There’s a news reader in my feed reader!

Two posts popped up in my feed reader yesterday with legendary news reader Riaan Cruywagen's name in them, both linking back to this 'words' post, which is simply a republished list that was circulating via e-mail at the time.

Natually I clicked through and ended up watching a short (11 min) documentary film entitled "Don't Shoot" - part of the international Why Democracy series, a documentary project using film to start a global conversation about democracy.

To gain a better perspective prior to watching the film, read an interview with the filmmaker herself (by Tina-Louise Smith), which I only found while compiling this post.

Directed by Cape Town-based filmmaker Lucille Blankenberg, the film is an interview with Riaan in the context of South Africa’s transformation from apartheid to democracy:

Riaan Cruywagen has been reading the news on television since it arrived in South Africa in 1976. He prides himself in the nickname “The face of news in South Africa” and his record of the longest serving Afrikaans news reader in the world. In the context of South Africa’s spectacular transformation to democracy, Riaan explains how his professional ethics have kept him in the news reader’s seat.

I can't sum up the film any better than Herman Wasserman's review. It's a fascinating, thought-provoking, sometimes funny and sometimes sombre piece, as Riaan fields questions that span his 33-year career at the SABC, including why he remained there if he knew they were the mouthpiece for the apartheid government.

Don't miss the memorable transformation of the man himself before the final credits. Check it out!

And, an off-topic bonus - the video will download to your browser's cache (assuming you're setup for it) so you can leave the site to return later and watch it again and again and again at your leisure. Take note, YouBoob.

One night during an ad break on the 8 o’clock news, Riaan Cruywagen mentioned to the makeup lady that he was ‘tired of this apartheid nonsense’.

Nelson Mandela was released from prison the next day.

Classic.