Michael Markovitz
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Articles by Michael Markovitz
SABC apologised — the digital platforms never have to
MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY A ruling last week shows what voluntary media accountability looks like. No such thing exists for large digital platforms. March and March leader Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma address scores of people outside the Point Police Station in Durban on 30 June 2026. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla) Op-Ed This article is an Op-Ed, short for "opposite the editorial page".
New report: Most South African news sites still exposed to AI scraping
2 days7 days30 daysBy Industry Show more Search jobs Advertise your job vacancies Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries The Protocol Gap: South Africa finds robots.txt use concentrated among the country's largest publishers.
The machine behind the anti-immigrant movement in South Africa
Xenophobia is a shameful stain on South Africa. That needs to be said before anything else. But let us also be clear about what kind of xenophobia we are talking about. The targets are not European or North American immigrants. They are fellow Africans and others from the Global South: Zimbabweans, Nigerians, Mozambicans, Congolese, Somalis, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis.
South Africa: Did the Competition Commission Let Meta Off the Hook?
South Africa's landmark market inquiry imposed financial remedies on Google but not Meta. With publisher and platform appeals still hidden from public view, the question deserves closer scrutiny. The publication of the Competition Commission's Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) final report was a landmark for South Africa, the continent, and Global South regulation more broadly.
A Pragmatic Win, Not a Structural Fix, in South Africa’s Deal with Big Tech
Michael Markovitz is Director of the Media Leadership Think Tank at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science. South Africa’s Competition Commission has released the final report of the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI), a two-year investigation into how search engines, social media platforms and AI firms affect the viability of the country’s media sector.
Media and digital platforms final report: Hits and misses
OP-ED The Media and Digital Platforms Inquiry final report delivers a negotiated, enforceable funding package between the Commission and Google; establishes enforceable remedies for Meta, TikTok, Microsoft, X and OpenAI; creates new commitments on YouTube; includes remedies on the SABC; and places a clear rights-based democratic framing at the centre of its analysis.
Media and Digital Platforms Inquiry final report: a pragmatic settlement with unfinished business
Earlier this year, in Beyond Compensation: Reshaping the Digital News Economy, I argued that the Competition Commission’s provisional report on the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) was significant not only for its headline figures, but because it sought to “fix the competition problem rather than simply compensate for the negative outcome”. It moved beyond a narrow pay-for-harm model and attempted to reshape the underlying digital market dynamics.
What’s really at stake in the Canal+, MultiChoice merger
2 Hours Ago The Competition Commission has recommended the approval of Groupe Canal+’s proposed acquisition of MultiChoice Group, marking a significant development in the African media landscape.
What’s really at stake in the Canal+, MultiChoice merger
The Competition Commission has recommended the approval of Groupe Canal+’s proposed acquisition of MultiChoice Group, marking a significant development in the African media lands... Wenn Sie ein aktiver Abonnent sind und der Artikel nicht angezeigt wird, Bitte melden Sie sich ab und wieder an. Kostenloser Zugriff auf Artikel ab 12:00 Uhr. Bitte beachten Sie: Um den Artikel zu lesen, geben Sie bitte unten Ihre Daten ein. Bei zukünftigen Besuchen müssen Sie sich nicht erneut registrieren.
What's really at stake in the Canal+, MultiChoice merger
The Competition Commission has recommended the approval of Groupe Canal+’s proposed acquisition of MultiChoice Group, marking a significant development in the African media landscape. While this decision aligns with expectations, it’s important to note that final approval still rests with the Competition Tribunal.
'DTT has failed. Scrap it.'
On 27 March 2025, the High Court in Pretoria granted interim relief to e.tv, Media Monitoring Africa, and the SOS Coalition, suspending the government’s plan to switch off analogue television on 31 March. It’s the second time South Africa’s courts have blocked a premature analogue switch-off. The judgment doesn’t just pause a date. It confirms a pattern of mismanagement, policy drift and legal overreach that has haunted South Africa’s digital migration for more than a decade.
