Legendary Indy newsman Alan Dunn signs off

Alan Dunn’s last assignment at Independent Media has been to serve as one of the group’s three most senior editors; the regional executive editors based in the Cape, Gauteng and KZN.

Alan Dunn’s last assignment at Independent Media has been to serve as one of the group’s three most senior editors; the regional executive editors based in the Cape, Gauteng and KZN.

Published May 31, 2017

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Durban – Legendary Independent Media newsman Alan Dunn retires today.

In a 43-year career that started straight from school, Alan has spent his entire life with the company as it evolved from the Argus Newspaper Company to Independent Newspapers and then, after the successful acquisition by the Sekunjalo-led consortium, Independent Media.

Alan began his career as a young reporter on the Pretoria News, rising up the ranks to achieve every journalist’s dream – to become an editor.

He not only edited the paper he started on but oversaw its centenary celebrations in 1998 and was then selected to edit a further two newspapers; the Sunday Tribune and the Daily News after a successful stint establishing the first ever editorial synergy unit in the country to manage the content production of the company’s 18 mainstream newspapers.

Dunn has enjoyed a glittering career that included two foreign postings; as Argus Africa News bureau chief in Windhoek, Namibia, as well as the group’s US correspondent, based in Washington, and a stint as parliamentary correspondent that began five days after then President PW Botha suffered his watershed stroke, covering FW de Klerk’s presidency, the unbanning of the liberation movements and the release of imprisoned freedom fighters, chief among them Nelson Mandela.

Dunn’s last assignment at Independent Media has been to serve as one of the group’s three most senior editors; the regional executive editors based in the Cape, Gauteng and KZN, tasked with overseeing the company’s successful transition from a legacy print operation to a cutting edge 360-degree multi-platform content provider.

Independent Media’s executive chairman Dr Iqbal Survé paid tribute to Alan today: “Independent Media has some of the finest journalists and editors, not just in South Africa but on the continent, and Alan stands head and shoulders with the best of them.

“I had no doubt that he was the man we needed for this critical evolution of our business and appointed him accordingly. He has served this company loyally and with great skill, and I acknowledge both his service and the example he has set for those he has led for so long and for us his colleagues. He has been a consummate professional, respected and loved by generations of newspaper people both within the company and without.

“Independent Media is what it is because of people like Alan Dunn. I wish him a very well-deserved retirement with his wife Barbara,” Survé said.

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