Namba Wan’s transition lost in translation
The caught-out team
Vera knows it gives away her age, but this week she was reminded of a journalism lesson she has always held dear.
You see, at the time when the fax machine was a state-of-the-art tool of news-gathering, cub reporters would be made aware of one-man organisations who were nothing more than some nut on the other end of a fax machine.
Today, the bogeyman has morphed, but still uses sleight of hand, aided ably by new technologies.
The trick – for us lowly news folks – is to check, check and check our facts over and over and over again before we cry wolf.
What’s the hurry
But a veteran who has no business dropping her guard was recently caught in a web of deceit, otherwise known as fake news.
There are many peddlers of faux intel these days, and often those in a rush to be the first with the news are caught out.
Karima Brown is one of Vera’s favourites because of her insightful take into politics and her no-holdsbarred interrogation style.
But there she was, excitedly declaring breaking news on her late evening show on the wireless, trumpeting the impending arrival of Vladimir Putin in Mzansi.
She even invited her analyst to have his take on the developing but fake news.
Jimmy come lately
But despair not Karima dear, you are in good company.
The Native Formerly Known as Jimmy, the alleged owner of the Guptas’ ANN7, posted about rival channel eNCA’s announcement of the “breaking news” about Putin, perhaps in a hasty bid to harness some credibility for himself.
It was a case of spotting the speck in someone’s eye while missing the