The wedge that cracked the rock - a pioneering woman journalist
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Date
2006
Authors
Rabe, Lizette
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State
Abstract
This article explores some aspects of the pioneering nature of the career of journalist
Rykie van Reenen, professed to be “undoubtedly the most outstanding Afrikaans
journalist of the [twentieth] century” (Giliomee 2003:564). After her death she was
described as the “wedge” that cracked open the “brute rock of male domination” from
which a new generation of women could enter the profession (“Rykie van Reenen”
2003). The focus is on her contribution to South African journalism in terms of her
pioneering work and on the unique personality that played no small part in her
becoming a legend in South African Afrikaans media history. The premise of this article
is that Van Reenen was a pioneer for women journalists in a language community and
a country in which women were ignored for a long time as professional contributors to
the profession of journalism. Van Reenen left a repertoire of an impressive journalistic
legacy that not even her male peers could equal, as described in a previous article
(Rabe 2006). This article, which is part of an ongoing exploration of her work, serves
as an initial study of her contribution to establish women in South African newsrooms,
especially Afrikaans newsrooms, as equals. To some extent, it also contributes to a more
comprehensive South African media history, which, in general, lacks significant
scholarly attention, especially in terms of the media historiographical legacy of women
journalists and their contribution.
Description
Keywords
Journalist, Rykie van Reenen, Pioneer for women journalists, South African media history, Legacy of women journalists
Citation
Rabe, L. (2006). The wedge that cracked the rock - a pioneering woman journalist. Communitas, 11, 169-184.