Freelance journalist Sue Valentine (46) could be described as a “woman of firsts”. She was the first woman sports reporter to work at The Star newspaper in 1987, she was the founder of South Africa’s first gay and lesbian radio programme in the mid-1990s, she was among the first journalists to report on Aids activist Zackie Achmat taking anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) in 2003.
“I was there the first time he took his drugs. I had the story published in the New York Times – Achmat taking this treatment which would prolong his life,” says Valentine, referring to his refusal to take the drugs until it was available at state hospitals.
“I am probably the only journalist who has written about his early days of taking ARVs and dealing with some of the side effects that can come with the medicine.”
As managing editor of the Health e-news service between 1999 and 2004, Valentine has built up a reputation of tackling Aids stories without fear or prejudice.
“I’ve been covering HIV issues since 1999, before then I had not had much exposure. But now I’ve been very involved in that debate in terms of the right to access to treatment. Of course, nutrition is important but people must know they can have access to life-saving treatment,” says Valentine.
“The challenge around HIV is— to find many multiple ways to tell those stories of people living with HIV,” she adds.
Valentine has produced several radio documentaries on Aids, including “Growing Up in a Time of Aids” with children from KwaZulu-Natal and a weekly radio feature called “Living with Aids” which was broadcast on SAfm between September 2000 and August 2002.
“I’ve been doing work with children in northern KwaZulu-Natal— we went up to train them to use radio, to use tape recorders to tell their stories and these kids were like ducks to water. They then spoke about their lives and growing up in a time of HIV.
“You can tell these stories and people are willing to tell them, I think, providing they are treated respectfully,” says Valentine.
Her inspiration for great radio documentaries comes from US radio veteran Bill Siemering who created a drive-time show “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio in the United States in May 1971.
“He made a documentary of the ghetto life of two young boys. He gave these two kids tape recorders to document their life in a poor part of Chicago and won numerous radio awards for that. I thought, yes, this is the kind of radio we can do. It’s about politics, social relations and it’s also humorous. It showed the power of good documentaries,” says Valentine.
Valentine, a former history teacher, started her journalism career as news reader and writer at Capital Radio in 1987 before becoming the first woman sports reporter at The Star in the same year.
“I think most of us— have moved through different media: from print to TV to radio. Nothing is wasted and it gives you a richness of access and experience. One of my first jobs was as sports reporter at The Star. And I sometimes think, what if I’d pursued that. But in the ’80s it felt like a bizarre place to be so I ran away from it.”
She then became education reporter at The Star before moving to the Institute for Democracy in South Africa where she later became media director. In 1996, Valentine founded, produced and presented In the Pink, South Africa’s first gay and lesbian radio programme on the Cape community station Bush Radio.
In 1997, she was appointed executive producer of AM Live and Midday Live on SABC. Two years later she became managing editor of Health e-news service and last year moved to the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, a non-governmental organisation, as media director. Since then, she has decided to take the freelance route.
“Often, what’s missing in a lot of our journalism is the stuff just below the surface,” says Valentine.
“What are the things happening in our society, what are the tendencies and what are people thinking and saying and how does that manifest itself and so on— To see what’s underneath, that’s much harder work.”
Sue’s most memorable story
Aids activist Zackie Achmat taking anti-retroviral drugs for the first time (see article).
Worst story
Telephonic interview with Canadian author Margaret Atwood – “She gave me these incredibly dismissive answers.”
Who would you most like to interview?
Tennis champion Martina Navratilova.
Who do you regard as your mentor?
US radio veteran Bill Siemering.
Career Highlights
- Director, Media Programme, Open Society Foundation for South Africa.
- Managing Editor, Health e-news service.
- Executive Producer, AM Live and Midday Live.
- Media director, Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
- Nieman Fellowship 2002/2203, Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, USA.