Reading the media Credit: Ambro

The international media has been busy this week, and an African publication took centre stage for all the wrong reasons. The Rwandan tabloid Ishema published a defamatory article about the country’s president calling him a ‘sociopath’. The public outrage led to the editor claiming he knew nothing about the last edition (?! - Ed) and later on resigned. The story was about to get more interesting, as the following edition was an entirely apologetic one, featuring a picture of the paper’s managing director bowing to the president on the first page. The entire issue contained positive articles about the current president and his government. The case is baffling because it illustrates the relationship between journalists and politicians in a country striving for freedom of speech and of the press.

Closer to home, we have seen some interesting media moves, so let’s start with appointment news:

•    Holly Else has been appointed as assistant editor for Caspian Media's Professional Engineering, while Alistair Winning becomes editor of Electronic Product Design.

•    Former deputy editor of New Civil Engineer, Jackie Whitelaw replaces Jon Masters as editor of Transportation Professional.

Centaur Media has announced closing the print editions of Design Week and New Age Media, but fear not, both will continue as online publications. However, New Media Age will be used as a monthly digital marketing supplement for Marketing Week. Centaur Media has recently launched in association with The Engineer a comprehensive website called Source which contains Engineeringtalk, Processingtalk, Electronicstalk and Manufacturingtalk.

Although for many of you the month of August is holiday season, we have seen magazine launches as well. MEPCA – Maintenance Engineering Process Control Affiliates is a newly launched journal, providing advice and solutions for management and technical challenges encountered by managers and engineers in the process, control and plant industries. The magazine is expected to have a circulation of 12,000 printed copies and 32,000 digital copies e-mailed out internationally. The journal aims to be reader focused, with relevant and interesting editorial to inform on the latest management techniques, products, solutions and services.

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