By Darren Gilbert

The reason for this is simple – all of the content you find is spread across countless websites. There are very few ‘central hubs’ for the topic of journalism, especially in South Africa. However, they focus on either a specific aspect of the media or a particular perspective of journalism. And journalists deserve more.

No one knows that better than Dean McCoubrey, MD of MediaWeb. “If you look around at the rest of the industry, there are a lot of great sites,” he says. “However, not many are trying to cover the broader spectrum that is journalism.”

MediaWeb plans to fill that gap.

It does need to be said, though, that MediaWeb isn’t the newbie on the block. The website has been on the scene for the past 13 years. However, a decade in the media industry is the equivalent of a couple of human lifetimes. And for McCoubrey, a makeover was much-needed.

This doesn’t mean that McCoubrey is looking to overhaul everything about MediaWeb. He isn’t interested in discarding what has worked so well for the MediaWeb brand. Instead, he is looking to renew what it’s always been about. “Since day one, MediaWeb has been a website that acts as a resource for journalists,” says McCoubrey. “A central resource for journalists.”

And now McCoubrey and his team are building on that foundation.

“When I first came on board in 2013, one of the first things I did was a survey with the journalists that already frequented MediaWeb,” says McCoubrey. The survey asked the users a number of key questions such as: what were they as journalists struggling with? What opportunities were out there? What did they wish they had?

“It became clear very quickly that journalists were struggling with a number of things,” said McCoubrey. The main struggle, he says, was how to make money. And others said they struggled with getting good, exclusive content. Some of the journalists even said they felt underappreciated and undervalued.

“Having listened to journalists and knowing what they both wanted and needed, it allowed us the opportunity to provide for them,” says McCoubrey. “That is where we started when we set about reworking the content.”

This means that what you’ll find when you log on to MediaWeb is a website stocked with journalism-specific information. All of it is worth your time. From tips to apps and from courses to news and resources – including which awards are open to entry – if you need to find out about journalism in South Africa, McCoubrey wants you to choose this website.

If that doesn’t get you to want to visit the website, perhaps this will: MediaWeb also wants to become the largest freelance market place for journalists and writers in South Africa. Thus, journalists will be able to subscribe to become a member and find work. And it’s for free. “With MediaWeb, we want to provide a place for journalists to improve their skills, feel appreciated and make money,” says McCoubrey.

As for how long he thinks it will take to reach his goals, McCoubrey predicts a year-and-a-half. “We’re looking at making MediaWeb SA’s journalism hub within the next 18 months,” he says. He believes it’s possible too. It now just up to staying the course.

Knowing McCoubrey’s passion and determination, there is little doubt it will happen. Perhaps even sooner than he thinks.

For more information on MediaWeb, visit www.mediaweb.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Twitter or on LinkedIn.