Marion Scher is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes for many of South Africa's major consumer publications and the custom publishing field, as well as public relations companies and the corporate world.

Through her company Media Mentors (www.mediamentors.co.za), she consults and trains in the corporate world plus parastatal and NGO organisations - her speciality being training people on all aspects of media.

For 14 years, Marion was head of journalism at Damelin College, Bramley (until 2008); her pupils now work in every major field of journalism both here and overseas. She regularly gives courses both within the industry through the Magazine Publishers Association of South Africa (MPASA) and the Print Media Association of South Africa (PMASA) as their official editorial trainer, as well as designing specific media and writing courses for companies.

She is the author of two books; her latest came out in 2009 - Surviving the SA Media - Building Bridges To Make The Media More Accessible is available through Knowledge Resources and all good bookstores. She is also a judge of three top media awards in the country: PICA Awards, Admag Awards and the National Press Club Journalist of the Year.

She is the holder of a Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism and is currently on the Board of this Fellowship in South Africa.

Her major clients include Unilever, Telkom, Mondi, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Sappi, DBSA, Standard Bank, MTN and MultiChoice.

For more of her writing, go to her Bizcommunity profile or to www.marionschat.blogspot.com.