The language enthusiast
The production of a newspaper can never be a one-man show
Monique Adams
Mathias Haufiku has a passion for language and words, and this passion continues to drive him every day.
Haufiku was born in Swakopmund but spent most of his life growing up in Windhoek. He never imagined himself as a journalist but has found his place within the media industry.
After high school, Haufiku enrolled at the then Polytechnic of Namibia, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in English.
“One of my strong points has always been languages so that perhaps explains my choice of study field. As a career-centered person, personal growth has a positive impact on my professional life and continues to be my driving force,” he said.
Team player
As the newly-appointed news editor at the Namibian Sun, his position entails coordinating daily news content for the paper, managing news diaries, assigning stories to reporters, coordinating news gatherings as well as monitoring the progress of articles.
He said the production of a newspaper can never be a one-man show, which is why he works closely with his team members to ensure that they all produce quality content that is informative, entertaining and educating.
He said being part of the media industry, the workload depends on events and activities happening around the country as well as the world at large, and it requires always being on top of current affairs.
“Investigations of medium- and long-term news projects also keep us on our toes because they require in-depth reading and research. Despite being the news editor, my passion for writing and investigating still keeps me on my feet, especially during the mornings while the team is out in the field gathering news,” he said.
Young and dynamic
Haufiku said he is glad to have joined such a young and dynamic team and thinks together they can work wonders.
He sees this new appointment as not about what he can bring to the team but more about how he and the team can combine their qualities to produce a quality product.
He mentioned the systems and processes at media houses and said one will come to realise that newsrooms tend to have the same culture and ambiance.
“That in itself helped me to settle in well and I must say the new colleagues made the settling in process easier with the support and willingness to assist whenever I need assistance. Also, I have served as an editor before, so the skills gained helped me to settle in,” he said.
Challenges
One of the things that challenges Haufiku is rating his own performance due to the inherent conflict we as human beings possess.
Meanwhile, his greatest accomplishments during his time in the media space is the help and guidance he has provided to young and upcoming journalists he worked with.
Having the opportunity to share the knowledge he has has given him great pleasure, he said.
Over the years, many of these young journalists have come back to thank him for providing guidance, which for him is worth more than any monetary value.
Reflection
Haufiku singled out two events in his personal and professional space that he believes has made him the best version of himself.
One is the passing on of his mother, which taught him about the importance of striving to be self-reliant.
The second, from a professional perspective, is the 2018 court case he was involved in by the country’s intelligence agency to stop him from exposing the ‘Fishrot’ scandal.
“This taught me about the importance of following procedures and being fearless in the pursuit of the truth,” he said.
As a journalist, one never really has free time as you are constantly on the lookout for news because news never stops, but when Haufiku does have some time on his hands, he spends it socialising and networking.
He said the most challenging aspect of his job is keeping abreast with news developments on a national, continental and global scale.
“It is important to read extensively to cater for the various segments of our audience. Catering for the needs of diverse audiences stands out as a challenge in this job,” he said.
He added that it’s difficult to measure success in this position, but one yardstick he uses is the growth of the team and the paper.
His future plans include working with the Namibian Sun team and Namibia Media Holdings at large to achieve the objectives of the entity.
“Advice is not a one-size fits all tool, simply because we all have different backgrounds and different outlooks on how we want our lives to be going forward. So, it’s important that on an individual level, each one must seek the road they wish to walk, even if it means walking on that road alone,” he said.
Pull Quote: “It is important to read extensively to cater for the various segments of our audience," - Mathias Haufiku
Mathias Haufiku has a passion for language and words, and this passion continues to drive him every day.
Haufiku was born in Swakopmund but spent most of his life growing up in Windhoek. He never imagined himself as a journalist but has found his place within the media industry.
After high school, Haufiku enrolled at the then Polytechnic of Namibia, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in English.
“One of my strong points has always been languages so that perhaps explains my choice of study field. As a career-centered person, personal growth has a positive impact on my professional life and continues to be my driving force,” he said.
Team player
As the newly-appointed news editor at the Namibian Sun, his position entails coordinating daily news content for the paper, managing news diaries, assigning stories to reporters, coordinating news gatherings as well as monitoring the progress of articles.
He said the production of a newspaper can never be a one-man show, which is why he works closely with his team members to ensure that they all produce quality content that is informative, entertaining and educating.
He said being part of the media industry, the workload depends on events and activities happening around the country as well as the world at large, and it requires always being on top of current affairs.
“Investigations of medium- and long-term news projects also keep us on our toes because they require in-depth reading and research. Despite being the news editor, my passion for writing and investigating still keeps me on my feet, especially during the mornings while the team is out in the field gathering news,” he said.
Young and dynamic
Haufiku said he is glad to have joined such a young and dynamic team and thinks together they can work wonders.
He sees this new appointment as not about what he can bring to the team but more about how he and the team can combine their qualities to produce a quality product.
He mentioned the systems and processes at media houses and said one will come to realise that newsrooms tend to have the same culture and ambiance.
“That in itself helped me to settle in well and I must say the new colleagues made the settling in process easier with the support and willingness to assist whenever I need assistance. Also, I have served as an editor before, so the skills gained helped me to settle in,” he said.
Challenges
One of the things that challenges Haufiku is rating his own performance due to the inherent conflict we as human beings possess.
Meanwhile, his greatest accomplishments during his time in the media space is the help and guidance he has provided to young and upcoming journalists he worked with.
Having the opportunity to share the knowledge he has has given him great pleasure, he said.
Over the years, many of these young journalists have come back to thank him for providing guidance, which for him is worth more than any monetary value.
Reflection
Haufiku singled out two events in his personal and professional space that he believes has made him the best version of himself.
One is the passing on of his mother, which taught him about the importance of striving to be self-reliant.
The second, from a professional perspective, is the 2018 court case he was involved in by the country’s intelligence agency to stop him from exposing the ‘Fishrot’ scandal.
“This taught me about the importance of following procedures and being fearless in the pursuit of the truth,” he said.
As a journalist, one never really has free time as you are constantly on the lookout for news because news never stops, but when Haufiku does have some time on his hands, he spends it socialising and networking.
He said the most challenging aspect of his job is keeping abreast with news developments on a national, continental and global scale.
“It is important to read extensively to cater for the various segments of our audience. Catering for the needs of diverse audiences stands out as a challenge in this job,” he said.
He added that it’s difficult to measure success in this position, but one yardstick he uses is the growth of the team and the paper.
His future plans include working with the Namibian Sun team and Namibia Media Holdings at large to achieve the objectives of the entity.
“Advice is not a one-size fits all tool, simply because we all have different backgrounds and different outlooks on how we want our lives to be going forward. So, it’s important that on an individual level, each one must seek the road they wish to walk, even if it means walking on that road alone,” he said.
Pull Quote: “It is important to read extensively to cater for the various segments of our audience," - Mathias Haufiku
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