“www.dealweb.co.za intends to spotlight an exciting and fast growing dimension of the South African economy, providing market insights, an analytical focus and a centralised resource to cater for the increasing levels of deal flow in the South African corporate world,” said Cohen, who was the overall winner of the 2004 Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year award.
Dealweb's launch is the latest in an expansion programme Moneyweb embarked upon last year by starting new niched websites in partnership with their editors. A key element of the growth strategy requires editors to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to their titles in addition to the responsibilities traditionally expected of them.
Tim Cohen's new baby is the sixth newcomer. Moneyweb's other niche products are www.tycoon.co.za, www.politicsweb.co.za, www.realestateweb.co.za, www.sportingweb.co.za, and www.moneywebtax.co.za.
Said media entrepreneur and Moneyweb CEO Alec Hogg, “There was a time when the editor's job was to please the owners by ensuring reporters met deadline and the paper didn't get into legal trouble. For many it was a case of filling the space between advertising.
“In the faster, more competitive digital age, readers want more and editors are having to up their game.
“Our editor partners need to be a lot more than what was acceptable in old media. We select them on the basis that they are able to uphold standards of editorial excellence and that they are passionate about the area their title focuses upon. Then they are given the support they need to actually run the business side of the partnership.
“This entrepreneurship model lends itself ideally to Internet publishing. And with the explosion of broadband in SA, we're well placed to take advantage as the Internet fulfils predictions of becoming the world's great dis-intermediator.”
The expansion programme followed the substantial investment by the company in a tailored content management system. This enables state-of-the-art websites to be bolted onto the Moneyweb platform quickly and at low up-front cost.
Besides their ability to help grow Moneyweb's advertising revenues, the new niched websites offer potential to carry video and audio, as well as facilitating transactions through e-commerce, classifieds and non-traditional advertising.
