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Sipho Kings on Muck Rack

Sipho Kings

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As seen in: The Continent, TED, AllAfrica, Mail & Guardian, Climate Home News, Nieman Reports, New Frame, BusinessBrief, Banoyi
Publisher, @thecontinent_, a weekly African newspaper | @risj_oxford Climate Journalism Network advisory board | @NewmarkJPlus | '18 Harvard @niemanfdn

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Sipho Kings’s Biography

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I am the Publisher of The Continent, a weekly African newspaper distributed on encrypted messaging platforms to subscribers in 130 countries.

Sipho Kings’s Journalist Portfolio

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How to survive the end of the world

How to survive the end of the world

COMMENT I've started taking notes. In some cases it's accidental - an interesting idea pops up during a zombi…

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South Africa's thirst leaves Lesotho in dire straits

South Africa's thirst leaves Lesotho in dire straits

Water, netball and basketball are the three pillars of evening life in Katse village, Lesotho. The basketball…

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It's raining but QwaQwa hopes dry up

It's raining but QwaQwa hopes dry up

"QwaQwa is burning," say residents who have been without water for more than a week and without running water…

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Your sweet tooth brings development to Swaziland

Your sweet tooth brings development to Swaziland

"We prayed. What else could we do?" Thulani Simelane says and smiles. Everyone in Swaziland seems to smile as…

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Mines turning our farms to dust

Mines turning our farms to dust

"That minerals department will just tell you that they have heard your complaint and now you can fuck off." T…

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Communities left up the creek with dirty water

Communities left up the creek with dirty water

The brown and white Nguni cow can barely lift her head. Her jaundiced eye watches us through the green grass …

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Articles

Friendships Are What Will Save Journalism

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By Sipho Kings Verified
| Nieman Reports Verified
The opening sentence of my first message to Christine Mungai ended with the words: “fellow continent person.” It was August 2017, and we were the two Africans in that year’s cohort of Nieman journalism fellows at Harvard University. Although our home countries were about 4,000 kilometers (approximately 2,500 miles) apart in Africa, being from here means sharing a shorthand understanding of the world with your fellow Africans. That shorthand doesn’t have many structures to support it, however.
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FROM THE ARCHIVES | Elections 2014: No free lunch in Bekkersdal but try the breakfast buffet

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By Sipho Kings Verified
| Mail & Guardian Verified
A bone-chilling winter’s morning is enough to put off voters in Bekkersdal, a community of 47 000 west of Johannesburg. Sleep was hard the night before. The singing of protesters built up to the petrol-bombing of three tented voting stations. The response was the throaty roar of engines of heavily armoured police and army vehicles. There is much grumbling and rubbing of bleary, red eyes in the morning queues.
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Africa is finally at the climate negotiations table

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By Sipho Kings Verified
| Mail & Guardian Verified
“At climate talks, Africa is on its own. It’s time to act like it.” That was the front cover of The Continent a year ago, as climate negotiations rolled into Egypt. The year since then has been the hottest in recorded history. And that’s after 1°C of heating. The United Nations predicts up to 2.7°C of heating by 2100.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Intern at the Mail & Guardian.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes. I started writing as a young thing using my dad's typewriter.

How is social media changing news?

It is killing off the need for media breaking news, and pushing us towards analysing news and why things happen.

Awards

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South African National Parks: Environmental Journalist of the Year

2014 - Written Media

SANParks Kudu Award for media contribution to conservation.

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Vodacom Journalist of the Year: Sustainability

2013 - Sustainability
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SAB Environmental Media Awards

2013 - Print Media

South Africa's annual awards for environment journalism.

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SAB Environmental Media Awards

2013 - Magqubu Ntombela and Ian Player Cub Award Winner

South Africa's annual awards for environment journalism.

SAB Environmental Media Awards

2013 - New Media

South Africa's annual awards for environment journalism. Runner-up.

impactAFRICA - Best Community Impact

2016 - Data Journalism

"Sipho Kings, writing for the Mail & Guardian, won recognition for Best Community Impact for his reportage on illegal fishing along South Africa's coast. Kings’ reportage helped dispel public confusion around South Africa (a maritime country) and the protection of its maritime assets, and for the first time offered citizens compelling explanations about how illegal fishing in these communities affects their livelihood and the industry. Kings’ writing has been cited in several seminars - including by members of the South African Navy - and in public debates on the issue. The follow-up mass media coverage on the issue sparked by Kings’ reportage is credited for prompting the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the navy to increase naval patrols, which led to a string of arrests of illegal fishing trawlers and their operators."

Pro Bono Awards - Winner for Constitutionalism in media

2016

Given for journalism that helps to uphold the Constitution.

Sikuvile Awards - Runner up for column/editorial writing

2016
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Vodacom Journalist of the Year - National winner in Sustainability category

2015

Discovery Health Journalist of the Year

2015 - Journalist of the Year

Independent judging panel: "The articles submitted by Sipho Kings were well researched, well written and insightful. He demonstrated mastery of facts and evidence, use of multiple credible sources and produced an in-depth analysis which gave readers a full understanding of some of the effects of economic activities on health.”

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Discovery Health Journalist of the Year

2015 - Best Health News Reporting

Discovery Health Journalist of the Year

2015 - Best Investigative Reporting