SA targets Big Tech's market power in media inquiry report
The Competition Commission’s provisional report from its media and digital platforms market inquiry is making news for its bold recommendation that Google pay up to R500-million/year to compensate South Africa’s news industry. But beyond the headline-grabbing figure, the report takes a far more nuanced and strategic approach – it doesn’t just call for financial compensation from search, social media and AI companies or the establishment of a media industry fund.
Assault on public interest journalism and the fight for digital sovereignty
With President Donald Trump’s unfounded and bizarre executive order still ringing in our ears, it may seem quaint that the South African media sector is impatiently awaiting the Competition Commission’s Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) provisional report.
Google, AIP launch R114-million DNT Fund for small SA news publishers
The Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) and Google have announced the establishment of a Digital News Transformation (DNT) Fund to “support the sustainability and digital transformation of small, local and independent news publishers in South Africa through targeted project-based funding”. The establishment of the DNT Fund comes at a critical moment, as news publishers face market failure, the closure of publications and increasing job losses among journalists.
Malatsi was right to scrap the SABC Bill - now urgency is needed
Upon hearing this week that communications minister Solly Malatsi had withdrawn the fundamentally flawed SABC Bill, I was immediately inclined to welcome the decision publicly. The bill had been widely criticised by leading industry, civil society and media groups, which were united in calling for the bill to be withdrawn and for policy to be finalised before it was tabled again.
Are US digital platforms ready for post-election denialism and threats to election officials?
The period immediately following the U.S. Election Day on 5 November 2024, is widely regarded as the most volatile and potentially destabilising phase of the electoral process. This was highlighted in a compelling episode of Justin Hendrix’s Tech Policy Press podcast, where he interviewed three experts, including Katie Harbath, Nicole Schneidman and Dean Jackson.
SABC gets first unqualified audit in 14 years
The SABC Board and management should be congratulated for achieving the organisation’s first unqualified audit opinion in 14 years. This milestone reflects the culmination of a long journey to restore the SABC’s governance and regulatory compliance, making the audit outcome a significant achievement.
Should the SABC have discretion to reject a political ad?
Back in the day – sometime in 1993 – I was a 30-something media activist (with an ill-fitting suit). Despite my questionable dress sense, I was selected by anti-apartheid civil society groups and the ANC to be one of the drafters of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Bill – a law that would form part of a package of legislation negotiated and agreed to usher in South Africa’s democracy. The IBA Act was passed in 1993.
CompCom urged to probe Meta over news content
A South African media think-tank has raised concerns about Facebook’s decision to stop publishing news in some markets.
Beware of Disinformation in the Year of Elections
2024 has been dubbed the ‘year of elections’, with several elections taking place not only in Africa but around the world. Disinformation is a fundamental concern in elections, identified as the major risk facing global societies by the World Economic Forum due to deepening polarisation, increasing the risk of conflict. In anticipation of the South African elections (now set for 29 May 2024, Political parties began campaigning last year.
Are South African newsrooms ready for Elections 2024?
DISINFORMATION ONSLAUGHT OP-ED This year has been called the ‘year of elections’, as 2024 will see several elections taking place not only in Africa but around the world. Disinformation is a central concern in these elections globally. In its Global Risks Report, the World Economic Forum identified disinformation as the major risk facing global societies in the coming years.
‘Unspeakably outdated’: SABC Bill slammed
The draft SABC Bill has drawn howls of condemnation from experts, who say it is merely a rehash of existing legislation.
OPINIONISTA: Big Tech and Journalism – we need solutions to the threat to public interest media and democracy
Michael Markovitz is head of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) Media Leadership Think Tank and a former SABC board director. Media representatives, academics, activists, lawyers and economists from 24 countries gathered in Johannesburg this month to find solutions to the crisis facing the long-term sustainability of journalism and how this intersects with the conduct of Big Tech platforms.
