Meet the Team

William Bird

Director,  Ashoka & Linc Fellow William Bird

William studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg where he obtained his BA and Honours degree in Drama and Film. He worked in television after completing his studies. Unable to resist the lure of media monitoring, William started with some part time monitoring for the Media Monitoring Project, now Media Monitoring Africa (MMA)  in 1995 and after leaving television joined the MMA as a researcher. At MMA William has overseen or been directly involved in over 100 media monitoring projects on subjects ranging from gender based violence, HIV, and racism to children and the media. William has also completed overseeing the data analysis of the biggest civil society media monitoring exercise in the world – the Global Media Monitoring Project. For this project over 100 countries monitored gender around the world. William has also overseen the name change of the MMP to Media Monitoring Africa in 2008. In his spare time William likes to monitor the media when not otherwise distracted by his young sons.

 

George Kalu

Children's Project Coordinator

George was born and grew up in Kenya before moving to South Africa in 1995.He attained his BA Degree from Rhodes University Grahamstown majoring in Journalism & Media Studies and Political Science. In 2002 he graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in International Studies also from Rhodes University. George joined the Media Monitoring Project late 2003 as a seasonal worker, but in 2004 he became full-time staff member at MMA. At MMA, George monitors and analyses news content, he has also been involved in administrating and overseeing various monitoring projects. He gives limited technical support and does all the electronic media recording and archiving.

 

Melanie Hamman

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Melanie has travelled the world as a photographer, been to every inhabitable continent and some pretty darn far to reach places. She’s been published in TIME magazine, Associate produced for ESPN “Outside The Lines”, exhibited at Constitution Hill, selected for publication by Nieman Reports (Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University) Melanie also hates social injustice, with a passion, and with an academic background in Cultural Studies and Mass Communication she has a keen eye for spotting the real issues beneath the surface. She likes to call people out on their BS. She’s MMA’s human trafficking expert and seriously pretty handy with a camera.

 

Carol Netshifhefhe

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Carol Netshifhefhe obtained her BA Degree in Media Studies and Sociology from Wits University and started out at the then-MMP mid-2008 as a seasonal worker, getting involved in various projects as a media monitor and data capturer, and later developed an interest for media policy in Southern Africa. She became a full-time staff member at MMA in 2010 as a Researcher for the Policy Unit.

 

Musa Rikhotso

Specialised Children's Media Monitoring Project Manager

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Musa obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies and Sociology from University of Witwatersrand. He started working at Media Monitoring Africa in 2008. He worked on different projects as a Media Monitor, namely; SABC, Race and Migration in the Community and National and Provincial Election 2009. He is currently working on Children’s project as a Media Monitor and writes analyses on children’s stories.

 

Thandi Smith

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Thandi is currently doing her Masters in Media Studies through Wits, which focuses on the Digital Migration and the subsidization of the set top boxes. Her key interests are in media regulation and policy issues – including the Media Appeals Tribunal and the Protection of Information Bill. She has an Honours Degree in Media Studies from Wits and her thesis looked at the representation of Julius Malema in various newspapers. She has a passion for the media, research and academics. At MMA she is currently working in the Media Policy and Regulation unit focusing on the issues around the digital migration.

 

Kgalalelo Lebogang Morwe

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Kgalalelo holds a BA in Media Studies and International Relations and a BA (Hons) in Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. Currently she is studying towards a Masters degree in Media Studies at the same institution. She has a strong interest in current affairs, media law, media research, monitoring and critical analysis, and a general interest in all facets of television news, television and print media production. Her research interests vary from media, democracy and development, and media representations. She is currently working as a media monitor under the Children’s project, where she provides detailed analysis of print news media content on children.

 

Wellington Radu

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Wellington holds a masters degree in Development Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand. He also holds a postgraduate certificate in Human Rights Theory and Practice from the University of Cape Town. He attained an honours degree in Sociology from the University of Zimbabwe in 2004. Wellington is a seasoned researcher whose interests include human rights, media and sustainable development. Before joining Media Monitoring Africa he tutored in the University of Zimbabwe’s Sociology Department. Since joining Media Monitoring Africa he has spearheaded research projects including but not limited to, the representation of race, racism and xenophobia in the South African media; the media coverage of the South African national elections; the reportage of health issues, healthcare systems and patients rights in the Zambian media; and the depiction of HIV and AIDS in the media in Botswana. Wellington’s genius in soccer has earned him the nickname ‘Boots’.

 

Ayabulela Poro

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Ayabulela Poro shows just what’s possible, when potential, skill and MMA meet! He completed his national diploma in Journalism at the Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape in 2009. As part of his diploma, he completed his training with MMA for six months. He continued working for MMA in 2010 as a research intern and was later appointed as Junior Project Officer. After impressing with his analytical and writing skills while working on MMA’s Make Abuse Disappear Online Application Tool (MAD OAT), he was appointed as the Children Project’s Editor. Around the office Ayabulela is affectionately known as “Big Boy” or Aya. 

 

Shaun Molokwane

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Shaun obtained his BA Degree in Media Studies from Wits University and started out at the then-MMP mid-2008 as a seasonal worker, getting involved in various projects as a media monitor and data capturer, and later even getting a crack at report writing. He became a full-time staff member at MMA in 2011 as a Research Analyst, a position at which he facilitates media debates and discussion on online media platforms, and writes weekly media analyses bulletins.  Shaun is just about the only member of the MMA team to not get a nickname from MMA Director, William Bird.

 

Zandile Ndlovu

Operations Manager image

Zandile is a business administration specialist. She attained a BBA Finance degree from Solusi University in 2004. After four years of banking and treasury experience in the Zimbabwean and South African markets, Zandile joined the non-profit sector in 2008 as a Development Consultant and travelled widely throughout SADC. She then joined NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of Aids for Humanity) as a Fundraiser and Stakeholder Liaison. Zandile joined Media Monitoring Africa in 2009 as the Operations Manager. She is currently studying towards a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification. Zandile has a passion for languages and is a French and Portuguese language student at Wits University. In her spare time she lecturers English as a second language to international students. She is affectionately known at MMA as “Zaza”.