When chance meetings roll into 'you're hired' meetings
Open News has been on air for a few weeks now, with news anchors Naledi Moleo and Koketso Sachane and social media anchor Ayanda Dlamini guiding viewers through the day's trending news, including the top celebrity and showbiz stories, with Adrian Botha on sports and Inge Isaacs providing weather updates.
Open News announces news anchors
eMedia 26 Oct 2018
They’re already making a name for themselves, with MD Nisa Allie describing the team of anchors as “young, opinionated, informed and sassy”.
Here Moleo, Sachane and Dlamini let us in on their broadcast media career highlights so far and what they most and least enjoy about working in the industry…
Moleo: There are so many. I’ve been in the broadcast media space for a very long time and have always wanted to bring news and current affairs to audiences that wouldn’t ordinarily want to engage on the state of our nation.
Talk us through your broadcast media career highlights so far.
Highlights include hosting Youth Expression, a youth current affairs talk show that used to broadcast across the continent on SABC News International back in 2009. Another definite highlight was joining the SAfm team and being the youngest host on the platform, then later scooping the MTN Radio Award for the best weekend radio show for my weekend talk show.
Naturally, however, the greatest highlight of all was leaving SAfm and leaving JHB for Cape Town, then joining the Open News family. This is what you call the dream job. News with a fresh perspective!
Sachane: Landing the opportunity at Open News is the highlight of my media career thus far.
The shift to television from radio, while it is a game-changer personally, is for me an opportunity to work with an incredible team of people, intent on changing the news landscape in the country. Being part of the start and launch of a new television news channel is one opportunity and experience that will forever be invaluable.Dlamini: The highlights of my career have been meeting people I never thought I would meet, from meeting politicians to some of the world’s biggest celebrities.
On the television “currently speaking”. @OpenNewsSA on OVHD and streaming on YouTube. Check @naledimoleo smiling and in the corner @imAyandaDlamini and @NicAndersen on the social media desk pic.twitter.com/3UtiSM8Hi3
— Koketso R Sachane (@KoketsoSachane) November 12, 2018
Brilliant ad lib on the KZN Health MEC's flippant attitude towards #breast #cancer, @naledimoleo and @KoketsoSachane! Today he also claimed #Salmonella issue in province 'no outbreak'. Knows better than @WHO, @nicd_sa and @CDCgov??! @HealthZA - anything to say? Sachane: I was fortunate to have been approached to apply for the position. The call from Open News came at a time where I was learning about the power of manifestation, during a period where I was asking for a new challenge with a bigger platform.What motivated you to apply for the position, and what did you most and least enjoy about this type of work?
Moleo: I had always watched the anchors in our country and was always just awestruck by their work, but I knew that I was also too opinionated and unstructured to pull off the level of seriousness we see on the news.
I am a quick-on-my-feet, candid radio broadcaster and Open News was the perfect fit. When I heard about the concept, I knew that it was indeed meant for me.
What I enjoy the most is being able to be part of the energy of our newsroom and come 5pm, deliver six hours of credible, authentic and real news.
There isn’t anything I enjoy the least, except for the fact that I am still getting used to the makeup and suits – but I’m settling in.
Dlamini: I actually didn't apply for the position and broadcasting was a bit of a sho't left in my career journey: I’m a qualified speech and drama teacher.
The dream was to be a foundation phase teacher, but while studying, opportunities came to enter the broadcasting space.
Chance meetings rolled into “you're hired” meetings.
Similarly, with Open News, it was a case of meeting people at the right place and the right time.
Moments I will never take lightly!
As for what I least enjoy… it is the off-air elements.
The fact that women are not treated as equals in the industry – from equal pay to trusting that women are able to do the job.
Who are the industry mentors you most look up to, and why?
Moleo: I look up to broadcasters like Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC. She is informed, refined but still willing to say it like it is. That’s admirable. She inspires me to break the rules but still be smart about how I do it. I have obviously never met her, but I’m inspired from a distance.
It’s not very often that one can say that they are inspired by their leaders at work, but I really am. We have a magical team and it makes one have faith in what is possible when people are well-managed and led.
Nisa Allie, Megan Rusi, Lukhanyo Calata and Jeanine Cameron – these are people that have worked incredibly hard in their lives to be credible media practitioners, with the highest level of integrity.
Sachane: Ntate Tim Modise is the first person who comes to mind. When I first realised I was interested in broadcasting, it was during my high school years when Ntate Tim was hosting the talk show on weekday evenings on the then-Radio Metro.
As a family, we would listen to the radio over supper and then engage each other on the various topics.
Another person I look up to is the late Rowena Baird, who was also on Radio Metro when I was growing up. I then had the opportunity to work with her at the then-P4 Radio Cape Town.
“Sis Rowie,” as I knew her, was like an older sister who reinforced in me the importance of remaining authentic on- and off-air.
Dlamini: Oprah, she is authentic in her space and does not apologise for it!
Live with your trending news stories @OpenNewsSA 17:00-23:00.
— Ayanda Dlamini (@imAyandaDlamini) November 12, 2018
What's trending news in your world?
Let us know and let's get chatting. Share your views on WhatsApp 0827770735���� pic.twitter.com/Euzy3m3Xrv
Now that you’re in the spotlight, share a few tips for youngsters looking to follow in your footsteps. Moleo: Curiosity is your greatest tool. Always want to know more. Even a lack of esteem can sometimes be cured by knowledge, so learn as much as you can.
Be an active citizen, vote when it’s time to. Being a news broadcaster also comes with caring very deeply about shaping our country.
Find the opportunity or gap, and chase it with all you have!
Sachane: Be yourself and respect the platform you’ve been blessed with.Hard at work, the @OpenNewsSA control room. We live right now via OVHD and streaming on YouTube pic.twitter.com/FKeUBSrXB0
— Koketso R Sachane (@KoketsoSachane) November 12, 2018
One of the fundamental lessons I carry to this day was imparted on us by the late Zane Ibrahim, when I started my broadcasting career at Bush Radio. He taught us that having a platform on radio Рand television, for me now Рis not about your ego or the sound of your voice, but rather about how we use the platform to make a difference.Dlamini: It may be a clich̩, but you were born an original, so don't die a copy. Grab opportunities as they come. You're not a one-dimensional being, dream another dream and make that happen if your first one doesn't work out. Remember that you create as you speak, so watch your mouth!
Wise words, no matter what you do in the industry. Keep up with the Open News anchors in their nightly broadcast, from 5pm to 11pm, exclusively on OpenView channel 120. You can also click through to the e.tv press office and visit the Open News Twitter feed for the latest updates, and follow Moleo, Sachane and Dlamini on their personal Twitter accounts.
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.
