Digital Media Africa 2023

Lwandile is an award-winning storyteller and content producer who has worked in some of the biggest newsrooms in the country.  As a fast news journalist at the Sunday Times and News24, she was at the forefront of South Africa’s most notorious court cases, state capture hearings and corruption investigations. This earned her multiple awards including Vodacom Journalist of the Year: Young Journalist (regional winner) and News24 Young Journalist.

She now works in the world’s best Native Advertising Studio (under 20 employees) where she creates informative and narrative native advertising content for various sectors including banking, government and retail.

Khalil works to bring more value to more people in more places with The Conversation’s unique evidence-based journalism. He oversees audience growth, engagement retention and monetisation, working with a global team spanning six continents.

Tamala is the WIN Director for People & Performance and the Lead Coach for the WIN Advanced Leadership Accelerator. She is an expert in coach training, mentoring, leadership and emotional intelligence training. She has a solid track record in designing and delivering leadership development programmes.

Ron became editor of the M&G two years ago and began leading the news publisher into a subscription and digital-based future. He began his career as a journalist in earnest in the year 2002, and over the past 20 years has worked at Moneyweb, Business Day, international news agencies – Reuters, Bloomberg and a stint at the UK’s Financial Times before returning to South African newsrooms as Financial Mail deputy editor and Business Times editor before coming to the Mail & Guardian.

Yvette is a digital strategy professional with over 7+ years in media. She brings user research experience and a commitment to experimentation to achieve commercial outcomes.

Marianne is a seasoned digital advertising specialist serving as News Partner Lead for Sub-Saharan Africa & Israel at Google. Previously she was Head of Commercial Strategy for AdSpace24, the commercial team for Media24 News. Having carved a career in publishing her path led her through all aspects of packaging and monetising content starting her career in book publishing, then into magazine publishing, both in South Africa and Australia and finally she joined the Media24 digital publishing business in 2017. While there she worked in a cross functional team driving innovation in ad formats, content marketing and the publisher programmatic landscape. She lives in Johannesburg and is the mother of 2 boys.

Jane Godia has over 20 years as an editor and trainer. She worked in mainstream media and rose to the position of Deputy Managing Editor. Currently, she is in In-charge Acting as Executive Director African Gender and Media Initiative (GEM) Trust. She is Project Manager for WIN Programme in East and Central. She previously served as Coach for WIN Kenya. She has consulted a lot in media development, gender, training and coaching. She is a core expert on training in Gender Based Violence and Sexual Harassment in the work place. She holds a Masters of Arts (MA) in Gender and Development and post-graduate Diplomas in Journalism, Media studies and Gender and Development.

Mamadou Goundiam is the Deputy CEO of the Jeune Afrique Media Group, a leading pan African diversified media group, where he is in charge of transformation and operational performance across the news and events businesses. He began his career as a strategy consultant with Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman, where he led projects in the media and telecom sectors across Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He was also responsible for the African expansion of the education subsidiary of the German media & tech group Hubert Burda Media, as well as for the commercial and sales and distribution strategy in Africa for the telecom group Millicom. Mamadou is a graduate of EM Lyon.

Tando Guzana is the Multimedia Lead at Adspace24 a division of Media24 one of Africa’s largest leading Media publishing houses.

With over 10 years of experience in the digital media and production space, he is a resourceful and technically competent multimedia and digital specialist. With a keen eye and ear for emotive and sentiment-based campaigns and messages. He has seen amazing success and growth with the international award-winning studio.

As Multimedia Lead Tando Guzana overlooks the conceptualization and production of Adpsace24`s video, audio and photographic teams that are always looking to innovate and change the way we consume our visual and audio content.

Lucinda Jordaan is an independent media consultant with extensive experience in all media sectors and on all publishing platforms, from print and digital to film and broadcast.

She has assumed various roles in her 30-year media career, from newsroom dash sub and freelance journalist to author and coach. She now freelances as a writer, editor, consultant and coach: providing full-suite media and communications services to media enterprises and agencies. Lucinda regularly writes for the WAN-IFRA World Editors Forum.

