Rhodes alumnus heads UN media corps
The newly elected President of the United Nations Correspondents Association in New York, US, misses braais with his mom’s potato salad, and Durban bunny chows.
Rhodes Journalism alumnus Sherwin Bryce-Pease, last week spoke about life in America in an interview with Grocott’s Mail.
Bryce-Pease grew up in East London and moved to Grahamstown to pursue his Journalism degree in 1997.
After graduating in 2000, Bryce-Pease was appointed International Communications Liaison at the Rhodes Marketing and Communications division. The position required him to travel to the US for six months to organise fundraising and other development strategies for the university.
Bryce-Pease then swapped Rhodes for the SABC in Johannesburg, where he became the UN correspondent in 2008. He started working in the US three months after Barack Obama becamne the first black president and has lived in that country ever since, but admits he misses South Africa.
“I make a point of going home at least once a year,” Bryce-Pease told Grocott’s Mail this week.
“I miss my family’s cooking, I miss having a braai with Mom’s potato salad.
“I miss Durban-styled curry and bunny-chow! Part of me misses the excitement that comes with being a journalist in South Africa today.”
However, he enjoys his position at the UN and SABC.
“I love my job and am grateful for the opportunities it has afforded me. I feel very, very privileged.”
His appointment at SABC News in 2002 was the highlight of his career, he said, as it opened up many new opportunities,
“The [current UN] job is multi-faceted, from global geopolitics stories, the Security Council and domestic US politics, to red carpets and celebrities and breaking news like when the jet landed in the Hudson River with over 100 passengers and crew aboard and everyone survived,” he said.
Some of his most significant interviews during his tenure at the SABC have been President Obama at the White House, the comediain Trevor Noah on the set of the Daily Show and several sit-downs with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
Bryce-Pease runs the SABC News office at the UN headquarters in Manhattan with responsibilities including everything from technical issues to administration, alongside his daily journalistic duties.
He was also part of the Executive Board of the United Nations Correspondent’s Association (UNCA) before becoming president of the body in 2016. Any member of the UNCA can be voted in as President, with members representing news organisations from across the world.
“As President, I lead the UNCA Executive Board that functions as a broad liaison between the international press corps and the UN Secretariat,” he said.
The Association facilitates the press conferences and manages the journalists’ concerns, which can range from security access to facilitating interactions between journalists and UN leaders.
“We also organise the annual black-tie UNCA gala dinner and awards, where the Secretary General provides the keynote [speech] and journalists from around the world are honoured for their coverage of the UN,” he said.
Bryce-Pease has to balance his new position at the UN with his responsibilities at SABC News.
“I need to make my main role as Correspondent and Bureau Chief for SABC News work seamlessly with my new, additional responsibilities as President. So this should be a very challenging year for me.
“This is a huge honour. I will do my utmost to proudly represent not only my company, but also serve as an Ambassador for my country,” he said.