In honor of Women’s Month, fraycollege had the privilege of interviewing Qaanitah Hunter, a prominent, award-winning South African journalist known for her fearless reporting and unwavering commitment to uncovering the truth. From her early days as a determined 17-year-old eager to break into the world of journalism, to her current role as a consultant and advocate for mental health among journalists, Hunter’s career is a testament to resilience, courage, and passion. In this conversation, she reflects on the challenges she’s faced, the stories she’s uncovered, and her vision for the future of women in media. Her insights serve as both inspiration and a call to action for the next generation of female journalists.
Can you share your journey into journalism and what inspired you to pursue this career?
I’ve always wanted to be a journalist and from the time I was very young, around six or seven, I remember holding a hairbrush and just pretending that I was reporting live. I watched the news and was consumed by talk radio stations as a pre-teen. It was something that I just wanted to do. I went to a home school and as soon as I was done writing my matric, I set out to try to get a job in journalism. I didn’t have a degree yet, nor had I studied, when I got an opportunity to shadow at a community radio station in 2011. I was 17 years old. They obviously had no intention to hire me, and I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Eventually, they gave me an opportunity to read the news.
From there, I would go on to do production for shows and learnt on the job. After work, in my downtime, I would go out on stories and try to go to political events and rallies and press conferences and slowly made my way to working in newspapers and then television. I worked at The New Age, then the Mail and Guardian, The Sunday Times and then News24, which was my last job until April this year- where I served as Assistant Editor for Politics and Opinions.
You’ve previously mentioned that your work aims to uncover reasons behind stories. Can you share an example of a story where you feel that you truly reveal the hidden truth to your audience?
Over the years we’ve done a lot of work around uncovering the Guptas and President Jacob Zuma. There were multiple political stories in the run right up to the ANC 2017 conference, the 2020 conference and even elections where we exposed what was happening in the political core. I can’t think of a single story, but I do think my work is consistent in getting to the centre of the political happenings in South Africa. I was able to have a front row seat to the beginning of the Ramaphosa administration. What I’m most proud of is the work that we, my colleague Jeff Wicks and I, did around the July 2021 unrest which culminated in a book- Eight Days in July. We thoroughly investigated the nexus of the violence that we saw, and we did a long form journalism project which was published in a book which I was very, very proud of.
“I believe that women in journalism have played a unbelievable and unparalleled role in transforming the space and holding truth to power.”
You’re quite an active advocate for mental health awareness amongst journalists. Does that speak to your own experience with mental health and how has that shaped your approach to this advocacy?
Mental health has been something I’ve been advocating for in journalism for a long time, since about 2018, from my own experience of being a victim of extreme online harassment and cyber misogyny and battling with anxiety as a result. Last year, I had an extreme case of burnout. It was a combination of years of managing a team, trying to complete a Masters degree and writing three books in five years. It was a lot. Since stepping back from news for a period, one of my main intentions is to focus my time on thinking about and starting interventions for journalists around mental health in a way that is not just talk.
What we don’t realise is that that mental health and ill mental health is a media freedom issue.
If we don’t deal with issues around the mental health of journalists, you’re going to have more and more journalists self-censoring and burntout, and there will be a mass exodus from the industry because people just cannot cope because they don’t have support and the tools, etcetera. I am in the process of forming what is going to be called, Debrief the Media, an initiative by journalists for journalists to really get to the heart of it.
While I have been doing a lot of advocacy work, I think pre-emptive intervention is the next phase and I don’t think that many mental health professionals understand the landscape in which journalists operate. I think I have a lot to contribute, given my own experience, and I’m hoping that it will take off.
“What we don’t realise is that that mental health and ill mental health is a media freedom issue.”
Which specific measures do you think media organisations should implement to better support the mental health of their journalists?
There needs to be the understanding that journalists are first responders and the consequence of this is that they carry trauma like the police and paramedics, etcetera. So the transfer trauma that we get from the things we see and we cover is one element.
The second element is the stress that comes with the nature of the job. Thirdly, there’s the attacks that journalists face after the job is done, which is online abuse, doxing and harassment.
These three fundamental elements of concern cannot be wished away by media houses and journalists need to be truly and utterly supported.That looks like training middle management so that they’re able to deal with the mental health of reporters in the form of debriefs. It comes with proper mental health protocols for newsrooms to have adequate support that is not just random talk therapy but real support when journalists like, for example, my colleague Karyn Maughan, was taken to court by a former president and was completely and utterly abused online.
So, the first step for newsrooms is to understand the problem. The second thing is understanding that there can be no journalism without fear, favour or prejudice if there isn’t mental health support. Thirdly, the right interventions need to be put in place- such as training and consistent support. Lastly, we need to change the culture of newsrooms- which I think is possible.
What changes would you like to see in the media landscape to better support and empower female journalists?
I think that South Africa is extremely ahead of the world when it comes to women in journalism, we have gender parity on all levels except when it comes to editor-in-chief, which is still very male dominated.
Seeing more female editor-in-chiefs is important, symbolically, but also in terms of representation in the industry. There needs to be substantial intervention around cyber misogyny and the attacks female journalists face online. It is now at a crisis point and there needs to be serious intervention and protection for women journalists.
It’s always the women journalists that face the brunt of these attacks and harassment so conversations with government about how we deal with this extreme version of cyber misogyny is needed.
Thirdly, I think that there needs to be more support for young female journalists in the field and care in terms of the things that they are exposed to- which I think has come a long way over the years, but I think more can be done in that regard.
“We need to change the culture of newsrooms.”
Who are some of the women in media or in other fields who inspire you or have had some kind of impact on you and why?
My friend Karyn (Maughan), and what she’s done in terms of the harassment by former President Jacob Zuma, inspires me. I am deeply inspired by Zubeida Jaffer- a pioneer in journalism who- for me, shaped what was possible.
I’ve always used Ferial (Haffajee) as a guide and a sort of a compass when it comes to direction in my career.
Globally, I’m inspired by the bravery of the female journalists that we’ve seen in Gaza. Yumna Al-Sayed is a person who inspires me to do more. People like Rana Ayyub in India- who are unapologetically- a voice holding truth to power are the women that I draw a lot of courage from.
I believe that women in journalism have played a unbelievable and unparalleled role in transforming the space and holding truth to power. I do think that the targets against women are disproportionate, and women must come together and support each other so that we are stronger.
What advice do you have for aspiring female journalists and media professionals?
My first tip is to constantly learn; never stop learning.
The second thing is to never stop reading. Many journalists, once they start reporting, stop reading widely. Even if you are a health reporter then read Science Fiction, if you must.
I think that we should understand that what we are doing is a Constitutionally empowered privilege governed by Section 16 of the Constitution and that we play a very important role in society. Understand that the work we are doing is not about ourselves; that journalism has the power in shifting and changing the narratives of the world, in creating empathy and understanding and creating and shaping people’s view of the world.
So, it is a privilege that you should never take lightly and understand that it comes with huge amounts of sacrifices, but those sacrifices would be worth it at the end.
