News app a first for South African student newspapers
Die Matie, student newspaper of Stellenbosch University, proudly launched a brand new news app that was developed by 24.com, South Africa's leading publisher. All indications are that it is the first app of its kind in South Africa.
Eugenie Gregan, editor-in-chief of Die Matie, explained that the idea arose to offer students, together with the biweekly newspaper, an easy, fast and affordable option to consume the news.
"Students are on their phones the whole time, so it made sense to create a platform for smart phones where all the news can be found on one place – and of which they can be sure it's fact checked.
"The app doesn't only include campus news, but also national and international news highlights, short videos with news makers, campus quotes and important campus notifications," said Gregan.
MJ Lourens, editor of NetNuus, says "it is absolutely exciting to have used our own innovative technology to solve a problem for Die Matie. With students' increased screen time, it's necessary to keep up with the obvious audience trends."
"The app we developed for Die Matie is an exact duplicate of NetNuus, which has quickly reached top of the charts amongst South African news apps in all relevant app stores. It's edgy and fulfils the need for people to be informed and to be so in a short amount of time. The need to convey a message on campus quickly is something that won't be a hassle anymore," says Lourens.
The app offers readers the opportunity to engage with the news with a comment functionality as well as react to stories or share what interests them with their friends.
The super simple scrolling function allows for a fuss free simple user experience.
The app for Die Matie was developed with Facebook's React Native framework.
"Die Matie's editorial team are the pioneers which will determine the success of this new platform and we have the fullest confidence that they'll make it a raging success.
"The scope of what Die Matie can do with this is endless and the team will ultimately teach us in the publishing industry about millennials and content – something that has been greatly talked about, but very misunderstood," said Lourens.