The Plagues, Max and Me

The great Struggle journalist, Max du Preez, founded South Africa’s fabled anti-apartheid newspaper Vrye Weekblad back in 1998 and revived it in 2019 as Vrye Weekblad Online. He recently wrote an article deploring eNCA TV’s suspension of two of its most experienced anchor/presenters and quoted me. Here’s Max’s article: Yesterday, @XoliMngambi and @JaneDutton made an […]

Morgan Almighty

  My old friend Morgan Freeman has just won the American Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) Life Achievement award for his work in movies and — even more impressive — his humanitarian accomplishments. The prestigious award is given annually to an actor who fosters the “finest ideals of the acting profession.” Learning how to be still, […]

Free Marketplace of Ideas vs Four Horsemen

So swiftly that not even the most prescient of us heard the distant thunder of their hooves,  the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have galloped into our lives . Their names are Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un and Bashar al-Assad. Together this megalomaniacal foursome — just like the Horsemen in the Book of Revelations — […]

Something of Value

The Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) has commissioned me to train nine senior South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalists in the ways of interviewing. Following is the story of the first time I trained SABC journalists. Twenty-two years ago. At the time I was lead TV journalism trainer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Johannesburg, South Africa, 1994 Buildings reflect […]