KEVIN Ritchie has been appointed editor of The Star.
Announcing the appointment to staff in the newsroom on Friday, Independent Media executive chairman Dr Iqbal Surve said Ritchie's appointment was testimony to his belief in non-racialism and the company's commitment to recognise talent and reward hard work within its ranks.
Ritchie, 49, has been acting editor since the resignation of Makhudu Sefara in June this year.
Born in Scotland and educated there and in Zambia before matriculating from Michaelhouse in KwaZuluNatal, Ritchie studied law and politics at Rhodes University.
After national service, he began his career in journalism at Independent Media's Diamond Fields Advertiser in Kimberley which he edited for 10 years.
Moving to Joburg, Ritchie held various editorial and commercial positions before becoming managing editor of the Saturday Star and then deputy editor of The Star in 2012, under Sefara.
He said he was touched by Surve and the board's faith in him and humbled by being allowed to follow in the footsteps of legendary editors of The Star like Sefara, Moegsien Williams, Peter Sullivan and Richard Steyn.
"Richard talked with presidents and wanted The Star to influence them; Peter brought an impish sense of fun to editing; Moe gsien was determined to get the various communities that make up Joburg talking to each other through the paper; while Makhudu was simply a moral beacon for the paper and an inspiration to us all.
"These are the 'stars' I will think of to help me navigate through my editorship.
"I've always thought, though, that being an editor doesn't mean being the best journalist, but rather being the person who gets the best out of the journalists. We've got an incredible team of journalists on The Star and I'm tremendously excited at being given the privilege and honour of leading them."
Ritchie said he wanted to focus the paper on its core market - Joburg.
"The dream is that the paper becomes indispensable every day to the people who live in this incredible city, irrespective of where they come from or what their backgrounds are and irrespective of how they read it - on paper or digital. All I care about is that they read about it in The Star first - and we're going to build a team here to do just that."
Ritchie's appointment was one of a series revealed by Surve on Friday; chief among them was seasoned journalist and editor Wally Mbhele as editor-at-large for the group's Sunday papers, and the return of former Isolezwe editor Mazwi Xaba as deputy editor of the Sunday Tribune in Durban.
"We are a non-racial South African company, and as such, it is our responsibility and duty to reflect this in every aspect of our business. I am proud of our diverse workforce.
"The new Independent Media is founded on principles of non-racialism, and this is reflected in the leadership team and at all levels of the business," said Surve.
"We expect to announce more appointments in the near future as we grow and develop our business into a leading multi-platform media company grounded on the principles of non-racialism and equity."
Friday's announcements follow high-level appointments over the past few months.
The appointments include: Vanessa Govender, group executive for human resources; Linda Gibson, group executive for research and new business; Lutfia Vayej, group executive for branding, marketing and communication; Aakash Bramdeo editor of Sunday Tribune; and Yogas Nair, editor of Post.
Article source: STAR
PICTURE: MATTHEWS BALOYI