Rise Africans Newspaper Editor, Mr Phuti Ramaphakela celebrated Women's month with hard working wonderful woman who plays a big role in our society. We give her flowers while she still alive.
Q: Welcome to Rise Africans Newspaper, please introduce yourself to our readers
A: My name is Gerda Potgieter, Editor of Devoted Magazine and an author. I hold a BA and Hons degree, both with distinction, and also a Masters Degree, along with other certificates such as Executive Leadership. I am proud of my two wonderful and successful sons and their families. They bring me much joy. The writing and outreach programs that I regularly engage in, are to try and make the world a better place. What I like the most is mentoring a younger person who wants to know more about the communication industry.
Q: Can you please take us through your career as a writer and who motivated you?
A: I started to use my skills in building the Kingdom by seeking inspirational stories about life-changing events and sharing them with the public through Devoted Magazine (online magazine). I also independently write inspiring stories about life-changing events for various publications such as Gateway News, and this awesome new kid on the block, Rise Africans Newspaper. I often put a spotlight on social ills such as human trafficking and unethical journalism. Both are impacting us all and writing about it helps me to create awareness about these problems. What motivates me is the awesome people who play their part in changing the world for the best.
Q: What do you think about the current media industry?
A: I have noticed over time how negative, and many times, sensationalized the news has become. There are not many positive news outlets to choose from when one wants to read positive stories. Media bias within the mass media, specifically how events and stories are reported and how they are covered, became the focus of my research over the last few years. That is what caught my attention and prompted me to start researching unethical journalism in mainstream media. The purpose of my recently released book in its essence was to expose unethical journalism by using a specific case where the mainstream media has ignored all the red flags of good journalism. I wanted to demonstrate how mainstream media can trick news readers into believing their narrative rather than that of the truth or verified facts.
Q: Referring to your recently published book, how can we really avoid “Fake News”
A: I believe that the solution to the challenges of fake news lies with the public. The news consumer should hold their media sources accountable for fake news. That is the reason why I dedicated the book to the news consumer in general because they deserve better than what they get from mainstream media. But it is also my wish that news reporters would be inspired to read the book and become ethical in news reporting. I used the case of the KwaSizabantu Mission to demonstrate to the readers that they should be on the lookout for the red flags of unethical journalism. In a nutshell, ethical journalism is all about fairness, checking out the news sources, verifying facts, giving both sides of the story, holding the news outlet accountable and, most importantly, reporting truthfully. The book is available on Amazon and GoodReads.
Q: Any message to all women who are making changes to society, more especially in the media industry?
Share knowledge and transfer skills. Reach out to the younger generation and to communities that need help. We all can use our talents and resources to help others and we should do that.
Q: How can our readers get to enjoy all your motivating stories?
A: Devoted is a not-for-profit online news outlet. Your readers can download all the stories from the websites: www.devotedmag.co.za and www.devinepublications.com/ devoted. They can also to follow our Facebook page www.facebook.com/devinepublishers.
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