#BehindtheSelfie with... Gladys Sithole
1. Where do you live, work and play?
I live in the North of Johannesburg, work in the North of Johannesburg and play wherever the mind and body agree they want to play. That could range from extremely loud environments to dead quiet spaces.
2. What’s your claim to fame?
Oh well, besides being a three-time award-winning newsreader, I pride myself in going home every evening, knowing that I once again have fulfilled my purpose of being the bridge between the voiceless and the powerful.
3. Describe your career so far.
It’s been a long journey, full of ups and downs. Probably more downs than ups, but perspective is everything. The hard times continue to be what test and shape my character.
For every loss or disappointment, I’ve gained a whole wealth of knowledge.
4. Tell us a few of your favourite things.
I am passionate about my work and tropical islands with pristine beaches, but even that takes a backseat most of the time.
The real deal is: God first, then my husband, family and friends, and last but not least, the hubby’s healthy sandwiches, which he always makes with love!
5. What do you love about your industry?
Just how sharp and up-to-date it keeps me. There’s always new stuff emerging to conduct more research on.
6. Describe your average workday, if such a thing exists.
A day that gets off to a normal start could end up steering towards a completely different direction.
7. What are the tools of your trade?
It’s important to constantly stay “plugged-in” by keeping tabs on everything and everyone – thank goodness for social media – and reading further than just the headlines.
Another important thing to consider is that one needs to have the heart and the tolerance for some of the heart-wrenching stories you tell and read about.It’s an ongoing cycle of the rich getting richer, the poor being more marginalised and another person who has lost their life. An important tool for this is the ability to switch off and focus on filling my cup, which I’m getting so much better at doing.
8. Who is getting it right in your industry?
I’ve always looked up to journalist and broadcaster, David O’Sullivan. When I met him for the first time, he spoke so much life into me and continues to do so every time we have an encounter.
Whenever I start highlighting challenges, she compares them to those that journalists back in the day had to deal with, and I all of a sudden forget what I was going on about. It’s a humbling experience.
9. List a few pain points the industry can improve on.
Speed and accuracy.
I’m starting to notice that exclusivity is slowly becoming a thing of the past with media houses because our move into the 4th industrial revolution means that citizens will always have the exclusive material that makes up a story.Citizen journalism is fast growing and there’s not much that the industry can do about it, except to verify and double-check the facts and then take the story further, which is what we’re equipped to do.
I’m seeing too many journalists apologising for getting the facts wrong or having to retract their statements because we’re constantly in a hurry to break the news before anyone else does it. Don’t get caught in a trap.
10. What are you working on right now?
On a personal note, I’ve been on an ongoing journey of getting to know myself in order to work within the confines of my purpose. I’m trying to observe more and speak less, the operative word being “trying”.
11. Tell us some of the buzzwords floating around in your industry at the moment, and some of the catchphrases you utter yourself.
On air: “According to…”, “And finally…”
Off air: “Who?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “When?”, “Why?”, “How?” and the usual: “We should get a sound bite for this…”
My ultimate phrase: “Focus on informing and not performing.”
12. Where and when do you have your best ideas?
In the shower. There’s something about water that opens up the floodgates to my creativity.
On that note, when is somebody – anybody – inventing a recording device for the shower, so I can stop panicking about running to my diary or phone to jot things down?
13. What’s your secret talent/party trick?
It has got to be my photographic memory. It freaks my husband out at times, how I can always remember where I saw something, when, what time of day it was, the words spoken and how they made me feel.
My memory is also triggered by certain smells. The disadvantage of this is that it’s easy for me to relive a bad experience.
14. Are you a technophobe or a technophile?
This answer shocked me actually because of the thinking that had to go into it, and me having to concede that, contrary to what I believed… I’m actually a real technophobe.
1. My brother got me a smartwatch months ago and the thought of configuring it stresses me out. So, it’s still sitting here… staring at me.
2. Brand loyalty is a real thing for me. If I use something once and it works, I don’t see the need to get an upgrade. The only way to switch to my new phone was to give my old one to my mom. I panicked about important documents that might not have been backed up. I used to have both phones with me everywhere I went. Letting go was hard.
15. What would we find if we scrolled through your phone?
Wow! Thousands of unread WhatsApp messages (I can explain!), news app notifications, a million pictures and a whole lot of notes and reminders.
16. What advice would you give to newbies hoping to crack into the industry?
The sooner you face the awkwardness of listening to a recording of your own voice, the sooner you can get started on tightening the bolts.
Many people I’ve worked with who are new to the industry worry too much about how they sound versus if whether or not what they are saying makes sense.I always say to newsreaders in training: “I need to listen to you and know that it’s you reading the news bulletin. Above all, I need you to inform more and perform less.”
Simple as that. Follow Sithole on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the Hot 91.9FM press office, and their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds for the latest updates.
*Interviewed by Leigh Andrews.
About Leigh Andrews
Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen, is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews.
