Breaking TV news with passion Feisty Nabeelah Shaikh (28) has courageously covered everything from gruesome murder cases to widespread bribery and corruption as an award-winning multi-media reporter for the past seven years.
“I
t’s a rat race – there’s never a dull moment,” she laughed. “We’re never short of stories to tell as South Africans. Being a television reporter means you have to be on the move every day, covering breaking and other general news. It’s exciting and thrilling!” Describing herself on Facebook as a news junkie, truth seeker, storyteller and dreamer,
Shaikh cut her teeth as a multi-media investigative reporter, social media manager and researcher for Independent Newspapers’ Sunday Tribune from 2013 before moving to eTV as a video journalist, covering all news beats in 2018. She won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year regional award in 2015 at age 23 for her story ‘Isis Wants You – How we Cracked the Secret Route’ (for which her life was threatened), and again two years later for her story ‘For Sale: A place at Medical School’. This secured her the reputation as a dedicated journalist who pushed boundaries with maturity, tenacity and fearlessness. “It was quite an achievement for me, even though I do this for passion and not for recognition,” said Shaikh modestly. “I strive for excellence by always giving my best at whatever I do. There’s no time to be mediocre.” Her average day includes a blur of chasing stories, doing live crossings and packaging content for television. “Moving away from conventional TV journalism, I became a one-man-band, doing live crossings, shooting, scripting and editing TV stories single-handedly using an iPhone.”
Nabeelah Shaikh DUT Journalism graduate
DUTConnect // 16
