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Found: a new editor for The New Age

28 Oct 2010

Henry Jeffreys will become editor of The New Age on Wednesday, 1 December 2010, TNA Media announced late this afternoon, Thursday 28 October. He replaces Vuyo Mvoko, who resigned suddenly, along with four other senior editors, last week hours before the newspaper was due to launch.

Henry Jeffreys, newly appointed editor of The New Age.

Jeffreys (@bokj) is a former editor of the Cape Town Afrikaans daily Die Burger and a former deputy and political editor of the Johannesburg Afrikaans daily Beeld, where he started his career in the 1980s. He is also a former SANEF deputy chair.

So, another mystery - Jeffreys also suddenly quit as Die Burger editor in early April this year without giving any reasons - has joined the existing one.

Comments Jeffreys, "I believe The New Age does have a unique and independent view to offer daily newspaper readers and I'm excited about joining the paper. The editorial team at TNA is eager to forge ahead and I'm pleased to be an integral member of this new venture.

"Cornerstone of our constitutional democracy"

"I am very passionate about the journalistic media. It is a cornerstone of our constitutional democracy and a custodian of the right to freedom of speech - in my view the most basic and important of entrenched rights we enjoy as citizens. It gives a voice to millions of citizens who are often ignored by the influential and powerful elites.

Having edited Afrikaans newspapers in recent times, Jeffreys says editing an English newspaper will not be a problem as there are editorial and publication processes which are universal.

"To distinguish your publication from the crowd you have to do certain things differently through your stories and articles and the manner in which you present and package them," he explains, "and different newspapers cater for different audiences with specific information needs, even between same language newspapers."

In between journalistic jobs, Jeffreys worked in the development field for The Urban Foundation and the National Business Initiative, serving on the boards as executive director for both organisations. He also worked as executive director for the Funda Centre in Soweto, Johannesburg. He is a director of, among others, the Institute for Global Dialogue. In 2004 he was awarded the Nieman Fellowship and spent a year at Harvard University in the US.

Enrich the public discourse

Jeffreys believes that printed newspapers are very much alive and kicking in emerging markets such as South Africa, and that the new title on the block is "bound to unlock new audiences [and give] consumers a new and fresh voice to consider, thereby promoting the much needed diversification of the media market." He also is of the opinion that it will enrich the public discourse.

Comments managing editor Gary Naidoo, "Henry has over 30 years of editorial and other experience behind him and we are certain he will bring his own unique voice and style to the paper. Watch this space; we'll have more announcements soon!"

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