By Sanele Khumalo
A Durban University of Technology (DUT) Journalism Department lecturer has been rewarded with a journalism award for her dedication to community media.
DUT Journalism lecturer Slindile Khanyile was awarded the Stephen Wrottesley Award at this year’s 26th Nat Nakasa Awards at the Radisson Blu at uMhlanga in Durban on 14 September.
The Nat Nakasa Journalism Awards are an initiative of the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef), which honours bravery, courage and integrity in journalism.
The award is a peer recognition to recognise her passion and commitment to Sanef, and her dedication to community media.
The KwaMashu-born Khanyile is a seasoned journalist turned entrepreneur, editor and founder of Zulu-medium online financial publication uMbele.
She has worked for various organisations including the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the now-defunct South African Press Association, Isolezwe, Business Report and the Daily News.
She said her passion for writing and reading led her to pursue a career in journalism. “I never had a specific plan, but all I knew was that whatever I chose would lean towards Biology or English, which were my two favourite subjects, but then Biology required Mathematics and someone told me about journalism. I started doing research about it and I also discovered that you travel a lot and I found that interesting.”
Her passion for financial journalism is evident. “I am a financial journalist and I have been one since 2007. I was a sports journalist before that, specifically a soccer writer, for the first seven years of my career. After seven years of being a sports writer, I got bored and looked for something else to do in the newsroom,” Khanyile said.
She said she spent six months working at the entertainment and lifestyle desk of the biggest Zulu publication and found it tedious. “Just when I was about to request to go back to the sports desk, an opportunity at Business Report came. I did an interview and I got the job. When I started to understand how everything works in financial journalism that was a defining moment in my career,” she remembers.
On her recent accolade and its significance to her personally and professionally, Khanyile said: “I was pleasantly surprised because I was not aware that anyone had nominated me. It is quite a big deal to be recognised by your peers. Such moments are reassuring on a personal level and professionally for me; journalism is all I know. For me, journalism is the gift that keeps on giving.”
About what distinguishes her from the rest in the pack, she cites her willingness to adapt with time. “My consistency separates me from the rest, because for the past 25 years, I have done the best that I can in the industry. My commitment and versatility, as I also (describe) myself as a versatile journalist. My willingness to embrace change. I am not afraid to go and start afresh. When I left sports journalism to be a financial journalist, I was moving from being a senior writer to being a junior financial journalist,” she said.
Looking at the current state of journalism, the struggles of traditional media and the popularity of social media, Khanyile shared her thoughts on the quality of journalism today.
She said: “I believe we still have real journalists and people are doing great work in some instances, if you consider the shortage of resources and salary cuts. It is incredible that people still do the work they do and the investigative pieces that we still get. There are several journalists who are committed to the craft to the core, but there is still room for improvement.”
Khanyile advises aspiring journalists to view their vocation as a gift and privilege and that by doing so, the industry will repay them.
