By Lindsey Kin
When asked about the decision for
eNews to create an Afrikaans division, Group of Head News Patrick Conroy says, “
eNews has established itself as the leading and credible source of news in South Africa. First, there was
Prime Time on e.tv, and then we launched the eNews Channel in June 2008. We have also launched African language bulletins on e.tv, and in October last year, we launched
eNews Africa, which is currently viewed in 15 African countries. The launch of
eNuus is part of our plan to provide South Africans of all language groups with an independent source of television news.”
eNuus will not be a mirror-image of
eNews. “We have the luxury of being part of a professional news operation with existing resources, but from a content point of view, we make our own editorial decisions and it will often happen that there will be reporters from
eNews and
eNuus on the same story that will create synergy,” says Cornelissen.
kykNET was chosen as the channel which to launch
eNuus as it caters for an Afrikaans market, “making it a perfect fit for the Afrikaans division of
eNews,” says Conroy. “This is a market that has been under-served by TV news and there has never been an independent Afrikaans TV news service,” says Cornelissen.
“
eNuus will have the same journalistic principles and editorial standards as an English news service,” says Conroy. The only difference being that “the story selection may differ from time to time because of the audience, but our values and standards are the same,” he adds. The Afrikaans news branch will also differ from its competitors, such as the Afrikaans news on SABC, in that it does not have the same responsibilities as a public broadcaster. “Basically, our roles in society are fundamentally different. How people perceive our service as opposed to the SABC’s is entirely up to the viewing public. We’re focused on the quality of our news service and don’t spend time commenting on, or judging, other broadcasters,” says Cornelissen.
eNuus is anchored by the familiar face of Freek Robinson. “Freek is a seasoned professional who is independent and understands the target audience. He is a newsman and we did not want a ‘talking head’ reading the news,” comments Cornelissen. Other anchorpersons include Limari Louw; Anina Peens; and Genée Heyl, who will anchor alongside Robinson during the week. “Over weekends, one of the female anchors will anchor the news alone, together with a sports presenter,” says Cornelissen.
The recruitment process for
eNuus was a tough one, says Conroy. “The quality of the applicants was of a very high standard, so it was really tough to pick the final team. There are still some individuals out there that I secretly regret not being able to hire – but I’ve kept a shortlist of names should we expand our operations in the future. I hope they take my call when the time comes,” he says.