" where she just rambles with stream of consciousness monologues.

Sika Osei tends to spout mindless drivel she seems to have learnt by rote through watching too much E! without actually thinking, and that ended up damaging the pre-show like at 35 minutes in with her "The red carpet is really hotting up!" although by that time only 3 short interviews took place and the camera showed them standing in the totally empty hotel foyer.

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu was the best thing about the 6th 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards red carpet show, allowing guests to talk, coming across as patiently self-assured and confident, humorous and warm even when he had visible ear-piece trouble and kept going.

The organisers once again brought back the wholly-inadequate Helen Paul. She stood next to the doing-what-he-can under the circumstances, cohort Uti Nwachukwu as the second tier presenters.

Helen Paul, dressed in a feathered aquamarine swirl more appropriate on a sea cruise cabaret director, once again seemed clueless in her costume more appropriate for a character in a kiddies pantomime, and again inflicted the biggest damage on this year's red carpet pre-show.

Helen Paul kept asking inappropriate questions, trying to "funnily sexualising" interviews and showing absolutely no sign of having studied up on any background on the nominees or having heard of the #MeToo movement.

Helen Paul - often cackling at the camera to try and disguise her ineptitude - awkwardly kept asking people about kissing and even egged on two people to kiss in front of her (they started but didn't).

She caused embarrassing moments like asking a former child star - now clearly a young man - nothing about his actual role but inane, irrelevant stuff like: "What school do you go to?" only for him to mutedly respond: "I'm at university".

Helen Paul point-blank asked nominee Folarin "Falz" Falana: "Do you think you will win?"
(He didn't really know what to say.)

Saturday's red carpet coverage immediately started off with sound problems and audio mistakes when a crossing went wrong and with some that kept happening throughout the coverage - although from the outset Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Sika Osei did their best and just kept talking over problems.

Lonre Ojoawa was the red carpet show director, with Busola Komolare, Anu Somatun and Uche Ifeanyi-Ogwu as red carpet segment producers.

None of the red carpet presenters really seemed to know what to ask anybody who wasn't actually Nigerian and the coverage was saturated with a naija-centric approach and references that casual Africa Magic viewers from East and Southern African might not be familiar with, understand or know.

When someone's cellphone literally rang during an interview, Sika Osei asked: "Who's calling?" It didn't seem as if people were asked to switch their phones off or to silent, and M-Net apparently didn't have any publicists, assistant or producer on hand to take and hold people's phones and handbags off-camera for the minutes during which they do interviews.

Camerawork and sound were both subpar with a lot of sound mistakes. When a few of the people interviewed were asked to "twirl" or turn around, the camera, instead of moving down and up, would stay focused on portrait mode, completely detached from what it was supposed to do/show.

When Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, channel director for Africa Magic channels and M-Net West Africa director, did her red carpet interview, once again as in the past, the presenter didn't seem prepped about what to specifically ask, or as if there was any direction into his earpiece as to what to actually do.

Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, was asked about her clothes and what she's wearing.

With it the pre-show and M-Net once again missed a golden opportunity to actually ask relevant stuff and work in proper promotion like "Can you talk about the MultiChoice Talent Factory?", "What are the new shows that M-Net are excited about?" (Eve!) or "Why is M-Net proud about the AMVCAs?"

There were red carpet production improvements. The pre-show did away with the gay fashionista commentary corner where in previous years the show would flash to so-called style experts to break down the sartorial choices but done in a bad way.

Also gone was the "360" roto-camera trash-attempt that never worked properly previously and attempted to give a "360 degrees" look of outfits.

The last half hour when the most important and other guests arrived was once again disappointingly a missable pre-taped highlights package of the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards cocktail nominee party - basically a these-are-the-sponsors infomercial show, although Africa Magic kept saying it's a "live" broadcast.

The former AMVCA red carpet co-host Eku Edewor awkwardly dartled from sponsor to sponsor, spinning a wheel to win cash at Airtel, taking selfies, and getting a pack of washing powder from Sunlight displaying their cleaning products ... in baskets.

Showing Sunlight soap in baskets, people drinking water from the water sponsor and IK Osakioduwa asking a married woman if she wants another man just before the start of the official awards show made the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards look a bit downmarket trashy.

Kenya manages to make a stronger showing in the winners list at the 6th 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, grabbing 5 awards, including Best movie for 18 Hours.

M-Net and MultiChoice's supposed pan-African 6th 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards on Saturday night remained a decidedly Nigerian-focused affair with the bulk of the category winners from Nigeria and West Africa although Kenya very deservedly cooped the Best Overall Movie category for 2017's 18 Hours from Phoebe Ruguru.

