FJP Alumni motivating 2011 FJP

By Wendy Ngcobo

Sihle Siyabonga Mthembu took some time to motivate the 2011’s FJP’s (Future Journalist Programme).

He described his experience at FJP as one that was very interesting as it became a unique networking platform and learning experience. The workshops that were offered during his FJP year took his writing to another level. Initially, Sihle disliked writing hard news but he told FJP’s to pay attention to their writing workshops. He acknowledged the fact that the writing workshops made him more comfortable in writing especially feature stories.

Currently, Sihle is at the National Arts Festival, doing reviews for BBC. He is also doing an internship at the prestigious Media 24. These are valuable contacts which he made during the Highway Africa Conference, through the exposure offered by FJP. He advised FJPs to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to bigger things. “I met MathataTsedu at Highway, who told me about the cadet school  at Media 24,” he said. Ironically, Mathata has since taken Sihle under his wing.

He credited the programme for his success and the opportunities since derived from it. Sihle encouraged the FJP’s to take full use of this opportunity not only to build networks in the industry, but also amongst themselves.”The colleagues you have now will help you should you need to interview someone in Johannesburg and you are in Durban”.

He emphasised on professionalism as he believes it is what brought him to where he is now.” Remove the mentality of being a student”, he said. “That way you don’t leave room for mistakes.”

Sihle Mthembu checking shows that he will be reviewing

 .

Sihle encouraged the FJPs to spread out and think beyond politics, stressing the industry’s dire shortage of quality journalists, particularly in the field of arts, environment and business.

In the midst of story-chasing and meeting deadlines, Sihle motivated FJPs to always be prepared, take initiatives but also enjoy themselves and have fun.”This is a great opportunity” he said. 

For now Sihle’s he’s busy working on his first documentary called The Uprising. Asked on what    lies for the future, cinema was no doubt the next invasion space!

The start of a great journey

My experience of the Future Journalist Programme so far has been mind-blowing. This is my first time in Grahamstown and from what I had heard, Grahamstown Winters are super cold and sometimes unpredictable. But, when we arrived, the weather was amazing! (Except for today of course, it’s absolutely freezing!). I have already learnt so much from being here and attending the Highway Africa Conference but I know that there is still so much for me to learn.

One the best parts of being here has been meeting my fellow FJP participants, and I have to say that we are a diverse and incredibly funny group of people. Lebogang, my fellow University of Johannesburg comrade and Mr Twitter 2010, is always on his phone. I think we will literally have to pry the phone out of his hands to stop him from tweeting all the time. And Sushi, my fellow lover of African men, is still arguing with me that Andre Ayew (of Baghana Baghana fame) is her man. Sushi, I’m sorry to say, he’s mine (you can keep Boateng).

Junior, aka J.R., is always cracking a joke and he does become very chatty after a couple of cold beverages at dinner... Jenny and Mina, I’m pretty sure that none of us will ever forget that white lamb and “cous cous-esque” rice. It has really been amazing meeting all of the FJP participants and that’s why we need to come back – to learn more together and about each other.

Another great part of being here has been attending the Highway Africa Conference. There is still a long way to go for the African media and attending the conference has highlighted some the burning issues that African journalists still have to deal with - amongst these being access to information and the digital divide. Networking with the some of the delegates was also wonderful. This conference is the greatest gathering of African journalists, so I feel very privileged to have had the chance to meet some of these people.

The discussions and workshops I attended have also been extremely interesting. Having a chance to listen to the former President of Ghana, Mr John Kufuor, speak about “African Media and Global Development Agenda” was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The rest of the plenaries featured some very high-profile guests and it was good to hear some of their views.

I definitely would love to come back here. Being a Joburg gal, Grahamstown seems like a small town but I have to admit that I have been stung but the G-town bug. We have been treated wonderfully, from the delicious food to the comfortable residence, everything has been fantastic. I’m looking forward to regularly contributing to the blog and developing my skills as an aspiring fashion journalist. As the French say – merci beaucoup FJP!

By: Zinhle Mncube