Kenneth Dlamini

News Editor at The Swazi Observer

• Eswatini
• My current job since February 2001

As an editor I have a lot of functions in the newspaper, which include news gathering, editing and sub editing. However, there is a lot involved in that than to eventually come up with a publication. For instance, my day starts at 8am whereby I gather all the reporters for a critiquing and diary meeting. I chair those meetings, where we review the paper and come up fresh ideas for the day. I lead a team of 14 news reporters including regional reporters. Once the diary meeting is done, I contact all the regional reporters to get their diaries and then assign reporters where are assignments. Besides the reporters, I also supervise a team of four editorial drivers, the other desks including business, entertainment and sports. This equates to about 30 people under my leadership. Yet, during the day I have to keep contact with all the reporters to make sure the stories are balanced, factual and fair. When they come back in afternoon I have to take the afternoon diary in preparation for an editorial meeting, where we decide on the lead story for the next day. But it doesn't end there because I have to edit the stories and make sure they are good for publication. This includes making sure the possibility of libel is also minimised. My experience in the job include starting as a news reporter before changing to sports, where I was a sports reporter for 10 years and later promoted to Sports Editor. During this I led the sports team to winning many individual and team awards. Having achieved almost everything as a sports reporter and editor, I was then promoted to News Editor; a position I have held for the past five years. It was a good challenge altogether because of the wider scope involved. Here, it involves a lot of planning, organising, initiative and creativity. The news beats include politics, the courts and hard news. That can be challenging because I also have to execute my other responsility of being the newsroom manager. This includes monotoring the radio and television for breaking news. I believe that's my job in a nutshell.