The 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards was once again done as a live broadcast ceremony on M-Net's array of Africa Magic channels on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform throughout sub-Saharan Africa from the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria.

It once again had production mistakes and problems, including a red carpet pre-show with bad production values and a returning and still clueless and unprepared Helen Paul, although both broadcasts showed less problems than in the past.

Minnie Dlamini Jones from South Africa returned as the co-host next to the sexist IK Osakioduwa who was also back again with his tiring one-track "lusting after women" schtick that roiled viewers.

Supposed to represent West, East and Southern Africa somewhat "equally", the 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, produced by M-Net West Africa and always originating from Lagos, Nigeria remains top-heavy with Nigerian category nominees and therefore winners.

East Africa managed to make a better showing on Saturday evening, with 4 Kenyans who managed to win 5 awards for Mark Maina as Best Picture Editor (18 Hours), Phoebe Ruguru winning Best Overall Movie (18 Hours) and Best Movie award in East Africa (18 Hours), Dennis Wanjohi Maina for Best Documentary (The Flesh Business) and Nyce Wanjeri as Best Actress in a comedy and TV series.

Although called "viewers' choice" African viewers can only vote for 7 out of the 27 categories Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards.

In one of the several odd moments from this year's awards ceremony - that also included an out-of-place operatic number with a live orchestra - the former Big Brother Naija contestant, Bisola Aiyeola who couldn't stop screaming on stage, won the Trail Blazer Award.

Here's the complete list of 2018 Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards winners:

Best Sound Editor
Tatu – Kolade Morakinyo and Pius Fatoke

Best Picture Editor
18 Hours – Mark Maina

Best Lighting Designer Movie/TV Series
Tatu – Akpe Ododoru, Tunde Akinniyi

Best Cinematography Movies/TV series
Okafor’s Law – Yinka Edward

Best Costume/Designer Movie or TV Series
The Bridge – Ngozi Obasi and James Bessinone

Best Short Film/Online Video
Penance – Micheal Ama Psalmist’ Akinrogunde

Best Documentary
The Flesh Business – Dennis Wanjohi

Best Make Up Artist Movie/TV Series
Tatu – Thelma Ozy Smith, Hakeem Effect Onilogbo

Best Art Director
Lotanna – Tunji Afolayan

Best Soundtrack Movies/TV Series
Tatu – Evelle

Best Indigenous Language Movie or TV Series – Swahili
Super Modo – Sarika Hemi Lhakani

Best Indigenous Language Movie or TV Series – Hausa
Mansoor – Ali Nuhu

Best Indigenous Language Movies or TV Series – Yoruba
Etiko Onigedu – Femi Adebayo

Best Indigenous Language Movies or TV Series – Igbo
Bound – Lilian Afegbai

Best TV/Drama/Comedy series
This Is It – Dolapo Adeleke

Best Movie East Africa
18 Hours – Phoebe Ruguru

Best Movie West Africa
Isoken – Jade Osiberu

Best Movie Southern Africa
The Road to Sunrise – Shemu Joyah

Trail Blazer Award
Bisola Aiyeola

Industry Merit Award
Tunde Kelani

Best Writer Movie/TV Series
Alter Ego – Patrick Nnamani/Koye O/Moses Inwang

Best Supporting Actress
Lydia Forson – Isoken

Best Supporting Actor
Falz – New Money

Best Actress in a comedy and TV series
Nyce Wanueri – Auntie Boss

Best Actor in a comedy
Odunlade Adekola – A Million Baby

Best Actress in a Drama/TV Series
Omotola Jalade Ekeinde – Alter Ego

Best Actor in a Drama Series
Adjetey Anang  – Keteke

Best Director
Jade Osiberu – Isoken

Best Overall Movie
18 Hours – Phoebe Ruguru

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. Why is nothing available - or being made available - to the press about the M-Net and MultiChoice executives panel discussion that preceded the 6th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards 2018?

Why is nothing available - or being made available - to the press covering it, about the panel discussion that M-Net and MultiChoice executives had before the 6th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards for 2018 that took place on Saturday night?

While panelists like Yolisa Phahle (MultiChoice CEO for general entertainment), John Ugbe (MultiChoice Nigeria managing director), Nkateko Mabaso (acting M-Net CEO), Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu (M-Net West Africa director) and the 3 MultiChoice Talent Factory directors Njoki Muhoho, Berry Lwando and Femi Odugbemi all attended in Lagos, Nigeria and spoke, neither M-Net nor MultiChoice bothered to release any press statements, audio or a rush-transcript for the media about it.