Big Tech and Journalism: Principles for Fair Compensation
We have brought together journalists, news publishers, media organizations, academics, activists, lawyers and economists from 24 countries, all with the common goal of finding solutions to the crisis facing the long-term sustainability of journalism and how this intersects with the conduct of Big Tech platforms.
PUBLIC BROADCASTER OP-ED: Governance twilight zone at SABC — a clear and present danger of political capture
PUBLIC BROADCASTER OP-ED Without an independent board, it is impossible to guarantee editorial independence at the public broadcaster. Without a board at all? All bets are off. When assessing the risk of mis/disinformation on issues ranging from elections to vaccines to the invasion of Ukraine, it is important to not look only at social media.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OP-ED: SA government guilty of linguistic fraud in defending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
FOREIGN AFFAIRS OP-ED The choice of language by the South African government to refer to the Russian invasion of Ukraine is particularly revealing when one considers the way it has described other forms of territorial aggression. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC’s) recent arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to prompt South Africa to reassess its position towards Russia.
Platform dominance in South Africa
By Michael Markovitz February 15, 2023 This is part of a series on platforms and the press published jointly by CJR and the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law & Policy. The threat to media sustainability and public interest journalism in the Global South predates the dominance of digital platform companies. Media economies in developing countries have long struggled with viability and continue to reflect persistent structural inequalities.
MICHAEL MARKOVITZ: How public media in SA can be sustained
For the past five years I have been a nonexecutive director of SA’s public broadcaster, the SABC. Coincidentally, I flew to New York on my last day as a director and arrived in the US as a former director, with my term expiring somewhere over the Atlantic. These are therefore my own views — I do not speak on the SABC’s behalf.
Social media can empower the masses but also be a tool of tyranny
26 September 2021 - 00:00 By MICHAEL MARKOVITZ It is indisputable that digital platforms and mobile phones have transformed the lives of the 60% of the world's population that have internet connectivity. But 21 years into this 21st century we also know that the transformative impact of the internet has a dark side. Society is now confronted by a much more complex situation than had been idealistically imagined when the internet became a more globally accessible network in the 1990s...
Role of 3D Printing and Modeling to Aid in Neuroradiology Education for Medical Trainees
1. Rengier F, Mehndiratta A, von Tengg-Kobligk H, et al. 3D printing based on imaging data: review of medical applications. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2010;5(4):335-341. doi:10.1007/s11548-010-0476-x 2. Perica E, Sun Z. Patient-specific three-dimensional printing for pre-surgical planning in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment. Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2017;7(6):668-677. doi:10.21037/qims.2017.11.02 3. Hwang JJ, Jung Y-H, Cho B-H. The need for DICOM encapsulation of 3D scanning STL data.
Solly Mokoetle: From 'This is Radio Freedom' to 'This is Freedom for all Radio'
I am truly honoured to have been asked to say a few words about Solly Mokoetle, on this solemn day when we remember his life and contribution, amidst the pain of his loss. It is 28 years since I first met Solly and it was not on home soil but in a Dutch trade union conference centre deep in a forest outside a very small town called Doorn, 20 minutes from Utrecht.
Recurrent Pulmonary Emboli from Pelvic Varices Despite Anticoagulation and Infrarenal Inferior Vena Cava Filter
To view the full text, please login as a subscribed user or purchase a subscription. Click here to view the full text on ScienceDirect. Figure 1 Subtracted venogram showing no evidence of thrombus in the left renal vein, yet spontaneous reflux of contrast medium is seen inferiorly through a dilated left gonadal vein (arrow). No contrast medium is visualized in the renal collecting system.
SABC is spending too much on its biggest cost driver: salaries
COST DRIVER The public broadcaster's salary bill is R3.1bn, representing 42% of revenue 08 October 2018 - 05:06 Michael Markovitz South Africans can be rightly underwhelmed when hearing about another turnaround plan for rescuing another state-owned entity (SOE). For the past 10 years we’ve seen so many failed turnaround plans at SOEs that these expensively procured, colour-coded plans could be stacked as high as the SABC’s 29-floor Auckland Park headquarters.
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