DUBAI, UAE – Global news agency Big News Network which has grown its online presence around the world, including to include several sites covering South Africa and the broader Africa region, is markings its 20th anniversary.
Established in 1998, the news agency which is headquartered at the Dubai Media City regional hub in the UAE, was developed by Hayden Enterprises in the U.S. in 1998 with the launch of BigNewsNetwork.com. The site was taken over by media interests in Australia in 1998, to populate a global network of sites, all with the news.net extension including SouthAfricaNews.Net and JohannesburgNews.Net, developed in 1999 by Mainstream Media Limited. Other sites pertaining to Africa included TheAfricaNews.Net, SierraLeoneNews.Net, NigerianNews.Net, KenyaNews.Net, UgandaNews.Net, SudanNews.Net, ZimbabweNews.Net and ZambiaNews.Net.
In 2002 another Australian media company Midwest Radio Network began developing a network of online newspapers which included Africa Leader, Johannesburg Life and other African sites such as Nigeria Star, Kenya Star, Sierra Leone Times, and Zimbabwe Star. Last year the group added the Cape Town Express, while the news.net stable added Cape Town News.Net, Central Africa News.Net, and North Africa News.Net.
A spokesman for Big News Network said its interest in Africa stemmed from its regional hub status, and its interest in South Africa was prompted by former content director and editor Shaun Ebelthite, himself a South African. “The expansion phase is over now. The next 20 years will be one of consolidation and the optimisation of the publications we have created, together with the harnessing and harvesting of content to better serve our clients and associated sites,” the spokesman said.