While M-Net and MultiChoice are multinational, pan-African companies and hold up the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards as a continental type of awards show and competition, the organisers don't seem to really bother, or want to bother, with making the effort of properly including East or Southern Africa beyond the most superficial level.

MultiChoice and M-Net marketing exec and publicist haven't bothered to issue any information or even a bare-bones transcript, speeches or just notes with talking points, about the exec panel discussion.

The question is why. Are they lazy? Are they incompetent? Are they not aware that it matter? Are they really so clueless that there are media who find it important enough to cover and who would actually want to report on what the pay-TV provider's executives have to say?

Why make the effort of organising a public panel with company executives, and then not actually pass the final hurdle of communicating properly what was said there to media who can't physically attend?

Some press did attend but themselves haven't bothered to report anything about what was actually said at the panel discussion.

This again follows the established pattern of superficial coverage and largely non-coverage of invited media who annually end up doing very little at the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards although their purpose is supposedly to cover the actual event and things like the panel discussion leading up to it.

The AMVCA organisers and M-Net and MultiChoice should be doing better with media relations and getting information out, and to, the actual journalists and media really covering the TV industry on the continent, but either doesn't know how, or doesn't care to do this better or properly.

The panel discussion apparently would have revolved around how MultiChoice and M-Net is growing original African television programming and investing in films, what these companies are doing to promote new talent, how the new MultiChoice Talent Factory works and what MultiChoice and M-Net are contributing to the continent's video entertainment sector.

The information and the opportunity for the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, as well as M-Net and MultiChoice to communicate all of this, would have been interesting but also valuable to not just the TV and film industry across Africa to hear, but also to the broader public who might be following what these companies do and what they are involved in.

Sadly that opportunity of course is lost.

There will however be lots of photos of women in pretty dresses as the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards deliberately dilutes, through inaction, the focus of what it can really communicate to the public and the industry about what is being done to invest and help improve television and film in Africa.

The Democratic Alliance asks MultiChoice to release the full contract with Newzroom Afrika to start a new local TV news channel on DStv, as well as the complete list of bidders.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) political party has asked MultiChoice to release the full contract and make public the agreement Naspers' pay-TV arm has with Newzroom Afrika to start a new local TV news channel on DStv to replace the controversial "Gupta-news" ANN7 that was rebranded as Afro Worldview and eventually shut down a week ago.

The political party also wants MultiChoice to make public to South Africa the entire list of bidders who submitted plans to start a news channel to replace ANN7/Afro Worldview.

The DA says that it has asked MultiChoice, under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to release the "full terms of agreement" between MultiChoice and Newzroom Afrika.

In the week MultiChoice announced that it has chosen Newzroom Afrika as the new 24-hour local TV news channel to replace Mzwanele Manyi's dumped Afro Worldview channel on DStv.

Newzroom Afrika will launch in early 2019 on DStv and will take the channel number of 405 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, the one where ANN7 that turned into Afro Worldview, launched and was dumped a week ago.

Newzroom Afrika, following after eNCA (DStv 403) and SABC News (DStv 404) will be made available to all DStv subscribers, meaning that it will have a wider reach that eMedia Investment's eNCA.

The two directors heading up Newzroom Afrika are Thokozani Nkosi of the production company Eclipse TV, and Thabile Ngwato of Rapid Innovation

"Past experieces with MultiChoice, especially with regards to their suspicious relationship and payments to ANN7, require the need for transparency and openness," says Phumzile Van Damme, the Democratic Alliance member of parliament (MP) and the political party's shadow minister of communications in a statement released on Sunday.

"It is for this reason the DA has requested that MultiChoice make public their agreement with Newzroom Afrika, the list of bidders for the DStv channel 405 contract, and the ranking of the shortlisted bidders and relevant documentation for the DStv 405 contract".

"The DA is of the view that this information is in the best interest of the public as they need assurance that the hard-earned money they pay for their DStv subscription fees are utilised in an ethical and transparent manner."

"We trust that, in good faith, MultiChoice will open its books to the public in order to give assurance that there was nothing untoward in the awarding of the contract to Newzroom Afrika, and this will not be another ANN7."

TV CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK. With M-Net and MultiChoice's 6th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards for 2018 coming up, cue the fawning, superficial - and mostly non-existent - coverage by Africa's so-called entertainment journalists, quick to take selfies, but slow to actually report anything.

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 stories from the invited and attending journalists who should carry the responsibility of reporting about this awards show, about how the categories and nominees this year compare and stack up, and incisive analysis of the overall award show?

