"Being a journalist these days is a tough gig," says Alet Janse van Rensburg, an opinions editor for News24. On Tuesday, she published a thought-provoking piece about being a journalist in the present day. In her article she, among others, say:
"SABC producer Suna Venter died last week of a broken heart. It's hard not to see why. Aside from the day to day pressures she faced on the job, she was harassed, threatened, abducted, tortured and lived in fear for her life. She was not alone in this.
… and while the rest of South Africa can look away, our journalists can't. It can be utterly demoralising, overwhelming and frankly, traumatising.
… At worst, there's also someone trying to intimidate you, trick you or withhold important information from you."
We can agree with Alet when she says: "And so we owe it to Suna Venter, Peter Bruce and every other journalist who works in the most difficult of circumstances to expose the truth and keep the public informed to speak out in the harshest terms against the forces trying to capture our truth."