As a young inquisitive girl, Naledi de Wee was always surrounded by family members who would never miss the 19:00 news and she would soon realise her passion for telling stories when she would sit down and tune in into the daily news, observing how news readers delivered their reports.
Now, as a passionate entertainment journalist, Naledi has learned that hard work pays off.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NALEDI DE WEE
- Naledi de Wee was born on 2 December 1998 and moved to Bloemfontein, Free State, at two years old. When she turned six, the de Wee family relocated to Tshwane, Gauteng, where Naledi has lived most of her life.
- The 23-year-old comes from a long line of enthusiastic journalists. Naledi’s grandfather, Isaac Tau, was a radio presenter on Radio Sesotho, now known as Lesedi FM.
- Naledi completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in motion picture medium at AFDA Johannesburg in 2019. She then completed her Bachelors of Arts degree in film and television production in 2020 at the University of Johannesburg.
- Her first-ever article was a review of Nicki Minaj’s 2018 album, Queen. The article was published on Rap Religion, a website centred around all things hip-hop.
- If she wasn’t an entertainment journalist, she would probably be a music festival coordinator or a music executive at a record label.
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STOKING NALEDI’S CURIOSITY…
Every Sunday from a young age, Naledi’s father would bring home several newspapers, while her mother would supply the family home with YOU and Drum magazines on a weekly basis.
With time on her hands, she would read a few of the news articles before paging to the entertainment sections of the publications, to catch up on the latest movie, music and soapie news.
She also attributes her passion for music to her father, who has a deep appreciation for the jazz and blues genres.
“Whenever my brother and I were in the car with my parents, my dad would put on a Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Caiphus Semenya or Jonas Gwangwa CD,” recalls Naledi.
“My dad has a collection of more than 100 CDs and I would go through every single one, reading the booklet of each album and wanting to know more about the artist.”
HOW DID NALEDI END UP IN JOURNALISM?
The Covid-19 pandemic was a confusing time for everyone in the world. For Naledi, she explored different ways to express herself and share the things she loved.
One evening during lockdown, she stumbled across The South African’s #gig4students programme where she connected with other students just like her.
“I picked up a lot of skills from the #gig4students programme and was fortunate enough to pick The South African’s lifestyle manager Cornelia le Roux’s brain,” says Naledi.
“I am one of two graduates who were given the opportunity to join the lifestyle and entertainment team at The South African.”
JOURNEY AS A JOURNALIST
Naledi says entertainment journalism is one of the most fulfilling things she has ever done in her life. In her time as a journo, she has interviewed people like Freshlyground frontwoman Zolani Mahola, award-winning actress Kim Engelbrecht and South African-born Hollywood star Arnold Vosloo.
“Entertainment journalism has made me more interested in the process of an artist’s work. How they craft a song or how they get into character for a specific role.”
One of her highlights in journalism was meeting South African fashion designer Gert-Johan Coetzee.
“After I met Gert-Johan Coetzee at the launch of his Barbie collection fashion line in Johannesburg, it dawned on me that the people we write about are human just like us.”
ADVICE TO YOUNG, WOMEN JOURNALISTS
Naledi’s advice to aspiring women journalists is to always be willing to learn more about a specific topic.
“As a journalist, you can never know enough about one thing. There is so much to learn and so many people to meet along the way.”
“The internet, books, newspapers and magazines are your friend.”
Read Naledi’s articles here.