Former editor launches book in Durban

Durban - A journalist for more than two decades, Gasant Abarder has a special perspective of the stories that have intrigued South Africans, and with the launch of his book, Hack with a Grenade, he takes readers on a journey as he tells the tales of his encounters with ordinary people.

At the book launch at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium yesterday, Abarder, who served as the editor of the Cape Argus and Cape Times, said Hack with a Grenade offered readers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the stories he has covered over the years.

“When I wrote this book, it wasn’t for other journalists because we have a tendency to do that as media people. I just wanted the public or the audience to understand the kind of decisions that editors have to make. A hack, as we all know, is a bit of loose cannon in the media world.

It’s an ambulance chaser, it’s somebody who lives their life from one deadline to the next.

The grenade for me represents a kind of charge because we live in a very charged environment, and it is the job of the editors to make sense of this environment.”

Abarder said the book offered insight into how newspapers could thrive during a time when they were under pressure, by innovating and re-imagining the way that stories were told.

“The stories that are told need to reflect what is going on, on the ground, and journalists need to turn raw material into a narrative that the audience can understand. There are so many untold stories out there, so I refuse to believe that newspapers are dying. Newspapers need to be a few steps ahead of the game and break away from tradition.

“More importantly, owners need to be bold and invest in journalism for the long game.”

Abarder said his book also touched on a conversation that was important to South Africans, especially in the media space – transformation.

“As South Africans, we need to talk about the politics of the media because that is the burden we carry as people of colour. We want diversity in the newsroom because it reflects who we are as a country. This will break down the barriers that have been used to divide us. We need to expose the pigeon-holing of communities, so people are not taken advantage of.”

In his 21-year career as a journalist, Abarder said his proudest moment came with the Dignity Project which gave homeless people a platform for their stories to be told in the Cape Argus.

The Daily News