Johannesburg - Independent Media says it has appointed Kashiefa Ajam as Editor of Saturday Star. Ajam has held the position of Acting Editor for the past 18 months.
In line with its transformation agenda, Independent Media has now grown its complement of female title editors to seven.
“Kashiefa Ajam has risen to the occasion. Since she was appointed to the role of acting editor her performance has been excellent. Her appointment as editor is testimony to the excellent job she has done in a tough media environment. This is well-deserved and we wish her and the Saturday Star team ongoing success”, said Executive Chairman of Independent Media, Dr Iqbal Survé.
Ajam, who hails from Mitchell’s Plain, began her career at Independent Media in 2000 as an intern at the Cape Times after a short stint in TV as a sports reporter. She said she couldn’t have imagined a better place to kick-start her print news experience. “When I moved from Cape Town to the Saturday Star in 2004, I was well-equipped with skills and knowledge to take on the exciting challenge of a weekly newspaper - in another city. It was the best decision I ever made.”
She was appointed senior writer in 2008 and news editor in 2009. She was then made assistant editor in 2014 and acting editor in March 2015.
“I am walking in the footsteps of giants and will always be grateful to my former editors, Brendan Seery, Janet Smith, Kevin Ritchie and Cecilia Russell for having so much confidence in me and my abilities and for continuing to be my mentors and pillars of strength and support,” said Ajam.
Her reporting has traversed a broad spectrum covering high profile court cases, Joburg's gang underworld and learning to striptease at Teasers.
“I lead a small team of multiple award winning journalists and the last 18 months as Acting Editor has been an amazing, enriching, educational experience. Not just for me, but for my colleagues as well. I could not do this job without them,” said Ajam.
Despite an overall decline in newspaper circulation, Independent Media has grown its share of the South African weekend newspaper market by 1 percentage point. In the past quarter (April to June), total weekend newspapers declined by 3.1 percentage points. This is according to the latest results of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) which measures newspapers and magazine circulation on a quarterly basis.
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