Journalists in South Africa

Shocking once again:X

Barry, another downside of Internet reporting is that so many of them just "cut and paste" - I presume legally - articles from other racing websites. I do a lot of reading and it's really obvious that many sites don't do their own reporting at all, just crib from others. That would further cut down on the number of writers needed, and hence expenses. But it's dead boring to the reader who's hoping to get a fresh angle or a couple of new facts on a horse, a race or a meeting.

The most industrious reporter I have seen is Dave Thistelton. He is up at Summerveld probably twice a week at least asking about our
runners and new ideas for articles.

Next time I go surfing for race news and views I'll google "Dave Thistelton", ta muchly.

He`s not to far away mav (

You can also find him on the gold circle website

Charl Pretorius IS the best racing journo in SA...when he writes something its accurate with excellent insight...CANT wait for his new book

I don't think anybody can be rightly considered to be a journalist that is accepting money as a publicist. The world has not gone that far back. The trouble in South Africa is that the lines are so blurred, it is hard to tell which are journalists and which are entrepreneurs.

In places such as England and the United States (I mention these two only because I am familiar with them) no journalist working for a newspaper or magazine is allowed to work as a publicist, nor are they allowed to accept any freebies, including food or drink, from a racing association.

"... no journalist working for a newspaper or magazine is allowed to work as a publicist". True, I hadn't thought of that side of it. I suppose there would be temptation to spin the facts/leave out facts, or even just be more enthusiastic about those that rewarded your enthusiasm. I'm fascinated by the way the latest yearling sales have been reported in Tellytrack and elsewhere ... they say figures don't lie but I wonder. There's only one set of figures, but a variety of reports, downbeat, upbeat, optimistic, pessimistic.

The opimist fell ten stories,
At each window bar,
He shouted to his watching friends, "All right so far!"

Nobody in South Africa reports on the sale from a first-hand perspective.

Writers receive press releases from the TBA and they generally are published verbatim.

Which is why a 25 percent drop in the average price can be "slight" instead of crushing.

And thats with the buybacks Barry