Johannesburg – Gasant Abarder’s debut book, Hack with a Grenade, captures his career as a newspaper journalist in a way only he can tell.
He has dubbed it an editor’s back stories of SA news, which details life in the newsroom he called home for the last 21 years of his life.
On Wednesday, the former editor was in conversation with Kevin Ritchie, a former editor of The Star, at the launch hosted by The Star and held at the Wanderers Stadium in Illovo, Joburg.
“You need to leave your luggage at the door and bring who you are to the newsroom. Whatever baggage you have, you have to leave it behind.”
Abarder added young reporters were “incredible”, having to do so much more work with less resources and less pay.
“I am in awe of them. If I were to start my career again, I would fail miserably because I am an old dog and I don’t know how susceptible I am to learning new tricks.”
He spoke on how it was important to have connections that went beyond the newsroom in order to recognise news stories across the board.
In the preface of his book, the father of four writes how silly his timing was writing a book about newspaper journalism and having it published during a time when books and newspapers were under threat.
Abarder said the role of newspapers in this time, especially with Covid-19, was to move beyond breaking news.
“The reason why the New York Times is growing is they have invested in investigative journalism. That’s so important, to put resources behind proper journalism. What editors are doing these days with poor resources is commendable.”
He added stories had to go beyond breaking news as the same stories were being broken on social media.
“Make that part of your platform but also entertain, inform, analyse and give depth in the traditional media. But to do that we have to invest in proper journalism.”
Asked about his favourite story, Abarder said it happened by accident.
“I’m not going to give away too much because it’s a crucial part of the book. I was invited to speak to homeless people in Cape Town. I was supposed to tell them about my role as an editor but they couldn’t relate.
“I stopped and started to listen to their stories. I was swallowed by the incredible stories of the human spirit. They were resourceful. There was a lawyer, an arts graduate and a woman with a baby just a few months old. These were the stories we needed to tell.”
That encounter eventually led to a column written by the homeless in the paper.
In the book, Abarder uses the stories of the many people he has met over the years – from sport personalities, to Struggle heroes and artists – to provide social commentary on issues including religion, prejudice and injustice.
Abarder has not only worked in print, but in radio and TV newsrooms as well, in Cape Town and Joburg.
The cover illustration of the book shows Abarder holding a grenade surrounded by memorable posters and front pages that have had an impact on him and his days in newsrooms.
The discussion at the captivating launch also dealt with the role of journalists today, their principles and how to fix the view of the media.
Sifiso Mahlangu, current editor at The Star, said it was a privilege for the newspaper to host one of its own telling some of his newsroom stories.
“Some of them are not so enjoyable – religious, political, racial.
“But they are stories that all of us as South Africans need to talk to each other about while we are still here. For this year, Independent Media titles have published through the coronavirus. The Star published through the Spanish Flu about 120 years ago.
“With every journalist working from home, we managed to put the paper out every single day. In a digital transformation, as they say, perhaps the papers are dying. But it can’t be, because we’ve got stories to tell,” Mahlangu said.
The Star