Zidni holds the position of Head of Subscription Growth at Harian Kompas (Kompas.id), which is one of the major media that has been committed to and consistently providing high-quality journalism for 58 years in Indonesia.

Caroline is a trained journalist with 17 years experience in print and online media and she is currently Head of Storytelling and Visual Content, Hill & Knowlton Africa.

Previously she was Digital Editor of the Digital at Standard Group Plc, where she was responsible for growing online audiences for broadcast and print brands in the Group namely: KTN Home, KTN News, Standard newspapers, Nairobian, Radio Maisha and the Standard Group online assets that include: www.standardmedia.co.ke, www.sde.co.ke – Kenya’s #1 entertainment website, www.farmers.co.ke, and Ureport.co.ke – a citizen journalism website. Before joining Standard Group, Caroline worked at Genesis, a global internet consumer company with headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine. While at Genesis, she started www.tuko.co.ke Kenya’s first viral news website that disrupted the Kenyan media landscape in 2015. She was the first Managing Editor of Tuko that started out as a “Breaking News” website.

Puneet is part of the Leadership Team at Economic Times and leading multiple teams (Product, Design, User Research, Data Analytics, SEO, Program & Customer Support). Solving problems around new user acquisition, improving ARPU and digital transformation of the entire business news. The Economic Times is part of The Times Group which publish also The Times of India.

Alet has been Daily Maverick’s Audience Development Manager since March 2022. In her role, she works closely with journalists and editors on day-to-day audience development tactics, as well as long-term strategy. This includes recommending best content packaging and distribution practices via newsletters, social media and SEO. Prior to that, Alet worked for several years at News24, most recently as their Newsletter and Engagement Editor, and before that as News24 Opinions Editor, and journalist.

Emelda is a Zambian journalist, communication specialist and media trainer. She is currently acting Managing Editor with Zambia’s lead newspaper – the Zambia Daily Mail.
She has 20 years’ experience in the media Industry of which 17 years has been with the Zambia Daily Mail where she has risen through the ranks and held various portfolios including Sub–editor, Assistant Gender Editor, Deputy Sunday Mail Editor, Sunday Mail Editor and Editorials Editor.

Emelda Libanga is Women in News 2010 alumnae and ambassador. She was part of the first cohort of the WAN-IFRA Women in News Programme (2010-2014), which focusses on addressing gender parity in media leadership and content. She has served as WIN Steering Committee Member, Country Lead for Zambia and Sexual Harassment and time management trainer.

Julia Majale is the current Managing Director at Tuko.co.ke, Kenya’s leading digital media house. She is a multi-skilled journalist with over a decade of experience, having worked in diverse roles as an editor, writer, and social media in digital and legacy media.

She has a track record of modern editorial practice and newsroom management, having served as Managing Editor for four years.

A beneficiary of the Women in News Leadership Accelerator Programme (2021) and listed among the Top 25 Women in Digital 2021 by SOMA Awards, she has had over 10 speaking appearances across local and international summits on digital media, journalism, and leadership.

Nwabisa Makunga is the Editor of the Sowetan, a national daily publication in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been a journalist for 18years, with a keen interest in politics, socio-economic development and gender equality. She is the former Editor of The Herald & Weekend Post and former News Editor of Business Day, South Africa. Makunga has vast experience in Newsroom leadership, change management and systemic migration to digital platforms. She is the Deputy Chairperson of the South African National Editors Forum and a member of the SA Press Council.

Nokuthula Manyathi has a decade-long media career, working in digital, broadcast and print newsrooms. At News24 (South Africa’s most trusted news brand as awarded by the Reuters Institute, 2019 – 2023), she’s the multimedia editor, where she spearheaded the publication’s audio department. Work produced through the hub has won several awards, including a gold and bronze statue at the New York Festivals Radio Awards. In 2022, she was chosen by the Online News Association as one of 26 women globally leading change and innovation in journalism. As a reporter, her investigative work exposed a Christian cult masquerading as a mission station and a ring of sports coaches with predatory behaviour at elite schools in South Africa. She’s a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and speaks German, Zulu and Afrikaans. Her proudest achievement? She’s the reigning champ of her family’s annual board games day.

