Defend Truth
Tony Jackman
Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Champion, 2021, for his food writing and is Editor of TGIFood, Daily Maverick's popular food platform. He is also a playwright (An Audience with Miss Hobhouse, Cape of Rebels), and has been a newspaper, magazine and now online journalist since September 1976. He is the author of foodSTUFF (Human & Rousseau, 2017), is married to veteran journalist Diane Cassere and is a father and grandfather.
What I cover
I am in the 48th year of a career that began in September 1976, so let’s just say I’ve been kicking around for a while. My beat, as it were, is food but there’s much more to it than that. Once, introducing me, a man said: “He writes recipes.” Only someone who has never read a word I have written would say that. These days, I write about food and life; food and living. And I write about my beloved Karoo. With colour, nuance and detail. And with heart and passion, and (says everyone) a gentle touch. I have written about the arts during my career, including theatre, film, television, and interviews with the actors and directors who work in those fields. The stories in newspapers that I am drawn to are those that get to the analytical nitty-gritty of things. I appreciate a sharp mind and wise words; together, that leads to a story truly worth reading. Privately, I am also a playwright, and I have plans to revive my most successful play, An Audience with Miss Hobhouse, and return it to the boards. I am also reworking an earlier play, called The Knocking.
My background
My career began at The Cape Times, writing about shipping. I soon moved into news and subediting, becoming an all-rounder. By 1989 I had moved to The Argus, where I joined the arts department, spending 10 years covering those fields. In the 1990s I became editor of Top of the Times in The Cape Times, and wrote a weekly column about food. I moved to England in 2002 where I worked for the West Sussex Gazette, became acting editor in 2003 and, a year later, deputy editor of the Chichester Observer Series. While at the West Sussex Gazette, my front pages were nominated for a British Press Award in competition with the Sunday Mirror and others. I was South African Food Writer of the Year (Galliova Awards) in 2021 and 2023. My play, An Audience with Miss Hobhouse, won an ovation award at the National Arts Festival in 2013. My book, foodSTUFF, is almost out of print. A new book is on the way. I’ve seen life (everywhere) and death (my brother, my stepson). These things sear your soul, but sharpen your own. Mostly I sit quietly and observe. This is the wisest thing a writer can do.
Journalistic ethics
Writing for a newspaper requires us to tell the truth. If we are not telling the truth, there is no point to anything we are doing or writing. Telling anything but the truth pulls the rug out from under us. For a journalist, lying is self-abuse. Our words carry influence, which means that we carry it too, and a proper journalist is deeply aware of the responsibility that goes with this. The advent of “influencers” is anathema to a real journalist – they purport to provide information but do so for their own benefit, to “get stuff”. “Influencers” are the polar opposite of what we are. In my corner of the woods, we are invited to chefs’ tables, restaurant launches, wine and food events, and “collabs” between chefs who get together to show off their food. When covering such events, I make it clear that I will write whatever I choose, free of influence. The way to ensure our journalism is ethical is to stick to the core of it: facts, and only facts, checked and checked again; steering clear of bias; always being fair, which means never having an axe to grind, and hearing the other side of any story.
