The group listened closely as he told us to be meticulous.
Joe Tholoe stood straight and proud as he addressed the Journalism Honours class of 2014. The 70-year-old veteran journalist and anti-Apartheid activist advised us on “how to get it right” when telling our stories as journalists.
“You have to be meticulous, as meticulous as aircraft pilots! As meticulous as accountants,” he said.
He handed out the booklets, inside, the South African Press Code. Over 1000 different media outlets subscribe to this code and “if you want to get it right,” we must too.
The Drum room brings back memories for Tholoe. He was an English teacher in Soweto when he was invited to join the Drum team. He reminisced about his time there, going through each picture that hangs on the wall. He wanted to become a journalist to tell the story of the “shanty towns” of his childhood in Orlando.
“Ugly, muddy and smelly,” he described.
But his life in Orlando had never been reflected by anything he had read about his home written during the Apartheid struggle.
“I wanted them [the oppressors] to understand that we have human feelings. We laugh, we cry, we are human.”
Tholoe went on to explain that “values are the building block” behind being a good and ethical journalist. What we do is a result of our values.
He implored us to fight for what we believe in as journalists. But at the same time we are serving society.
He read out to us from the Press Council booklet, “press exists to serve society”. We followed closely.
He implored us to give citizens the information to help them decide about important issues of the day. He suggested that it is their values and beliefs that give them the insight to decide on what is important, but it is up to us as journalists to supply the information.
In a final few words, Tholoe allowed the class to ask him questions. He answered by telling us about being “ombudsman”, his time at SABC and eTV and the way in which the “Ombudsman” is elected.
He closed his address to the class by instructing us to have “patience, patience, patience” if we are to grow into good journalists.
There's a Zulu on my Stoep! 