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.

National Geographic says its 'moving forward' with the halted 3rd season season of The Story of God after saying its own investigation has cleared Morgan Freeman.

National Geographic (DStv 181 / StarSat 220 / Cell C black 261) says the channel is "moving forward" with the abruptly halted The Story of God with Morgan Freeman that it renewed for a 3rd season in January this year only to  stop production after being forced to do an investigation into Morgan Freeman after several serious sexual misconduct allegations, but now saying its own investigation found nothing.

In May 8 people came forward and claimed that Morgan Freeman sexually harassed them and was involved in other inappropriate behaviour towards them.

"When we learned of recent allegations surrounding Morgan Freeman completely unrelated to our work with him, as a precaution we paused production on our new season in order to complete a thorough investigation led by our parent company Fox, executed through an independent investigator," says National Geographic in a statement.

"The results of this investigation revealed no incidents of concern during any of our work with Morgan Freeman."

"We have now made the decision to move forward with the production of season three of The Story of God. This series has expanded our understanding of religion and culture around the world and has touched many of our fans, and along with Morgan and the team at Revelations Entertainment, we look forward to resuming pre-production this September."

"As a company, we take all issues of harassment very seriously and we're confidently assured by the results of the investigation. The new season will premiere globally on National Geographic channels in 2019."

Political analyst Dumisani Hlophe's appointment as SABC political editor slammed as 'a step backwards' for the South African public broadcaster over his bias towards the media and political parties.

The appointment of the political analyst Dumisani Hlophe, who isn't a journalist, as the SABC's new political editor at SABC News is being criticised as a step backwards for the South African public broadcaster.

Dumisani Hlophe is being slammed as "bad news" for the SABC by the Democratic Alliance political party over his media bias, his patriarchal comments and his comments on photos of half-naked women.

"The SABC's decision to appoint Dumisani Hlophe as political editor is deeply puzzling and worrying," says Phumzile Van Damme, the DA member of parliament and the party's shadow minister of communications, about the appointment the SABC announced on late Friday afternoon.

Dumisani Hlophe will take over as SABC political editor from Monday 3 September. The caustic and so-called Hlaudi Motsoeneng enforcer, Sophie Mokoena, was acting SABC political editor until she quit in July.

Dumisani Hlophe previously made appearances as political analyst on SABC News (DStv 404), eNCA (DStv 403) and the now shuttered Gupta-news" channel ANN7 (DStv 405) (rebranded Afro Worldview).

"Dumisani Hlophe is not a practising journalist, his only experience with broadcasting is as a 'political analyst' on the SABC with 'commentary' often odd and thumb-sucked," says the DA in a statement.

"There are many talented practicing journalists the SABC could have chosen from, who would have been a far better choice. Dumisani Hlophe does not inspire confidence at all. He is bad news".

According to Dumisani Hlophe's Twitter account, he appears to be a patriarch with tweets proclaiming men as heads of the family and commenting on pgotos of half-naked women, says the political party, noting that Dumisani Hlophe has shown "special loathing for the Democratic Alliance.

Dumisani Hlophe has tweeted things like:

 "The irony is: whilst @MYANC is keen to demilitarize and weaken the Left; it always leaves the Right to strengthen itself. It castrated @_cosatu;  @SACP1921 and now targets @EFFSouthAfrica nut it has no plan to weaken the right wing agenda led by @Our_DA."

"Where are the DA Headquarters? I am in Cape Town and I want to march there and demand the reintegration of Cape Town into South Africa."

"Maimane to stand for DA's parliamentary leader. Another darkie Zille project. Just where society will see a fake de racialised DA."

"The media dubs criticism of Thuli Madonsela as an attack on the Public Protector - interesting indeed. I think she is soft on the DA."


Dumisani Hlophe has also attacked South Africa's media:

"@pinkykhoabane in the quest to be ANC critic, the media overlapped to be an addition to ANC opposition. Hence, they contain DA journalists."

"The mainstream liberal media is a key player in South Africa’s politics. It is not an independent observer."

"No Bruce. That’s a mere bourgeoisie spin. Absolute liberal self-serving propaganda. The fact is: this shows a clear collusion between senior politicians in public office and business sector in advancing their mutual interests."


The Democratic Alliance says "we truly hope Dumisani Hlophe will prove our misgivings about him wrong and fulfill the SABC's mandate to be impartial, independent and provide a reasonable, balanced opportunity for the public to receive a variety of points of view on matters of public concern, especially during an election year."

"His appointment is a step backwards for the SABC, and is discouraging given the excellent appointments it has made of late."