A small team - pushing innovation in media.
News Team's journey began in 2015 as F8 Development, founded by three seasoned directors: Richard, Pete, and Dylan. Their collaboration originated within TouchLab, an innovative technology incubator. With a wealth of experience from their time at Media24, they set out to tackle a pressing challenge in the industry: monetising South African news websites through paywalls, a pioneering concept at the time.
The story of News Team begins with our founders' experience at Media24, where they witnessed firsthand the challenges facing the publishing industry. As print news faced a steady decline, there was an urgent need for the industry to adapt to the digital landscape. This critical juncture inspired a vision: to create a platform where editorial teams could craft rich digital content, bringing the artistic flair of print layouts to the web.
This vision materialized in the form of Redactor, a revolutionary custom Content Management System (CMS) developed during their time at Media24. Redactor introduced a game-changing in-line editor that replaced form-based story creation with a user-friendly "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) approach. Its innovative widget framework allowed for easy drag-and-drop integration of embeddable elements.
The impact of Redactor was significant, transforming the digital presence of major South African publications. Titles like Beeld, Die Burger, Volksblad, Die Son, The Daily Sun, and the super site Netwerk24 all benefited from this innovative platform, showcasing the potential of digital-first publishing.
This experience and the success of Redactor laid the groundwork for what would become News Team. Our founders recognized the immense potential in creating tailored digital solutions for the news industry, and this realization would soon lead them to embark on their own venture to revolutionize digital publishing.
News Team's approach was revolutionary in its emphasis on data. Unlike conventional industry practices, our system meticulously catalogued every element within a story. This comprehensive storage allowed for detailed reporting on element types, usage frequency, and story presence. The result? A system capable of precise searches across stories and within specific embeds, providing deep insights into content utilization and reader engagement.
In 2015, armed with their extensive experience, the three directors embarked on a new venture. Combining cutting-edge technologies with a startup mindset, they laid the foundation for News Team and developed CosMoS, an advanced CMS system. By August 2016, in collaboration with Tiso Blackstar (formerly Times Media Group), News Team launched its first publication on the CosMoS platform: Wanted Online. This launch was met with industry recognition, earning the title of Best New Product at The Digital Media Africa Awards.
This success paved the way for the seamless transition of other Tiso Blackstar flagship brands to the CosMoS platform, including Sunday Times, Business Day, TimesLIVE, and SowetanLIVE. It also facilitated the creation of their new super site, Business LIVE.
News Team's influence soon extended beyond South Africa's borders. A significant international collaboration saw us working with Kenya's Radio Africa to develop websites for prominent news and radio titles such as The Star and Mpasho, all powered by the CosMoS platform.
Beyond technology and platforms, News Team has been actively engaged in large-scale transformation projects. Our partnerships with various editorial and business teams across multiple publishing organizations have provided us with deep insights into the challenges facing the news media industry. This hands-on experience has been instrumental in shaping our approach to innovation and problem-solving.
At the core of our mission is the dedication to optimizing newsrooms through technology solutions. Our efforts have significantly boosted productivity and efficiency in the organizations we've worked with, demonstrating the tangible benefits of our innovative approach to digital publishing.
At News Team, our history is one of continuous innovation, collaboration, and strategic insight. As we look to the future, we invite you to join us in shaping the next era of media. Together, we'll continue to lead the way in news publishing, driving change and excellence in the industry.