Jeffreys: The New Age will be agenda-setting paper

Veteran newspaper man Henry Jeffreys has jetted in to Johannesburg like a knight on a white charger to restart the Gupta family's stalled presses. He may just be a wise move for The New Age, as he brings experience, pragmatism and a tough, no-nonsense approach.

By Mandy de Waal: @mandyldewaal

3 Nov 2010

Jeffreys: The New Age will be agenda-setting paper

Not satisfied with starting just another newspaper, Jeffreys wants to mould The New Age into an investigative paper that will break, not just report on, the news. Speaking to him, one gets a sense that the editorial walk-out at The New Age might just be the best thing that has happened to Gupta's press in recent times. In Jeffreys the Guptas have found a pragmatic, experienced and fairly hard-nosed editor likely to get the show on the road.

"I don't know why people are surprised when during a trial-run period one picks up problems," Jeffreys says, studding the conversation with a big belly laugh. The former editor-in-chief of Die Burger was due to head off for retirement when he traded peace and a view of Table Mountain for the challenge of getting Gupta's bedevilled press off the ground.

The New Age has already had two launch postponements. The paper's September 2010 launch faltered due to technical problems after editorial systems shipped in from India were difficult to bed down. Then, in October on the eve of The New Age's launch, premier editor Vuyo Mvoko, deputy editor Karima Brown, news editor Amy Musgrave, opinions and analysis editor Vukani Mde and arts and culture editor Damon Boyd suddenly walked out. The presses stalled again.

Continue reading the full interview on www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

Source: Daily Maverick

Daily Maverick is a unique blend of news, information, analysis and opinion delivered from our newsrooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. There are many ways to describe exactly what we do (and for the price of a cup of coffee we’re capable of talking your ears off about it), but the best way to understand the end result is to experience it. Every part of Daily Maverick is free-to-air and no payment is required, although free registration is required for a small subset of functions and pages.

Daily Maverick is run by an independently owned, private company with no affiliation to any other media group (or political party or religious organisation.) Follow Daily Maverick on Twitter at @dailymaverick.

Go to: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/

Mandy de Waal

About Mandy de Waal: @mandyldewaal

Editor, writer and researcher. *Editor of #TheFutureByDesign & The Africa Annual *Published in Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs *Published in Rolling Stone Magazine, The Guardian (UK), Daily Maverick, Finweek, Mail & Guardian, City Press, Rapport, Moneyweb, Noseweek; Brainstorm Magazine; ITWeb, and MarkLives. *Before becoming a full time writer, de Waal founded brand agency Idea Engineers, and led the Cape Town office of Text 100.