M&G Community Media Journalist of the Year
old ambitions drive the winner of the Mail & Guardian Community Media Journalist of the Year Award at the 2017 Township Entrepreneurship Awards, Soweto TV’s Linda Mnisi, who said he was “over the moon”, especially having only recently migrated into journalism.
“I was taking a leap of faith when I entered the competition,” says Mnisi. “It is not every day where new journalists like me win awards, yet there is still more room to learn and to grow.
“I am so grateful that Mail & Guardian saw something in me that adds positive input into the community and I am really honoured to be the first recipient of this prestigious award, the first of its kind in the Township Entrepreneurship Awards.
“Soweto TV has for many years continued to produce stars. It has been a stage of practice for those who are passionate about the media industry. Although it is not given much credit for it, the station gives intense and proper training.
“I have always wanted to be the go-to person when it comes to information. I just did not have the know-how and the training to be that. Now that I am a journalist, I am able to keep my ear on the ground for the entire community. I want to produce shows, grow my radio career and start a business in the creative space.
“I want to become a very wellknown, part-niche journalist in arts and entertainment — not paparazzi, but telling the news stories about artists that need to be explored, such as them leaving labels and the contractual disputes they face. I want to produce journalism that focuses on their real issues.
“Soweto TV provides a brilliant platform to highlight real, grass roots community issues, bringing communities alive. Everyone focuses on the ministers, but we have to go into community homes and see how the ordinary men and women are going to suffer [or benefit] from government decisions. We need to provide a platform to see what is working and what is not and we need to share their stories.”
Mnisi says he wants to use his prize money to invest in his dreams, saying that at an early age he was taught to make money work for him.
A level N6 course holder in business management and an NQF level 4 course holder in film and TV production, Mnisi hopes to inspire his two younger siblings and other youth and says Soweto TV provides the right platform to motivate them.
Mnisi’s career started as a volunteer with the Muslim Aids never goes out of fashion and your success is your own responsibil-