Journalist of the month: Wandiswa Ntengento

بواسطة Jessica Weiss
Oct 30, 2018 في Journalist of the Month

Each month, IJNet features an international journalist who exemplifies the profession and has used the site to further his or her career. If you would like to be featured, email a short bio and a paragraph about how you have used IJNet here.

This month, we feature Wandiswa NtengentoSouth African freelance journalist, student and founder of Magic Wand Media, a social media and online marketing company.

Her journalism career began in 2012, at Mdantsane community radio station, where she served as a news anchor, reporter, part-time producer and mentor for news anchors. Today, she is a news anchor at Link FM Christian radio station, where she works on the station’s biggest show, the Aquelle breakfast show. She freelances for various online and print publications and works as a communications officer at the International Alliance of Women, an organization based in Geneva.

Ntengento is passionate about issues surrounding women and children. Earlier this year, she organized a march to bring awareness to the abduction of more than 200 Nigerian girls by Boko Haram. In October, she was selected to be among 30 women's rights activists from around the world to participate in an international conference held in Cape Town by Masimanyane Women's Support Centre.

Ntengento is currently completing an undergraduate degree in journalism through Walter Sisulu University. In July 2015, she will begin as a news trainee at BBC Africa.

How has IJNet helped you?

Earlier this year, as I was browsing IJNet, I saw the advertisement for my current job, a communications correspondent officer for the International Alliance of Women. The opportunity spoke to me, as it was exactly what I wanted to do as a young journalist.

Can you tell us about the Future Journalist Programme you were part of last year?

I was one of 19 journalism students in South Africa to be selected for the 2014 Future Journalist Programme run by Rhodes University and Highway Africa. The program’s main goal was to equip us with in-depth understanding of the use of social media in society and how to use social media in our work. In September 2014, during the last leg of the program, I was among those students invited to attend Highway Africa’s conference, themed “Social Media from the margins to the mainstream.”

You do so many things. How do you manage it?

I occupy myself with enough things to keep me moving all day. I wake up at 4 a.m. to get ready for my news anchoring job, which starts at 6 a.m. After the show, I juggle writing, handing in assignments, attending events and meeting with people. At times it is exhausting and sometimes a rest is needed, where I will do other things besides journalism or Magic Wand Media, like eating out and walking by the beach.

What advice would you give to aspiring journalists or journalism students?

I firmly believe that modern day journalism requires having skills in many things. A young journalist should make sure that they acquire multiple skills--in print, broadcasting and online media. Our field is changing therefore we have to change with the times too. I would advise young journalists to get as much experience as possible while studying, even if it does not pay.

Image courtesy of Ntengento