INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Mr Tony Howard CEO of INL and Mr Moegsien Williams editor-in-chief of the group's newspaper titles. Picture: Moeletsi Mabe

Makhudu Sefara has been appointed as the new editor of The Star.

The appointment was today announced by Tony Howard, CEO of Independent News & Media South Africa, who said Sefara's appointment was part of significant editorial changes in the group which sees the elevation of a number of the group’s talented young journalists into senior editor roles on some of its established titles.

Howard said the group was excited to be in a position to make such appointments from within its own ranks and to show its ongoing commitment to skilled journalists for its papers.

In line with these changes, the current editor of The Star, Moegsien Williams, will become the editor-in-chief of the group's newspaper titles in Gauteng. He will continue to play a leading role in settling and developing the group’s future plans for The Star and will assume greater responsibilities in his current role as the Group's Editorial Director.

Jovial Rantao, deputy editor of The Star, has been appointed editor of the Sunday Tribune, the company’s flagship Sunday paper in Durban.

Philani Mgwaba, the current editor of the Sunday Tribune, assumes the editorship of The Mercury in Durban.

Moshoeshoe Monare, an executive editor on The Star, has been appointed editor of The Sunday Independent.

Howard said Sefara's appointment to the editorship of The Star, which marks its 125th anniversary this year, signals the company's intention to introduce young and vibrant leadership that would lead the newspaper into an exciting new era of service to the residents of Johannesburg.

“Safara will deepen the entrenched values of the paper in a more exciting way and at the same time will broaden its appeal to new markets.

“We are already in the midst of an information revolution. Over the next few decades The Star needs to secure its future as a newspaper and, as part of our online developments, an information provider on multiple platforms. More importantly, we need to ensure the survival and growth of one of the best newspaper brands in South Africa,” Howard said.

“Makhudu is among our cadre of young and energetic editors who has shown great editorial skill in turning around The Sunday Independent, among only a few of the more established newspapers in South Africa to have shown circulation growth in the last few years.

“The daily Star will present him with a bigger challenge which I'm sure he will relish and overcome.”

Howard said he was pleased about Rantao's appointment to the editorship of the Sunday Tribune.

“Jovial joined our company as a cub reporter and it's heartening to have watched his rise through the ranks to the editorship of one of our biggest titles.”

“After a long spell of apprenticeship on The Star, I am confident Jovial will turn The Tribune, our flagship title in KZN, into a bigger and better success.”

Howard said Mgwaba, who returns to the paper where he started as a cub reporter, would be able to apply his considerable skills picked up as the launch editor of the highly successful Zulu-language Isolezwe, the editor of the Pretoria News and the Sunday Tribune. “Philani will bring to bear his all-round skills and experience to produce a better and more profitable Mercury, one of the country's oldest newspapers. I'm confident he'll do an outstanding job in the Durban/KZN market which he knows well.”

He said Monare was one of the more impressive young editors in SA journalism. “As a company, we have invested and persisted since 1995 with a different kind of Sunday offering with The Sunday Independent. It's now a well established product within our stable and I'm confident Moshoeshoe will take it to greater heights and make it a “must-read” serious newspaper on a Sunday.”

Howard said the company needed the experience of Williams, the group's most senior editor, on a wider front.

“Moegsien has served on several of our titles with distinction but we now need his broad experience to help deal with a fast-changing industry, a fraught political situation and to deepen our journalism which is at the heart of our business.”

Said Sefara: “I am saddened to leave The Sunday Independent, which will always have a special place in my heart, at a time when the paper is riding the crest of a wave. I reluctantly leave behind a solid paper, with very talented and hardworking newsmen and women. But I am relieved it will be in capable hands.

“It is both an honour and a privilege for me to be given this opportunity to edit The Star. It is an opportunity I will not take for granted. I look forward to meeting the team, tackling whatever challenges that might exist and producing a great newspaper,” he said.

Rantao said: “I had a fantastic time at the helm of The Star, working with a great team of executives, journalists, photographers and graphic artists. However, it is time for change. It’s exciting to move to a new city and a great honour to be given an opportunity to edit the biggest Sunday newspaper in the Independent stable. I plan to build on the solid foundation laid by my predecessor and grow the paper to its full potential.”

Monare said: It’s an exhilarating privilege to be trusted with a title. However, such a task comes with big responsibilities. Being an editor in this decade is a test of conviction. One has to delicately balance between maintaining and defending editorial independence, playing a crucial role in strengthening our democracy, being responsive to the community, and achieving all these while operating in a depressed economic climate.

“At least The Sunday Independent has defied the current circulation trends by showing an impressive growth amid tough trading conditions, thanks to my predecessor,” he said.

Mgwaba said: “I am delighted to be returning “home”. The Mercury, an influential and respected newspaper with immense potential, holds a special appeal for me. It's where I learnt my craft as a young reporter. “My nine years on the newspaper gave me a thorough grounding for the various executive roles I have had the honour and privilege to occupy over the years,” said Mgwaba. - Independent Newspapers