Political news has always been that one section of the newspaper we skip. When it’s on TV we change the channel (at least I do) because it’s always been packaged in an unattractive manner. News24 hopes to change that with the introduction of South Africa’s first elections dedicated application that gives you news, views and coverage on the upcoming South African national elections all in a single app on your smartphone.
The application works much like the News24 website but it it packaged specifically for political news. In fact you don’t even need to follow all the political news; the app allows you to follow news related to your preferred political party. It was launched in February this year after News24’s successful coverage of the 2011 local government elections and is currently available on Play Store for Android & Apple iStore for iOS.
I’ve been using the app on a Sony Xperia for almost a month now and even if it stops working occasionally it is still the most comprehensive source of political news. Jannie Momberg, News24’s Editor-in-Chief said, “The news around a national election changes minute by minute. News24 focuses on breaking news but with this election we wanted to take it one step further and offer a dedicated application to voting savvy users which would ensure that this momentous election was covered in as much detail and as effectively as possible.” I tend to agree with her.
Some of the cool features on the apps is checking if you’re registered to vote and tracking the progress of your registration, finding your closest voting station, keeping track of the party you’re planning on voting for and voting tips (this one is geared more towards the first-time voters).
The app focuses on breaking news in real time. It features opinions, in-depth analysis, user-generated content and digital journalism brought to you as it happens. The app will also offer a results map streamed live as it happens on results day like the one News24 had at previous elections. This feature will allow you to immediately compare the results to those of previous elections. The VIP team has been using the app extensively, it is our most current and up-to-date source of news available on the market. Compared to other publications that have apps like Mail & Guardian this is the first and only app solely dedicated to South African political news.
Source: News24.com
Twitter: @Thapelo_Mosiuoa
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