Melody Gwenyambira recently in SANDTON,
South Africa
A swift breeze
swept by in the car park. Soft twigs rustled softly on the ground. A squish
squash sound of car wipers could be heard in the stillness of Mother Nature.
The clouds were just starting to gather to organise the weather for that day.
The arrangement of the cottages at Number 30 Gill Street Observatory in
Johanesburg looked like the ones in some old English Village and I loved it!
I walked to the car park to board the waiting vehicle. With each step I took I realised my curiosity levels rose.
I had the excitement of a child who eagerly awaited birthday presents.
The day I had been waiting for, for many months had finally arrived.
I was part of the 14 Zimbabwean female journalists that were on a five day tour of the South African newsrooms as part of our Women Mentoring Journalists Programme that is facilitated by the Humanitarian Information Facilitation Center and the US Embassy in Harare.
My passion as a journalist thrives on finding out new things visiting places and interaction with different people.
This particular visit was very important to me because I had always been told that South Africa has some of the best newsrooms and conducive working environments so I wanted to discover and experience it for myself.
The drive to Number 5 Gwen Lane in Sandton where Primedia Place is located was very short for me.
I looked outside of the vehicle and got lost in my imagination.
I was trying to imagine what Primedia Place looked like.
Prior my departure from Harare I had researched on this large media group.
With more than 50 brands on offer in broadcasting, advertising, marketing, promotions, sport, entertainment and digital media, I knew I was in for a wonderful experience.
After we disembarked the vehicle we walked into the building that houses Primedia.
I waited with eagerness as Pippa Rowles the Public Relations manager of Primedia came down to meet us.
"Since 1994 we have believed that we are agents of positive change. We call out to all South Africa to be part of the action positive change. Three years ago we started LeadSA an initiative that recognises that there are millions of ordinary South Africans who continually seek to do the right thing for themselves, for their families and and for their country. We want to celebrate and support their efforts. If we all treat others the way we'd like to be treated, we're there," Pippa said.
Primedia has done campaigns with the private sectors, government and schools.
With the advantage of its mediums it uses all the multimedia platforms to pass on the message of positive change.
I twitched after Pippa announced that she was taking us to the third floor to 702 Talk Radio.
Being a multi versatile journalist with experience in both print and electronic media, I could not wait.
We followed behind Pippa as she put her identification card on the acess controlled entrance.
We all fitted into the elevator and we were on our way.
The strong aroma of cooked food in the atmosphere almost led us to think that we were in a restaurant.
"Our staff can heat their food in the kitchen on the corner over there. It 's a small canteen where they can buy food as well," Pippa added.
We made our way into the newsroom of 702 Talk Radio.
Plasma screens on the walls screened the live proceedings of the Oscar Pistorius Trial.
Microphones on different desks defined the different power positions in the newsrooms.
We later learnt that only producers uses these microphones to inform others in the newsrooms to make announcements.
"We have very few reporters in the newsroom on any particular day. It shows that we gave them in the field looking for stories. They are out there where the real things are happening, where all the action is happening. 702 Talk Radio was voted BBC's Africa Radio Station of the Year. We provide quality talk back radio to over half a million listeners in Gauteng. We have presenters that are experienced and well versed with the subjects that they discuss, They do not just waffle," Pippa said.
702 Talk Radio also shares the same newsroom with 94.7 Highveld, Joburg's number one hit music station which attracts an affluent audience of 1.3 million in the centre of South Africa's economic heartland.
The station features a mix of hot adult contemporary hits.
The news editor of 702 Talk Radio Belinda Levin came to talk to us
"We believe in breaking the news but we do not compromise on our ethics. Our news content is accurate and thoroughly checked. We do not speculate the wrong information and we pride ourselves in that. We break stories on the scene and we have created a culture of finding stories," Belinda said.
We then went on tour of the state of the art studios which are undergoing renovation.
We could only see the proceedings of what was happening in the studios through the glass doors as presenters were live on radio.
Primedia has quiet a number of women that are in leadership positions.
As we went downstairs I thought through the principles that guides the successful media hub.
I made a decision to take all of them as I develop into a better individual and journalist.
The exposure at Primedia enlightened and made me long for more in my career.
Above all the following principles that guide Primedia are now like a fire shut up in my bones;
~Do the right things always
We conduct ourselves and interact with honesty and integrity and transparency.
~Open communication
We build trust through open communication which promotes dignity, respect and compassion.
~Sustainability
We think and act long term in the pursuit of excellence.
~Innovation
As an entrepreneurial organisation we encourage thinking out of the box and new ways of doing things.
~Accountability
We deliver as promised take ownership, take ownership of our mistakes and fix them
~People
We are a learning organisation that values our people and their diversity and undertake to do everything we can to help our people to grow as individuals and team members
~Interdependence
We utilise each others skills and capacities as reams and as separate divisions to optimise our collective performance.
