#TheHerald180 | How it all comes together

The Herald news editor Kathryn Kimberley explains her role on the occasion of The Herald’s 180th Anniversary:

Q: You were appointed news editor at a crucial moment in The Herald’s history — be it relatively recent.

That was the task of running a newsdesk and newsroom in the midst of a global pandemic.

What were the greatest obstacles/challenges you and your team faced, and how did you deal with them?

A: I was officially appointed news editor of The Herald and then-Weekend Post in February 2021 — a job I have now held for more than four years.

Unofficially, however, I stood in as the news editor for a few months prior to that.

So for just over a year, I stepped into what most news hounds would describe as the most challenging role in the newsroom (I use the analogy of it being the neck that turns the head) at a very trying time for everyone.

Staff mostly worked remotely, some were losing loved ones due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for a long time courts were closed and we weren’t always able to physically attend to stories because of the restrictions.

So most interviews were conducted over the phone or via email during that time, which always feels a little impersonal, particularly when it is a sensitive topic.

Also not getting to interact with my colleagues in-person as their new manager was trying and we kind of had to just say a little prayer that everyone was doing what needed to be done, albeit mostly from home.

However, what it taught all of us is that there is a lot of wasted expenditure when it comes to how many companies operate.

Meetings can be held via Zoom instead of everyone flying to Joburg, for instance.

As I mentioned above, it was also a difficult time because people in the newsroom were losing loved ones.

I, myself, lost a very dear friend in advocate Terry Price SC, and felt I owed it to him to write his obituary myself, which was not the easiest job to do.

Q: How is the role of the news editor evolving as we develop The Herald’s footprint in an increasingly competitive digital age which has to serve both a print edition and its 24-hour online readership?

A: Like all roles in the news industry, with social media and even AI presenting added pressure, we have to constantly evolve to be able to keep up with demand.

It is so easy for keyboard warriors to post something unverified online and not have to account for it, while we as a brand need to first verify our facts.

So, even if we know something has happened, we still need to wait for the police etc to confirm it, which can be frustrating at times.

Then, with changing focus to an “online first” mentality, we try to keep back some of the more in-depth articles with added commentary for the print edition.

So breaking news stories will always appear online first, however, we try to flesh them out for print (of course, everything becomes available online for the reader).

As the news editor, it is my job to decide when a story is ready to be sent to the online team — and which stories to hold back on a little longer.

Q: As a journalist and manager in this industry, how would you describe The Herald’s 180-year legacy?

A: We have sadly seen far too many print publications come and go. So, for The Herald to turn 180 years old — the oldest newspaper in SA — is a remarkable feat.

Q: What have been some of the biggest scoops and stories for the newspaper during your tenure as both a senior reporter and now, as news editor?

A: I joined The Herald from the Daily Dispatch in East London as the senior court reporter in 2012. Court has always been my first love, so many of the stand-out stories to me have come from there.

I actually came back from maternity leave early after having my first child to attend to the Jayde Panayiotou murder trial.

It was a case that gripped the nation and The Herald was always a few steps ahead in its reporting of the developments there.

I still can’t believe that it was the 10th anniversary of her death this year.

Another was of course our beloved Madiba’s death. We were a small team who worked late into the night to get that story out, and I can still see the beautiful tribute to him which we displayed on the front page in my mind.

Another was a story I worked on with my husband, politics editor Michael Kimberley.

We knew we were competing with national media on this one, so from the moment we got the tip-off, it was just go, go, go.

We had heard about Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi being accused of rape at the time.

So I hopped on the next flight to Joburg to meet with the source, knowing the story needed to go to print in just a few hours.

Needless to say, I waited at the airport for my source for four hours, but they never rocked up. However, we still managed to break the story.

The Herald