Weekend Thing: #10XDMGathering gets into the media nitty-gritty

[Click here for the web version of this email]( [Daily Maverick]( Saturday, 18 August 2018 Gather round "They bum you out and charge you money. It's a bit like going to visit SARS." - John Vlismas throwing his own brand of shade at the revenue service at the Daily Maverick Media Gathering. In sum Daily Maverick held its Cape Town [Media Gathering]( this week. Held in partnership with 10X Investments, the day-long event on Wednesday saw multiple panels telling brave stories of defiance in the face of government intimidation, media through the party politician's lense, and many others. Every country has a Gupta If there was one big takeaway from the morning's session, it was that South Africa is not alone in battling a corrupt, captured government. [India's Rana Ayyub]( detailed her prolonged persecution at the hands of Modi's government due to an expose explaining state corruption. Hearing from the whistleblowers Those brave enough to expose state capture in South Africa were also given a platform to share their stories of intimidation and fear for speaking out. From local insiders such as Suzanne Daniels (Eskom) and Bianca Goodson (Trillian) to the duo that opened up the Guptaleaks in the first place. If you're only just catching up, [have a long look here]( at the day's videos. Why should you care? It is easy to forget that a free and independent media is an essential component of keeping your government honest. The Media Gathering highlighted the struggles of defending truth when the highest echelons of power are hell-bent on destroying it entirely. [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [This weekend we're watching]( Put on your robe and wizard hat. Except your fellow D&D partner is Terry Crews, as Thodak the Blacksmith. Suspend disbelief and treat this like a really interesting audiobook. Copping out 115 The number of rounds fired by police at a group of cowering miners on the small koppie in Marikana Marikana remembered On 16 August the[anniversary of the Marikana massacre]( came and went. Just six years ago 34 miners were killed by overzealous SAPS members. At the end of it, a total of 47 people died in the Rustenburg dust. Playing it on repeat As questions over compensation and justice linger - some families are still waiting - with a new offer of R100 million in damages on the cards. None of it brings back the lost lives, and to this day the killers of Marikana remain free. — [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [Not your average heist]( Authorities in Georgia are searching - probably not very hard - for a daring robbery of almost $100,000 in Ramen noodles. The thieving occurred sometime near the start of August, investigators believe, and is part of a string of much more severe, less-noodle-related thefts. — Key Reading [The 2018 Media Gathering: Catch up with these video clips of the action]( By Daily Maverick Staff Writer The second edition of Daily Maverick’s The Media Gathering took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Wednesday 15 August 2018. Catch up on some of the conversations via these video clips. Hold in that sneeze The king of Fiji unwittingly brought back the measles from a trip to Australia in 1875. He killed off a third of his kingdom's population. Mark Minnie found dead in PE The co-author of The Lost Boys of Bird Island, a book in which Magnus Malan and many other prominent former cabinet ministers were exposed, has died. [Mark Minnie]( had written about Malan and his cohorts had run, and covered up, a paedophile ring involving military helicopters. Dubious circumstances Minnie was found dead in his friend's PE smallholding, a gunshot wound to the head suggesting an apparent suicide. Except Minnie had investigated staged suicides during apartheid. Minnie's death is suspicious , with very few willing to accept that suicide was to blame. Considering the enemies the author had made, there is some weight to this suspicion. A crack investigator, Dr David Klatzow is now on the case. If foul play was at hand, there are now many, many eyes looking into the matter. — Weekend reading [Fudging, obfuscation and misdirection hobble the route to the nitty-gritty of expropriation]( [Fudging, obfuscation and misdirection hobble the route to the nitty-gritty of expropriation]( BY Marianne Merten [Lion bones and predator farming – picking on the carcass of SA tourism]( [Lion bones and predator farming – picking on the carcass of SA tourism]( BY Ian Michler [Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 Fastback: Galloping racehorse – or one-trick pony?]( [Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 Fastback: Galloping racehorse – or one-trick pony?]( BY Deon Schoeman [Exclusive Books Top Ten.]( [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2018 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick Afternoon Thing subscriber list. Want to advertise in this mail? 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