Juggling being a mom and a full time journalist
Being a full time journalist as well as a mother to a four year old, tantrum throwing “mommy I can bath and feed myself” is not a walk in the park.
I studied towards a BA in Journalism at the University of Johannesburg with an aim to get into radio as growing up I had a deep love and passion for radio presenting and journalism. I used to get in trouble for streaming the radio during school hours when I was still in high school. I remember one time at school my phone was taken by my teacher and I was devastated for the entire day, as during breaks and free periods I was used to secretly listening to the radio.
I am a all-rounder journalist, although back in varsity my lecturer told us that we would have to choose a beat that we would like to work with or cover however when you work for a community publication you need to be able to cover all beats from hard/current news, sports, schools, community profiles, entertainment etc. I am currently writing for the Review, Bonus and Capricorn Voice as well as for review online, and it has been a year of great learning putting to practice what I learned at UJ. I report for work at 8h00 and knock off at 16h30 and in between, I have to source stories (hard and soft news), attend events both schools and community events.
Before all this I am a mother to a gorgeous four year old, Bontle (Mmabontle in full) and her energy is a job on its own. I wake up at 5h30, I shower then I get her ready for school and wait for her transport to come pick her up, then I go to work. After work I get home, depending on how the day unfolded and if I do not have any events to attend after my day shift, I prepare her dinner then tuck her in. I then go through my emails and messages on my phone to see what appointments I must attend to the following day.
I have set boundaries and sacrifice a lot of socialising, as my daughter needs my undivided time, attention just as much as my job does. Journalism is not a family friendly profession, you work long hours and sometimes all week and it rests upon oneself or mothers who are in that profession, to try and find a way to balance the two. Having a good support system around you does make it a little bit easier. I am so lucky to have a daughter that understands that mommy needs to go to work so that we can buy things that we need, she knows when I head out of the house at 18h00 or on the weekend that mommy is going to work, while she stays home with her grandmother and her cousins.
I would advise anyone, especially women, looking to venture in to the world of journalism to first explore the profession, do the field work enjoy it and then consider having children, of course all this would have to be in their early 20s to 30s.
