ANN7 Launch

I am still in shock after watching the much talked about African News Network. I basically live on Twitter and about 4 days ago #ANN7 was trending. Being involved in a production with 1 of my clients i really did not have the time to go online or watch the channel myself to see what was happening. Thank God for my flexible schedule i had the opportunity to view the News channel for myself to really gauge if it as bad as people are painting on Twitter and Facebook.

Technical issues are a given when launching a channel of any nature but the least you can do is hire experienced journalists not  people who do not have a shred of what is happening in the country or globally. I was surprised to see a former Generations actress as the News Presenter during the lunch time broadcast. The presenter could not ad-lip and neither could she pronounce certain phrases. In the middle of the broadcast she got stuck with her presentation and the next thing i knew there was a video on my screen followed by her voice in the background. What is the Director/Producer on set doing? The crew itself in my opinion is inexperienced as they could not make an effort to hide the shaking hands of this young lady.Hayibo!!

One can’t really explain the rage that some South Africans have expressed on the Social Networks. Is it because it is funded by the Guptas and Zuma’s son Duduzane or is it really what it is, a badly produced News Channel? . From being called an “epic fail” to hillarious” it is obvious that the 24 hour news channel has not been received well by viewers.

Is the feedback fair? They say feedback after all is the breakfast of champions and if #ANN7 can get far in the Media Industry they better take it with a bucket of salt (considering how bad it was). The South  Africans are tough cookies. The standards they are expected to uphold are high.  They better toughen up .

I love the press release on their website that promises “cutting edge electronic news gathering technology and a network of sharp, young journalists and experienced editors will give a fresh perspective to the TV viewers of the country. REALLY? with names like  Chantal Rutter Dros , Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon , Arthur Mafokate and Jimmy Manyi one would have expected a great launch for ANN7 but sadly it was not to be.

Here are some online comments from viewers :

“Shame, if you are a presenter you must be able to ad-lip, when sh*t hits the fan. These girls are obviously clueless, even Snooki will do this better. And who the hell dresses these girls!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god its madness”

“I was embarrassed just watching this LOL. Don’t they have a “telepromta’s”? Clearly no script was written for them and they have ZERO experience”

“This is what happens when you staff your station days before it airs – you get incompetent would-be reporters who have no idea what the job entails”

Watch the channel and judge for yourself.

DStv Channel 405