Emang Mutapati is an award winning editor and media consultant with over 30 years experience in the newsroom.

Former editor of a business magazine that scooped the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), Media Practitioner of the year award in 2015 and 2016, Mutapati is a graduate of the University of Botswana in B.A Humanities. A Harry Britain Fellowship alumnus and a graduate of the Women in News, WAN-IFRA Leadership Accelerator programme, Mutapati’s vast experience in the media includes radio, TV, digital and print. She launched her career as a cadet reporter for Botswana Press Agency and Radio Botswana in 1991 and then went on to work for e-TV Botswana as a current affairs producer and presenter as well as a news anchor. Currently she holds the position of Editor -in -Chief at The Voice Newspaper, Botswana.

Durga Raghunath is the Head of News Partnerships for India at Google. She was previously the Digital Head of The Times of India building product experiences catering to the millions of global India news-users.

Bilal is the Managing Director, Media Programs at Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) where he leads global strategy-setting and coordination of regional program activities. With two decades of finance, management and editorial experience he has helped media companies navigate challenging business and operational environments since joining MDIF in 2017 as the Regional Director for Africa.

Bilal is a Chartered Accountant (CPA equivalent) and has worked for KPMG, Al Jazeera and successfully scaled a digital media startup. Bilal serves as a Board Member and Treasurer for Creative Commons and has degrees in Finance, Marketing, Accounting from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. He holds a post-graduate diploma in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University.

Gary Rogers is a senior newsroom strategy consultant at Fathm. He has worked in the news industry as a journalist, editorial manager, consultant and AI start-up entrepreneur. He began his career in print as news reporter and sub editor. He worked in broadcast news as a producer and programme editor at the BBC and ITN.
His consultancy and advisory work has focused on setting up news services and re-organising the workflows of well-established operations. He has worked with newsrooms in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Australia to help them operate more effectively and efficiently.

James Smart is a broadcast journalist leader in television, audio production, and new media. His current assignment as Managing Editor, Newsroom production at Nation Media Group sees himoversee journalism production an all platforms; television, newspaper, radio and online.
He has previously worked as a news anchor and talk show host, conceptualizing top current affairs shows in Kenya #TheTrend, a program focused on young people and current events, #newssources which integrated journalists’ opinions with current affairs and #KTNLivewire.

As a producer, he has produced one of the top crime podcast series #Casenumberzero that investigated the disappearance of a former journalist in Kenya in a captivating series that has over 1 million listens across platforms. Other recent productions include #ParadiseLost- the story of former TV King and his struggles with life, #Acountryofgamblers- the story of how Kenya is engulfed with unethical gambling.

Besides being the architect and chief coach of our Table Stakes Europe programme, Doug Smith is an adviser, writer, thinker, historian, teacher, lawyer and inventor with a broad range of experience. Acknowledged as one of the world’s leading management thinkers and advisers, having contributed to performance results, innovation, strategy and change in scores of organisations across more than sixty industries in all three sectors: private, government and non-profit.

Doug is the architect of the principles and design for Challenge-Centric, Performance-Driven Transformation Programmes (SM) guiding leaders to use a focus on performance results to drive innovation, capacity-building, and growth in organisations and communities undergoing profound disruption.

Tshepo Tshabalala is the Project Manager and Team Lead of JournalismAI, which is a research and training project run by Polis – the international journalism think-tank of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previously, Tshepo was the Director, responsible for the growth and strategic direction for Jamlab. He was previously the interim project director, as well as founding digital editor for the Jamlab digital publications and web editor for www.journalism.co.za both based at the journalism and media studies department at the University of the Witwatersrand. Jamlab is the continent’s first journalism and media lab which aims to support more and better innovation in journalism and media in Africa.