What do you consider to be the highlights and lowlights of your career?
Nothing has given me more pleasure than the After Eight Debate – the excitement of closing in on the truth, only to see it wriggle away, as it always does and always should; and the profound sense it gave me of tapping in to the extraordinary wisdom and political insight of ordinary South Africans.
Lowlights? I’m too busy thinking about the good memories to dwell on that.
Do you have any regrets, and if so, what are they?
Allowing people with narrow and self-serving political agendas to draw me into their limited and limiting way of thinking.
What were your best and worst interviews on SAfm?
The best interview is for others to judge. My favourite interview was with mountaineer Sibusiso Vilane, who spoke to us within seconds of reaching base camp after his ascent of Mount Everest. It was breaking news at its best, Sibusiso was powerful and poetic and many listeners later told us they were moved to tears.
Worst interviews? Many didn’t work out well – the skill, which I never quite mastered, was always to put it behind you, move on and make the next five minutes count.
Name the person you would most want to interview and why?
Oprah Winfrey – provided it was on her show.
What is your dream job?
Not sure – let me sleep on it.
What are your future career plans?
I am considering a sometimes bewildering range of possibilities, some realistic and some wonderfully wild, some in the media and a couple outside.
What would you want to be in your next life?
A soccer star with his own current affairs talk show.
You have been very involved in training young journalists. Do you think broadcast journalism in South Africa is up to standard and would you want to continue being involved in training?
I worked with some terrific young journalists at the SABC – the talent and desire is there, but the commitment to quality at management level is uneven and often absent. Training would only produce results if that changes.
The same week your departure from the SABC was announced, a number of listeners called in TO SAfm requesting that you reconsider. Did you expect such a reaction?
Not really, but I was very moved by it.
How would you describe your nine-year stay at SAfm?
While I had enjoyable enriching times at the Weekly Mail and The Saturday Star this was, without doubt, the most profound and rewarding experience of my working life.
It is said that any self-respecting journalist should work for the public broadcaster at one point in his or her career. Do you agree and why?
I don’t know about the words “self-respecting” and “should” – there are many excellent media institutions in our country. But working for the public broadcaster is a fantastic experience, not least because of the stunning mix of people you encounter each day, both colleagues and listeners. It really is quite exhilarating and a challenge of a very particular kind. The unique challenge of working at the SABC is this: given that you can’t be as opinionated as presenters on commercial radio, how do you create radio that is challenging and critical within the more formal style of public broadcasting?
Why did you quit the SABC?
My reasons for leaving are complicated. What is a matter of public record – and not complicated at all – is my concern at the abuse of the public broadcaster for narrow and ultimately self-serving goals, in direct contravention of the SABC’s editorial code. The Sisulu Commission of Enquiry confirmed the validity of those concerns and established that they were not mine alone.
What lessons do you take with you as you leave the SABC?
Forget about the background noise, listen to your listeners.
In hindsight, do you think it was worth it to blow the whistle on the SABC blacklisting saga? It has earned you the reputation of being a champion for media freedom but it has also drastically altered your career path.
I have to say that any stand I took was not taken alone. I did what I did as part of a group of SABC staffers with principles and guts, all of whom had much more to lose for taking a stand than I did. Was it worth it? Hell yes it was worth it.