Young and old blood needed for Afrikaans media’s survival Rhewal

Journalist and opinion former Heindrich Wyngaard led the panel discussion during Akademia’s journalism symposium. (Photo: Annette Willemse/Akademia)

According to experts from the African media landscape, corporate and economic challenges, digitization and the juniorification of news agencies are some of the biggest challenges that this industry is currently facing.

Therefore, they believe that a healthy balance must be maintained between this industry’s increasing demands for young people with versatility, but also the much-needed preservation of its senior expertise.

Various media experts and journalists, including Barnard Beukman, editor of ImageKabous Meiring, producer and director of the current affairs program Outright, prof. Johannes Froneman, media expert and journalism lecturer, and Susan Lombaard, CEO of Rhewal, gathered on Thursday during the private higher education institution Akademia’s journalism symposium in Centurion to discuss various opportunities and challenges that Afrikaans media are experiencing.

According to Beukman, who was the keynote speaker at this event, the industry’s smaller editorial teams no longer allow journalists to hone their skills in specialist fields.

“Unfortunately, this happened at a time when auditors often make the decisions and then they are told to get rid of the ‘older people’, because they are the most expensive. One consequently puts versatile journalists (all-rounders) to who can write several stories of good quality.”

Nico Strydom, editor at Rhewal, joined in and said that although the transfer of knowledge between generations is of key importance, younger journalists are naturally a step ahead when it comes to technology.

“The young are already familiar with many of the platforms on which the media industry wants to express itself, but they must of course be prepared to learn. We like to hire someone who not only has good skills, but is also eager to learn.”

Pieter Steyn, a senior journalist at Rapport and content director of RSG’s breakfast show Up and awakefor his part, said during the panel discussion that the need for highly versatile journalists, “who must master everything from writing, photos, videos and sound”, is a direct result of the migration from print to digital media.

“The digital space is hungry for content, so it is a challenge and a great opportunity to try to feed this space continuously. Tim du Plessis (former editor of Rapport) also always told us that the media should be like fruit salad. You must not only give the readers what they are looking for, but also what they need.”

Pieter Steyn, a senior journalist at Rapport and content director at RSG. (Photo: Annette Willemse/Akademia)

Strydom joined in and discussed how stories can be more easily prioritized in the digital media space.

“Because we at Rhewal have a direct relationship with our readers through comments, we get feedback quickly. In this way, we immediately know which content hits with our readers, which helps us to determine our content.”

Regarding the “prophets of doom” who are constantly counting the print media’s days, Beukman says that sentiments and trends change continuously and that for newspapers such as Image is important to serve all their readers, “even those who want to fill in the crossword puzzles themselves with a pencil or pen every day and save clippings”.

“Netwerk24’s online journalists are still motivated by the print media. They check if they report online the next day on the front page of a newspaper such as Image of The citizen appear,” agreed Steyn about the importance of print media.

Antoinette Slabbert, a senior reporter at Rapport, said during the panel discussion that, in her eyes, journalism is still the most enjoyable job for “curious people”.

“Journalism is unique thanks to its autonomous nature. You can follow your nose as long as you deliver quality content within frameworks and achieve outcomes.”

Slabbert agreed that the media needs a good mix of young people, people in the “middle of their career” and experienced people as journalists.

She also pointed to the profound change that can take place thanks to the type of issues and people being written about. “It’s important to always have respect for your reader. You have the power to give recognition to ordinary people and prove to them that they are somebody and mean something.”

Beukman concluded that the ultimate solution for a sustainable future in Afrikaans journalism does not lie with media institutions, but rather with training institutions.

“There are several issues in global journalism that new journalists need to be trained to deal with. Theoretical as well as practical training is essential for Afrikaans journalists to be able to create quality content, because we need the younger guard’s new voices and skills, not only for supplementation, but also balance.”

Since 2021, Akademia has offered a BA degree in communication and journalism to and dr. Alé Steyn, head of department of Languages ​​and Cultural Sciences at Akademia, said during this event that although the industry is changing, this does not mean that academic training should be cut short.

“The media industry is unpredictable with various challenges such as digitalisation, finance, new media audiences and new ways of using media. However, it also creates great opportunities and that is why we are excited to deliver students who can fill their place in the workplace and make a meaningful contribution.”