After starting his journalistic career at 20 and freelancing for years, veteran journalist Mike Loewe has decided to leave the City of Saints to seek greener pastures.
After starting his journalistic career at 20 and freelancing for years, veteran journalist Mike Loewe has decided to leave the City of Saints to seek greener pastures.
Loewe started his new position as chief reporter at the Daily Dispatch newspaper in East London today. He said that his freelancing days are over and he wanted a more stable job to provide for his family.
"I'm ready for my new job and it's going to be a great opportunity for me," he told Grocott's Mail on Friday, adding that he'll always return to Grahamstown whenever he's got time.
His first reporter job was at the PE Herald, after which he worked for and owned other publications like the Grahamstown Shoppa and The Makana Moon, as well as news agency East Cape News.
The 52-year-old completed the then two-year Journalism course at Rhodes University, but his initial reasons for wanting to become a newshound weren't purely for the love of the profession.
"Journalism was not my dream," he said. "The reason that I ended up doing it was because I didn't want to wear a suit, I wanted to be free."
Loewe has since turned out to be more than just a journalist, but a role model to a number of journalists who trained under his guidance.
One such journalist is Luvuyo Mjekula, who worked at the Cape Times until recently, and as far as he's concerned, Loewe is the epitome of a journalist.
"He taught me everything I know about journalism, Mjekula said. As an editor he was very strict – I remember I almost quit East Cape News in my first week – but I’m glad I didn’t." He added that Loewe is a "cool guy" that one can go to for advice as well as being "a family man who adores his wife and children".
Being a journalist isn't easy though, according to Loewe, and he emphasised the importance of being strong when you're a journalist. "Even though there's a lot of pressure on journalists to report the correct information, even if it might hurt people sometimes, it's never done with that intention," he said.
