journalismlatest news & developments

Ramaphosa warns newsroom losses weaken democracy

Speaking at a Black Wednesday event, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that newsroom job losses, digital disruption, and community media closures threaten democratic accountability.

Linguistic: Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje used courtesy as strategy in his letters.

A Motswana writer, author who argued with colonial power through letters

Beyond his celebrated books, Solomon T. Plaatje used letters, journalism, and Setswana orthography as weapons of resistance against colonial authority, shaping modern African…

Intellectual: No South African thinker of the 20th century has produced a body of work that matches Sol Plaatje’s in its breadth, rigour and consequence. Photos: Northern Cape Provincial Government

10 moments Plaatje changed SA forever

On his 150th birthday, a reappraisal of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje highlights 10 pivotal moments where his pioneering journalism, activism, and intellectual work transformed South…

Independent newsrooms build digital audiences as transformation fund gains momentum

The Digital News Transformation Fund's half-year report reveals how R10.5 million in funding has enabled 21 independent South African newsrooms to launch digital platforms, grow…

Romantha Botha

Romantha Botha believes the most powerful stories are often the ones people are reluctant to tell. Throughout her career, she has gravitated towards subjects that challenge…

Duduzile Dlamini

For Duduzile Dlamini, 32, journalism is more than reporting the news—it's about cultivating informed citizens and creating pathways for social change. As an nGAP journalism…

Sibusisiwe 'Sebe' Buthelezi

Sibusisiwe "Sebe" Buthelezi has built a career on asking the questions others avoid. Whether exposing wrongdoing, moderating difficult national conversations or producing…

Daniél Young

Daniél Young is a digital content producer at GQ South Africa, where he covers the people, ideas and cultural moments shaping contemporary South African life. A journalism…

Mothushi Thoka

Mothushi Thoka (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mothushi-thoka/), 29, is helping redefine what journalism looks like in the age of artificial intelligence. Rather than seeing AI as a…

RW Johnson dies, still inimical to the post-1994 dispensation

Richard William (RW) Johnson, a leading South African liberal public intellectual, journalist, analyst, and academic, has passed away at his home in Cape Town. Known for his…

Responsible journalism matters

In today's digital age, the language used in journalism profoundly shapes public understanding. Recent anti-illegal immigration marches in South Africa have highlighted the…

Epicentre of the crisis: About 10 000 Malawian nationals facing xenophobia elected to be repatriated and gathered at a migration transit camp in Sherwood, Durban since last Sunday. Photos: Lyse Comins

White foreigners arrive; Black Africans ‘flood’

Sandile Memela’s argument begins with a convenient sanitising move. The anti-migrant marches, he argues here (https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2026-07-09-the-truth-the-missing-link-…

The truth, the missing link in the parachute journalism drop

This article critically re-examines the role and responsibilities of African media in covering recent protest marches in South Africa. It argues that a 'parachute journalism'…

Daily Monitor and NTV Ordeal: It’s Either Press Freedom or Nothing

The ongoing siege against Daily Monitor and NTV Uganda has sparked concerns about press freedom and independent journalism in the country. A recent meeting involving National…

Piece of cutting-edge journalism resonates, 50 years later

A powerful 1976 article by veteran journalist Dr. Mothobi Mutloatse, titled ‘Leaders Lash "Stupid" Education System’ and published in the Weekend World, is being included in a…

A brave news world

Across South Africa, audiences are changing where they get their news and whom they trust. A new class of independent, or “indie”, information providers is exerting significant…

Emotionally contemporary: Actors Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci and Anne Hathaway in a scene from The Devil Wears Prada 2. The original film explored the sacrifices attached to ambition. The sequel shifts the question entirely. Photo: Supplied

‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ and the slow death of the newsroom

A stylish and emotionally resonant return to ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ universe, the film trades glamour for something far more urgent: a meditation on the collapse of media and…

Joe Latakgomo, the founding editor of the Sowetan newspaper in 1981 – passed away on 22 February 2026. Photo: Supplied

Joe Latakgomo: Founding editor of Sowetan – critical role in black journalism

It was at The World that he found himself standing alongside one of South Africa’s most towering figures in the press, Percy Qoboza. To serve as deputy to a legend requires a…

After two decades reporting from front lines I’ve learned that truth in conflict is rarely clean. Photo: Said Khatib/AFP

Response to Chrispin Phiri’s open letter

My position is that journalists have a duty to raise serious allegations — especially when they involve governments, foreign policy or international law

The Communications Authority of Kenya ordered that the commemoration of the 2024 protests not be covered. Photo: File

Kenya protests: When press freedom is under siege courageous journalists enlighten the world

The Communications Authority of Kenya ordered that the commemoration of the 2024 protests not be covered