~Common Purpose
We keep reminding ourselves and each other mentality and verbally of our common purpose that informs our shared strategy goals direction and vision.
I walked to the car park to board the waiting vehicle. With each step I took I realised my curiosity levels rose.
I had the excitement of a child who eagerly awaited birthday presents.
The day I had been waiting for, for many months had finally arrived.
I was part of the 14 Zimbabwean female journalists that were on a five day tour of the South African newsrooms as part of our Women Mentoring Journalists Programme that is facilitated by the Humanitarian Information Facilitation Center and the US Embassy in Harare.
My passion as a journalist thrives on finding out new things visiting places and interaction with different people.
This particular visit was very important to me because I had always been told that South Africa has some of the best newsrooms and conducive working environments so I wanted to discover and experience it for myself.
The drive to Number 5 Gwen Lane in Sandton where Primedia Place is located was very short for me.
I looked outside of the vehicle and got lost in my imagination.
I was trying to imagine what Primedia Place looked like.
Prior my departure from Harare I had researched on this large media group.
With more than 50 brands on offer in broadcasting, advertising, marketing, promotions, sport, entertainment and digital media, I knew I was in for a wonderful experience.
After we disembarked the vehicle we walked into the building that houses Primedia.
I waited with eagerness as Pippa Rowles the Public Relations manager of Primedia came down to meet us.
"Since 1994 we have believed that we are agents of positive change. We call out to all South Africa to be part of the action positive change. Three years ago we started LeadSA an initiative that recognises that there are millions of ordinary South Africans who continually seek to do the right thing for themselves, for their families and and for their country. We want to celebrate and support their efforts. If we all treat others the way we'd like to be treated, we're there," Pippa said.
Primedia has done campaigns with the private sectors, government and schools.
With the advantage of its mediums it uses all the multimedia platforms to pass on the message of positive change.
I twitched after Pippa announced that she was taking us to the third floor to 702 Talk Radio.
Being a multi versatile journalist with experience in both print and electronic media, I could not wait.
We followed behind Pippa as she put her identification card on the acess controlled entrance.
We all fitted into the elevator and we were on our way.
The strong aroma of cooked food in the atmosphere almost led us to think that we were in a restaurant.
"Our staff can heat their food in the kitchen on the corner over there. It 's a small canteen where they can buy food as well," Pippa added.
We made our way into the newsroom of 702 Talk Radio.
Plasma screens on the walls screened the live proceedings of the Oscar Pistorius Trial.
Microphones on different desks defined the different power positions in the newsrooms.
We later learnt that only producers uses these microphones to inform others in the newsrooms to make announcements.
"We have very few reporters in the newsroom on any particular day. It shows that we gave them in the field looking for stories. They are out there where the real things are happening, where all the action is happening. 702 Talk Radio was voted BBC's Africa Radio Station of the Year. We provide quality talk back radio to over half a million listeners in Gauteng. We have presenters that are experienced and well versed with the subjects that they discuss, They do not just waffle," Pippa said.
702 Talk Radio also shares the same newsroom with 94.7 Highveld, Joburg's number one hit music station which attracts an affluent audience of 1.3 million in the centre of South Africa's economic heartland.
The station features a mix of hot adult contemporary hits.
The news editor of 702 Talk Radio Belinda Levin came to talk to us
"We believe in breaking the news but we do not compromise on our ethics. Our news content is accurate and thoroughly checked. We do not speculate the wrong information and we pride ourselves in that. We break stories on the scene and we have created a culture of finding stories," Belinda said.
We then went on tour of the state of the art studios which are undergoing renovation.
We could only see the proceedings of what was happening in the studios through the glass doors as presenters were live on radio.
Primedia has quiet a number of women that are in leadership positions.
As we went downstairs I thought through the principles that guides the successful media hub.
I made a decision to take all of them as I develop into a better individual and journalist.
The exposure at Primedia enlightened and made me long for more in my career.
Above all the following principles that guide Primedia are now like a fire shut up in my bones;
~Do the right things always
We conduct ourselves and interact with honesty and integrity and transparency.
~Open communication
We build trust through open communication which promotes dignity, respect and compassion.
~Sustainability
We think and act long term in the pursuit of excellence.
~Innovation
As an entrepreneurial organisation we encourage thinking out of the box and new ways of doing things.
~Accountability
We deliver as promised take ownership, take ownership of our mistakes and fix them
~People
We are a learning organisation that values our people and their diversity and undertake to do everything we can to help our people to grow as individuals and team members
~Interdependence
We utilise each others skills and capacities as reams and as separate divisions to optimise our collective performance.
~Common Purpose
We keep reminding ourselves and each other mentality and verbally of our common purpose that informs our shared strategy goals direction and vision.
 |
| Melody with Kwangu Liwewe E-News Channel Senior Field Reporter and Producer |
