I AM so pleased to have joined the the fantastic team at the Jimboomba Times this week. My appointment as the newsroom’s senior journalist comes after my contract as the acting editor of The Logan Reporter came to an end last month.
I was born and raised in South Africa, where I received my Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cape Town 10 years ago. Upon my graduation I came to Australia for the first time and just fell in love with it. After travelling around Queensland for nine months I returned to my homeland and launched my journalistic career at the highly lauded bi-weekly newspaper Lowvelder which operates out of Nelspruit, the capital city of Mpumalanga.
On the doorstep of the Kruger National Park and bordering on neighbouring countries Swaziland and Mozambique, I was priviledged to have had the opportunity to report on a broad range of enviornmental and socio-political issues unique to Africa. This experience on Lowvelder and its sister publications throughout the province was invaluable. It strengthened my resilience as a hard news and investigative reporter and laid the foundation for a deeply rewarding career that I am humbled to have been blessed with to date.
In my first year as a junior journalist at Lowvelder, I received the highly commended award of most promising newspaper journalist of the year at the Caxton Excellence Awards. As a senior journalist a few years later I was honoured to have my environmental and investigative stories recognised by two independent industry awards.
In Australia, my reports on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in The Logan Reporter has earned me a Queensland Multiculturalism Awards nomination.
I am deeply passionate about community, people, human rights and the environment. I am so excited to be a part of the renowned Jimboomba Times and look forward to meeting you and telling your stories. If you have a story or issue you’d like to see told please contact me at christine.rossouw@fairfaxmedia.com.au or come and say hi if you see me out and about.
