OPEN LETTER TO THE BUSINESS DAILY

14^th February,2009

Pesa tu

Pesa_tu@yahoo.com

Dear editor,

REF: Making the Business Daily a better read

congratulations on launching a new and unique business product. Business Daily provides us with a daily paper that gives us all the business and economic news in one package. It isn’t filled with details of the latest antics or fallouts at ODM or PNU.

Business Daily’s content quality is certainly higher than anything out of the rest of East Africa. Approaching but not next to Financial Mail (South Africa) and probably aiming for Financial Times quality. In order to make it a great paper, I have made the following suggestions and or observations.

1. CONTENT

The target audience for BD has access to Reuters and Bloomberg terminals. Therefore, any reprints from LA times, Reuters or Bloomberg were read a few hours before it was published in the paper. It is very disappointing to buy a paper and find that 40% of it is available for free on the internet (and on other people’s website)

Yes, I’m aware it is challenging to come up with fresh content daily. This can be solved by using your Africa network to deliver more Pan-African business stories. We can have Tanzanian, Zambian or Nigerian business stories as front-page.

How about a profile of African business titans? Do Kenyans know about Reginald Mengi or Gordon Wavamuno?

2. RELEVANCE

It is pointless to reprint Jeremy Clarkson’s motor review that appears on Sunday on The Times website, the following Friday. The target audience read it 5 days before. Plus, Clarkson’s’ cars are hardly on sale here (Kenya).His humor is hard to catch unless; you have an understanding of English snob jokes and sarcasm.

The better alternative would be to get the guys behind the Autozine magazine do a weekly column. Autozine tends to get the balance between auto porn (pictures of Lamborghinis, Ferraris etc) and practicability (reviews of ex Japan used cars that Kenyans buy).They had a review of the used 2001 Toyota Vitz Vs Mazda Demio Vs VW Polo. Cars that your readers can buy. Clarkson had a Ford Kuga review-how accessible is it for your readers?

3. Localise the online forums aka forget Facebook

Facebook may be great for connecting with old pals. I’m on it and love it. I don’t think I or most people would like to argue about a political or business issue on it. For that we go to Stockskenya.

Why not talk to Stockskenya and have a Business Daily tab to discuss the day’s articles. Of course, there are legal issues concerning this arrangement. For example, libel. Nobody will sue stockskenya for libeling them (they don’t seem rich) but you will because people think you have money.

I hope the observations are useful.

Your subscriber

Pesa Tu

MADOFF LIST,KENYA and SOUTH AFRICA


I saw bankelele's post that a Kenyan resident was on the Madoff list.In case you got released from Kamiti yesterday, Bernard Madoff was an American who ran a giant ponzi scheme.Think of it as a complicated DECI-pyramid scheme for the rich and famous.

The Times has the client list on its site.Looking through it the only african residents are the Kenyan with the Mweiga address and a South African.The fact that we are the only Africans on this list probably indicates our higher level of financial sophistication relative to other African countries.
I wonder how much of the money that some of our country men/women have stashed abroad has been consumed by the recent financial crisis.

CLICK HERE for the madoff list

CHARITY PORN????

I must confess that when the independence fathers of Kenya said that we would fight poverty,ignorance and disease, it always seemed that those were obvious problems that would be solved. The recent fire disaster at Molo was a volatile mix of petrol,ignorance and poverty.People were ignorant bout their safety and poverty drove them to take the risk of collecting and selling the fuel. Ask yourself if we can take the risk of collecting highly flammable petrol from a accident site,what won't we do for a few coins(i'm thinking unprotected sex in these days of HIV).I found out what we can be done for on this blog.

We Kenyans can do anything and everything for money(blame poverty).We have helped start a new industry-CHARITY PORN.This is how it works.An adult film co. from the West ships in Porn.. sorry adult entertainment actresses in to the country.The actresses have sex with other foreign actors/actresses at local settings.Part of the proceeds from the very explicit films are donated to the local community and charities.

Natural High-Japanese adult entertainment company flew in a couple of its performers and shot a DVD for its Naked Continent series here.The producer has donated 1 million Yen to help a charity.Every 1000 Yen from every DVD sale. Here are more pictures from Sociological Images